John Shearer / Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images

Here’s a look at some notable birthdays being celebrated today:

Aziz Ansari
Age: 29
Occupation: Actor, Writer and Comedian
Known For: Starring in the NBC sitcom ‘Parks and Recreation,’ appearing in movies including ‘Get Him to the Greek,’ ‘Funny People’ and ’30 Minutes or Less,’ and hosting the 2010 MTV Movie Awards

Dakota Fanning
Age: 18
Occupation: Actress
Known For: Well-respected performances in films like ‘I Am Sam,’ ‘War of the Worlds,’ ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ ‘The Twilight Saga’ and ‘The Runaways,’ and being the older sister of actress Elle Fanning

Peter Fonda
Age: 72
Occupation: Actor
Known For: Being an icon of the counterculture of the 1960s, starring the films ‘Easy Rider,’ ‘Ulee’s Gold’ and ’3:10 to Yuma,’ and being the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda and father of Bridget Fonda

Howard Jones
Age: 57
Occupation: Singer, Songwriter and Musician
Known For: Merging upbeat pop with the technology-intensive sound of new wave on a string of hit singles in the 1980s including ‘What Is Love?,’ ‘Things Can Only Get Better,’ ‘No One Is to Blame’ and ‘Everlasting Love’

Emily Blunt
Age: 29
Occupation: Actress
Known For: Roles in the movies ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ ‘The Young Victoria’ and ‘The Adjustment Bureau,’ a previous relationship with singer Michael Bublé, and her marriage to actor John Krasinski

Keystone, Getty Images

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history:

1896 – The Tootsie Roll is introduced (More info)

1927 – President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill establishing the Federal Radio Commission — later the Federal Communications Commission — which regulated the use of US radio frequencies (More info)

1945 – During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of US Marines reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag (More info)

1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh (More info)

1980 – US speed skater Eric Heiden wins an unprecedented fifth gold medal at the Winter Olympic games in Lake Placid, New York (More info)

Keynote speaker for this year’s banquet is former Kentucky Wesleyan and Harlem Globetrotter basketball stand-out Dallas “Big D” Thornton. The Louisville native was part of two Division II National Championships at KWC in 1966 and in 1968. Thornton was drafted by the ABA’s Baltimore Bullets but went on to play for the Miami Floridians for two seasons. Thornton then joined the Harlem Globetrotters and he even appeared in the film The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island. Just last year, the former All-American was inducted into the Kentucky Black Sports Hall of Fame. Legendary Owensboro sports announcer Joel Utley will introduce Thornton.

H. L. Neblett Community Center Executive Director Gregory Black will discuss the Neblett Center’s 2011 annual report and he will discuss the expanding roles of the center in 2012. The Board of Directors President for 2012 will be announced and music will be provided by “B Rich and All That Jazz”. The banquet will begin at 5:30pm and last until 9:00pm.

Reserved seating is available by calling (270) 685-3197.

borderfilms, Flickr

According to a new Gallup poll, United States citizens truly love our neighbors to the north — in fact, in the company’s annual favorability ratings, 96 percent of Americans said they have a generally favorable view of Canada, while only three percent view it unfavorably.

So who else is in our good graces?

Australia and Great Britain, which respectively had 93 and 90 percent favorable ratings from Americans. Unsurprisingly, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran are at the bottom of the rankings — they earned favorable ratings of 14, 13, and 10 percent.

“Iran is the least well-regarded country measure this year, with 10% of Americans viewing it favorably and 87% unfavorably,” Gallup wrote on its website. “Americans’ favorable ratings of Iran have been consistently low since Gallup’s first measurement with this question in 1989, mostly registering around 10% but with a range from 5% (in1989) to 17% (in 2004).”

Here’s the top 20 list — check out the full report for more.

2012 Favorability Toward Countries

1. Canada – 96 percent
2. Australia – 93 percent
3. Great Britain – 90 percent
4. Germany – 86 percent
5. Japan – 83 percent
6. France – 75 percent
7. India – 75 percent
8. Israel – 71 percent
9. Greece – 62 percent
10. Mexico – 51 percent
11. Russia – 50 percent
12. Egypt – 47 percent
13. Saudi Arabia – 42 percent
14. China – 41 percent
15. Cuba – 37 percent
16. Libya – 25 percent
17. Iraq – 24 percent
18. The Palestinian Authority – 19 percent
19. Syria – 17 percent
20. Pakistan – 15 percent

[Gallup]

Relativity Media / Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate / Universal Pictures

We know winter has been long and cold, so duck into a theater this weekend to shake off the doldrums — the four new flicks opening in wide release should have a little something for everyone.

The long-awaited ‘Act of Valor’ stars real active-duty Navy SEALs in a fictionalized account of SEAL operations that takes audiences on an adrenaline-fueled, edge-of-their-seat journey.

In the suspense thriller ‘Gone,’ a woman who escaped from a kidnapper a year before discovers her sister has now been abducted by the same maniac.

‘Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds’ is the story of a man jolted out of his predictable routine when the chance to do a good deed finally sparks the courage to exchange the life that’s expected of him for the life he’s always really wanted.

And in ‘Wanderlust,’ Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd star as a stressed-out couple who move in to a hippie commune, where the change of perspective could cause more problems than it solves.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Act of Valor

Directed by: Scott Waugh
Starring: Roselyn Sanchez, Alex Veadov, Nestor Serrano, Jason Cottle, Rorke, Michael, Dave, Ajay, Sonny, Ray, Van O, Weimy, Emilio Rivera, Gonzalo Menendez
Get Tickets & Showtimes

Gone

Directed by: Heitor Dhalia
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Sunjata, Jennifer Carpenter, Sebastian Stan, Wes Bentley
Get Tickets & Showtimes

Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds

Directed by: Tyler Perry
Starring: Tyler Perry, Thandie Newton, Gabrielle Union, Eddie Cibrian, Brian J. White, Jordenn Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Beverly Johnson, Rebecca Romijn, Jamie Kennedy, Andrew Masset
Get Tickets & Showtimes

Wanderlust

Directed by: David Wain
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda, Malin Akerman
Get Tickets & Showtimes

Sotheby's

If you’ve got $80 million burning a hole in your pocket and want to own an artistic masterpiece, break out your checkbook. The last version of Edvard Munch’s well-known painting ‘The Scream’ to be in private hands is going on the auction block.

Sotheby’s auction house will do the honors and expects the iconic work to fetch upwards of $80 million or more. It’s one of only four versions of the 1895 painting, and is currently owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and patron of Munch’s.

I have lived with this work all my life, and its power and energy have only increased with time,’ Olsen said. “Now, however, I feel the moment has come to offer the rest of the world a chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work.”

Museums own the other three copies, but this one is considered particularly valuable because it’s done in pastels and is still in the original frame that was hand-painted by Munch himself. In addition, it includes a poem he wrote in which he explains the inspiration behind the work, describing himself as “shivering with anxiety” and feeling “the great scream in nature.”

Proceeds from the sale will go toward building a new museum, art center and hotel in Hvitsten, Norway, where Olsen’s father and Munch were neighbors.

[via Daily Mail]

Source: TheFW.com

Dennis, Flickr

In this economy, people are lucky just to have a job.

Which is perhaps why the majority of Americans would pick job security over higher pay, if given the choice.

The Pew Research Center asked 1,231 adults if, all other things being equal, they would prefer a job with higher pay or more job security. Overall, 58 percent opted for the job security, and 39 percent wanted the bigger bucks. The rest were undecided.

The only age demographic who would go for more money was 18-24-year olds, which is also the group that is likely to paid the least. And even among these youngest workers only 51 percent wanted the higher pay, whereas 48 percent favored job security.

[Pew Research Center]

Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images

Ever wonder what Major League players talk about in the dugout? Well, apparently they spend a lot of time discussing each others’ facial features.

At least they do in the New York Mets’ dugout, where pitcher Jonathon Niese’s rather unique looking snoz was the subject of much ribbing from his teammates, especially Carlos Beltran, during the 2011 season. In fact, Beltran even offered to pay for Niese to get a nose job.

So when Niese showed up at spring training this week with a much more streamlined beak, the question became whether Beltran, who now plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, is going to pay up. “Yeah, he’ll pay. I sent him the bill,” Niese told reporters.

Even if Beltran reneges on his offer, Niese’s new nose has been a good deal. Apparently, the 25-year old suffered from a deviated septum, and the surgery has allowed him to breath easier and work out more during the off-season than he typically does.

[Yahoo!]

yourdon, Flickr

When you talk on the phone, do you hold it up to your right ear or your left? Scientists say your preference could reveal a lot about you.

A new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found a strong link between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a call. More than 70 percent of us hold our phones up to the ear on the same side as our dominant hand — in other words, right-handed people use their right ear, and vice versa.

Left-brain dominant people (whose speech and language center is on the left side of the brain) are more likely to be right-handed and to use their right ear for phone calls, even though the hearing there was found to be no better. The opposite is also true — right-brain dominant people tend to use their left hand to hold the phone in their left ear.

“Our findings have several implications, especially for mapping the language center of the brain,” says Dr. Michael Seidman, director of the division of otologic and neurotologic surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford.

He added that his work also adds to a growing body of evidence that finds no link between cell phone use and cancer — otherwise, he said, since most people are right-handed and tend to use their right ears for cell calls, tumors would almost always occur on the right side of the head or neck.

[Science Daily]

andjohan, Flickr

For job interviews, it used to be enough to just show up in a nice suit, answer some perfunctory questions and be on your way.

But these days, some companies have changed the interview process so much that candidates wind up feeling as though they’re trying out for a reality TV show instead of simply vying for a 9-5 paycheck.

The Los Angeles Times calls the trend “extreme interviewing,” and cites the example of one company that made internship hopefuls write 13 different 140-character messages on Twitter to illustrate why they should be chosen for the gig.

In addition, other interviewees are now often asked questions for which there is no right answer, like, “If Germans were the tallest people in the world, how would you prove it?” or “On a scale of 1 to 10, how weird are you?”

The popular Pinkberry chain even asks potential hires to act out fake commercials and come up with marketing plans for hypothetical new products — and that’s just for a job scooping frozen yogurt. In a statement, the company said such exercises “allow us to see immediate impact on team connectedness, demonstrate service and leadership skills and unveil entrepreneurial spirit.”

Bottom line: the next time you have an interview, keep in mind that while you probably won’t have to eat anything icky in ‘Fear Factor’ style, you may very well have to prove your worth in a variety of bizarre ways.

[Time]

Daniel Barry, Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says wireless resources are not infinite.

In fact, the smartphones to which we’re all so addicted are gobbling so much bandwidth that as early as next year, we could be paying more for our service — not to mention seeing slower data speeds and an increase in dropped calls.

The FCC calls the issue “spectrum crunch” and officials there are worried it could be a very real problem, with one saying, “Network traffic is increasing … [Carriers] can manage it for the next couple years, but demand is inevitably going to exceed the available spectrum.”

Rory Altman, director of technology consultancy Altman Vilandrie & Co., added, “We got into this principally because technology and demand exploded at a rate that nobody had anticipated.”

The current wireless spectrum is distributed among companies and entities unevenly, with some having more than they need and others having too little. In early March, Congress is expected to vote on an FCC plan to hold incentive auctions that would help balance things out, something FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says would not only help to free up spectrum resources but would also greatly benefit the US Treasury.

[CNN Money]

My Fox Atlanta

At Atlanta pizzeria is receiving both cheers — and jeers — for the notice it recently printed on its menus asking parents of noisy children to take their kids outside.

After Donnie Parmer, co-owner of Grant Central Pizza, got an abundance of complaints (both in person and on the review site Yelp) about screaming or unruly children in his restaurant, he added the following notice to the bottom of his menus:

Dear all present and future patrons: GCP is proud of its reputation as a family restaurant, a title that we will work to keep. Unfortunately a number of our diners have posted unpleasant experiences because of crying and unsupervised children. To ensure that all diners have an enjoyable lunch or dinner with us we respectfully ask that parents tend to their crying tots outside.”

Parmer says that while he likes kids and Grant Central Pizza is a family establishment, it’s not fair for little ones to disrupt the entire dining room. He cites an incident in which a child hit an adult patron in the head with a toy as the last straw that made him print the public notice.

While some parents are offended, saying “noise is just part of the experience in a family restaurant,” other customers applauded the gesture and said it’ll make them more likely to visit the restaurant.

[My Fox Atlanta]

consumerist, Flickr

Does your job make the world a better or worse place? That’s what 30,000 workers were asked last year — and their answers have given researchers a lot to talk about.

Salary comparison site PayScale conducted the survey in which people were asked the question and told to choose from the answer options of “very much so,” “yes,” “a little,” “no” and “My job may make the world a worse place.”

While only one percent picked the last answer, the New York Times was curious about what types of jobs those people had, so PayScale investigated further. Here are the top 10 occupations that had the highest shares of workers saying they thought their jobs made the world a worse place:

• Fast-Food Worker: 42.3 percent
• Bartender: 5.8 percent
• Senior Attorney: 4.9 percent
• Fashion Designer: 4.1 percent
• Associate – Investment Banking: 3.8 percent
• Legal Assistant: 3.6 percent
• Account Executive, Advertising: 3.4 percent
• Claims Adjuster / Examiner / Investigator: 3.3 percent
• Personal Banker: 3.2 percent
• Petroleum Engineer: 3.1 percent

Although a lot of people would take issue with bartenders thinking they don’t make the world a better place, analysts noted two of the 10 spots were banking professions — possibly a reflection of the economic downturn that happened largely at the hands of Wall Street executives.

Sorted by industry, here are the top 10 fields in which employees said their jobs make the world a worse place (the number one slot isn’t a terrible surprise):

• Tobacco Manufacturing: 15.9 percent
• Gambling Industries: 5 percent
• Gasoline Stations: 4.4 percent
• Limited-Service Eating Places (e.g., Fast-Food Restaurants): 2.8 percent
• Beer, Wine and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers: 2.1 percent
• Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers: 1.9 percent
• Legal Services: 1.8 percent
• Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing: 1.7 percent
• Jewelry, Luggage and Leather Goods Stores: 1.7 percent
• Advertising and Related Services: 1.6 percent

[The New York Times]

 The album made its digital debut in September 2011, exclusively on the iTunes Store, bowing at #1 on several iTunes top albums charts around the world.

The choices include:

“Love Me Do”,  “Yellow Submarine”,  “From Me To You”, ”Eleanor Rigby”, ”She Loves You”, ”Penny Lane”,  “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, ”All You Need Is Love” , ”Can’t Buy Me Love”, ”Hello, Goodbye”, ”A Hard Day’s Night”, ”Lady Madonna” ,  “I Feel Fine”, ”Hey Jude”, “Get Back”, ”Ticket to Ride”, ”The Ballad of John and Yoko”, “Help!”, “Something”, “Yesterday”,  “Come Together”, ”Day Tripper”, ”Let It Be”, ”We Can Work It Out”, ”The Long and Winding Road” and “Paperback Writer.”

How many of those can you hum?

tpauly, Flickr

Despite what many a working stiff might think, men do not wear neckties to facilitate strangulation when their bosses are less than pleased with their work.

So, why do men wear this variable, often quite fashionable, and utterly useless piece of business attire?

The answer lies in history, and Europe’s Thirty Years’ War. The logistics of that 17^th century conflict are messy, to say the least, and the various alliances hard to follow. What is worth note here was the extensive use of Croatian mercenaries. Croatian soldiers, fashion innovators that they were, wore scarves around their necks as part of their uniforms, which were called kravatas.

French soldiers must have thought the Croats looked pretty smashing in their rustic scarves. Military personnel brought the idea of wearing neckties back to France, where King Louis XIV quickly introduced ‘la cravate’ to high society. Neckties soon became all the rage. Wearing a cravate allowed you to show off your individual style, by altering the size and length of the tie, as well as the colors and patterns swimming across the cloth.

The word ‘cravat,’ which owes its origins to ‘Croatian,’ eventually became ‘tie’ in English. While the design and manner of wearing a tie have evolved over the years, the ubiquity and cross-cultural relevance of this little strip of fabric simply prove that ties are here to stay.

[Time]

Here’s a look at this year’s nominees in the major categories. Let your voice be heard and tell us who you think will win!

‘Hugo’ leads the way with 11 nominations. Will it end the evening with the most wins? You tell us:

Paramount/DreamWorks/DreamWorks

Frazer Harrison/Kevin Winter/Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Kevin Winter/Carlos Alvarez/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Frazer Harrison/Jason Merritt/Jason Merritt, Getty Images

Jason Merritt/Frazer Harrison/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Gareth Cattermole/Valerie Macon/Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images

DreamWorks/DreamWorks/Blind Wink Productions

Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images/Jemal Countess, Getty Images/YouTube

With Oscars season upon us, it’s anyone’s guess who will take home the gold. Each year, some newcomers crash the party among veteran actors who command the red carpet at the Academy Awards. The annual event draws Hollywood’s biggest stars, and millions more around the world. The press always puts together some basic information about this year’s nominees, but how much do you actually know about the Oscars ceremony? Here’s a list of fun facts and trivia you can use to impress your friends this awards season.

Why’s it called Oscar?

Nobody knows for sure. The most commonly cited origin dates back to actress Bette Davis, who said that the backside of the statuette looked like her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson. According to another theory, the name came from Academy secretary Margaret Herrick who claimed it looked like her Uncle Oscar. However it came to be, the Oscar officially got its name in 1939, 10 years after the annual ceremony began. The official name of the Oscar is the Academy Award of Merit.

What are the statues made of?

Originally, they were gold-plated solid bronze. Then they moved over to Britannia metal, a pewter-like alloy that was then covered with copper, nickel silver, and 24-carat gold. But when WWII hit, and a metal shortage followed, the Academy had to make do with what materials they had available. So they resorted to painted plaster for three years. After the war ended, recipients were invited to exchange the plaster awards for gold-plated metal ones. Fun fact: Oscar statuette weighs 8 1/2 pounds and is 13 1/2 inches tall. (Watch a video on the making of an Oscar below.)

Hardly anyone attended the first Academy Awards

With what the awards have turned into today, it’s hard to imagine Hollywood’s humble beginnings. But that was the case for the first Academy Awards in May 1929, which was a small dinner held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for 270 guests. It cost $5 a head, and the guests dined on broiled chicken.

Oscars.org

There have only been a few sweeps of the top categories

‘Hugo’ leads this year’s Best Picture crop with 11 nominations, but only three films in the history of the awards have ever won all five of the top categories (Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Actress in a Leading Role, Directing, Writing). They are: ‘It Happened One Night’ (1934), ’One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975) and ‘Silence of the Lambs’ (1991). 37 other films have been nominated in all of the “Big Five” categories, but have fallen short of ultimate Oscars glory.

Vince Bucci, Getty Images

A sound mixer is the biggest loser in Oscars history

Sound mixer Kevin O’Connell has 20 nominations yet still no wins, making him “the unluckiest nominee in the history of the Academy Awards,” according to The Guardian. Basically O’Connell is the Susan Lucci of the Oscars, with nods spanning from ‘Terms of Endearment’ to ’Transformers.’ “If I ever did get an opportunity to make a speech, one of the things I’d say is to all you nominees, don’t consider yourselves losers. You guys are winners and don’t let anyone tell you differently,” he told Entertainment Weekly. O’Connell can take solace in his recognition from the Academy in other ways — he sits on the Board of Governors, representing the sound branch. (Watch an interview with O’Connell below.)

A toothbrush is Billy Crystal’s good luck charm

Expect this year’s host Billy Crystal to be armed with a toothbrush in his tuxedo pocket, but not because of a fear of bad breath. As a kid, Crystal would pretend to make an Oscar speech using his toothbrush as a microphone, and each of the eight times he’s taken the stage as the show’s host, he’s brought along his toothbrush to help ease his nerves.

Selling Oscar trophies is forbidden

Fame is fleeting, and so are Oscars apparently. Many celebrities have given their Oscars way or lost them over the years. But according to Moviefone, they can’t hock them at the pawn shop — the Academy banned the sale of the statuettes in 1950. Heirs to the statuettes must, according to the established rule, sell the trophies back to the Academy for $1. Pre-1950 Academy Awards have sold for millions.

Jemal Countess, Getty Images

Someone streaked the Oscars

During the 1974 Academy Awards, while actor David Niven was calling up Elizabeth Taylor to present the Oscar for Best Picture, a streaker emerged from the back of the stage and interrupted the festivities. Niven ad-libbed, ”Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was almost bound to happen. But isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?” The streaker was Robert Opel, a photographer and art gallery owner who had snuck backstage posing as a journalist. You can thank him for the delay imposed on the televised broadcast. Watch the famous moment below.

Marlon Brando turned down an award

When Marlon Brando won Best Actor in a Leading Role for ‘The Godfather’ in 1972, he declined to accept the award and instead sent Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather to represent him on the stage. Littlefeather explained that Brando didn’t appreciate the way that Native Americans were portrayed in the movies. While some didn’t like Brando’s political statement, others believe that Brando’s stand helped improve the treatment of Native Americans in Hollywood. The Academy subsequently banned the use of proxies to speak on anyone’s behalf at the ceremony.

Oscar wins raise the divorce rate

A recent study found that women who were nominated for Best Actress were more likely to get divorced sometime after their Academy Award nods. Many recent winners – including Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, and Sandra Bullock – feel prey to the curse. (See a recent list of actresses here.) “Winning an Oscar can be construed as a big jump in professional status that an actor or actress has in their world and in the eyes of the broader audience…You are never the same after you’ve secured an Oscar for Best actor or Best Actress,” explained one of the scientists.

Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images

Source: TheFW.com

Joe Lowe Morning Show friends and producers of our Joe Lowe Morning Jingle, Heath and Molly Eric were guests on the show Tuesday Morning and talked about the Kentucky Crafted Events in Lexington March 3 and 4. With tickets as low as $8 and kids 15 and under free, this is a great early Spring trip.Nowhere in Kentucky, let alone the nation, will you find such a convergence of high quality art, craft, literature, music, film and food as you will at Kentucky Crafted: The Market. When you attend this show, prepare yourself for an exciting sensory experience. Now in its 30th year, Kentucky Crafted: The Market is one of the only state-sponsored shows of its kind to showcase traditional and contemporary fine art and craft along with Kentucky-related books, musical recordings, films and specialty food products. The Market was chosen as the #1 Fair & Festival by readers of AmericanStyle Magazine in 2011. It has been named a Top 10 Event by Kentucky Tourism Council and a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society. The general public is invited to Kentucky Crafted: The Market on Saturday March 3 and Sunday, March 4. This year the addition of Concerts by Kentucky Musicians in front of the Convention Center will be the highlight of the weekend. The Kentucky Stage will feature everything from Traditional music to Chinese Dance. All this will full concert sound and stage. Come to the beautiful Convention Center and enjoy all that downtown Lexington has to offer. Ample parking is available in the High St. and Manchester St. lots.

The Market offers:

• Two full days of musical performances
• More than 200 exhibitors of fine art, craft, books and specialty food products
• Ten workshops presented by Kentucky artists and authors
• Hands-on activities