Whitney Houston: A Film Fan's Appreciation

Late singer showed dignity and vulnerability in films like 'The Bodyguard' and 'Waiting to Exhale.'
By Ryan J. Downey

Whitney Houston in "Bodyguard"
Photo: Warner Bros.

Whitney Houston will be remembered for her voice, her hit songs, her charismatic presence. As someone who has spent my life sharing equal passion for music and movies, it's particularly noteworthy to me that the biggest hit I associate Houston with is intrinsically tied to a film. Judging by the number of "Whitney, I will always love you" tweets from celebrities and fans on Saturday, I'd say I'm not alone in thinking of her big voice mostly in "I Will Always Love You," which is inseparable from "The Bodyguard."

My late mother was a huge fan of Dolly Parton, who originally wrote and recorded the song that would become a huge hit for Houston on the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard," in which she starred (years before people ran around saying "meta"!) as a pop singer. The stepmother who came into my life when I was a teenager passed away herself a couple of years ago. The first Christmas present I ever bought for her growing up was a copy of one of Whitney's albums on cassette, so I experienced a variety of emotions and memories about important women in my life as my Twitter feed blew up with reports of the troubled star's untimely passing.

Nobody knew Houston could act (a bit part on an episode of the corny sitcom "Gimme a Break!" was certainly no barometer) when director Mick Jackson cast her to play Rachel Marron, a singer in need of protection from a stalker, in "The Bodyguard." Big marquee name Kevin Costner played the title role of an ex-Secret Service agent turned private protector. The two characters, against the odds and against the rule, become more than co-workers as the story unfolds. The movie is cornball, sure, but Houston was quite fun.

Lawrence Kasdan, who put his stamp all over my childhood as a writer on "The Empire Strikes Back," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Return of the Jedi," reportedly conceived the script in the '70s as a vehicle for the legendary Steve McQueen and Diana Ross. I was actually at the Grammy Special Merit Awards watching Ross accept a Lifetime Achievement Award when I saw the guy in front of me show his girlfriend a tweet about Whitney Houston's death, which is how I first learned the news. Perhaps in some roundabout way you could call that my Six Degrees of Kevin Costner with this story. It's not unusual to look for "signs" and coincidences when we try to process death around us, whether it's a loved one, acquaintance or a public personality we never knew.

"The Bodyguard" had action, romance and behind-the-scenes drama involving the entertainment industry, all of which are some touchtone topics that have followed me in life. I worked part-time in a record store when the movie came out and I vividly remember handling copies of the soundtrack on CD and cassette (remember those?) as patron after patron brought up a copy for me to ring up. The movie, the songs ("I Have Nothing" was no slouch!) and the CD were all intertwined, intermingled, wrapped up together to me.

Houston's performance displayed a certain tenderness combined with an elegant toughness that recalled screen sirens from mid-century. True, she was drawing from some life experience by playing someone so close to her comfort zone. But in 1995, she did it all over again in "Waiting to Exhale" and this time opposite acting heavyweight Angela Bassett (and directed by Forrest Whitaker!). "Exhale" shot straight to #1 at the box office, while Houston's single from the movie did the same thing on Billboard. Last spring, Bassett did an interview in which she talked about a sequel reuniting the director and stars. Of course, that couldn't happen now.

Too many pop stars, rock idols and rappers trying their hand at acting have made the whole concept a joke to some people. And granted, not every musician who switches gears turns out to have chops (and vice versa in the actors-turned-musician department). But Penny Marshall certainly wouldn't have put Houston next to Denzel Washington and Gregory Hines in "The Preacher's Wife" if she'd watched "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale" and thought the singer hadn't pulled off the jobs. The remake of the 1947 film "The Bishop's Wife" may have included some hokey fantasy elements, but it still became the best-reviewed movie Houston made.

Sure, both "Bodyguard" and "Exhale" are "rotten" according to Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates reviews from major film critics. I'm not going to try to pass either of them off as particularly great films. But "The Bodyguard," my favorite of the two, is an inoffensive confection that rises above the phrase "guilty pleasure" ever so slightly even after repeated viewings and even after all of this time.

There's no denying Houston's likability and watchability in all three of her major film roles. She was dignified, strong and yet vulnerable in the sort of way that made you want to sweep her up like Kevin Costner on the movie poster.

Houston's final film, "Sparkle," is set to be released in August, and indeed, there is nothing the specter of addiction can do to erase her sparkle on the silver screen. We'll miss you, Whitney.

MTV News' Sway and James Montgomery will be live from the Grammys red carpet this Sunday, February 12 starting at 5 p.m. ET to get reactions from music's biggest stars on the death of Whitney Houston. Watch Reactions and Remembrances at MTV.com.

Share your condolences with Whitney's family and friends on our Facebook page.

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• Whitney Houston: Life And Music Of An Icon

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• Whitney Houston: A Life In Photos

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• Whitney Houston

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679045/whitney-houston-death-films.jhtml

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Begin job ? Article Directory ? Beat Eczema Review ? Plant ...

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Source: http://beginjob.com/health-and-fitness/beat-eczema-review-plant-medicine-is-guaranteed-to-cure-eczema-harmlessly.html

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Maine GOP chairman say Romney wins caucuses (AP)

PORTLAND, Maine ? Mitt Romney eked out a narrow win in Maine's Republican caucuses, state party officials announced Saturday, providing his campaign a much-needed boost after three straight losses earlier this week. But the former Massachusetts governor's margin of victory over rival Ron Paul was so slim it all but guaranteed scrutiny of the party's decision not to count the results of caucuses scheduled later in February.

At a state party gathering in Portland, state Republican Chairman Charlie Webster announced Romney had won with 2,190 votes compared to 1,996 for Paul, the only other candidate to aggressively compete in the state. Rick Santorum received 989 votes and Newt Gingrich won 349, but neither actively campaigned there.

Webster said any caucus results that come in after Saturday wouldn't be counted no matter how close the vote turned out to be.

Maine's caucuses began February 4 and continued throughout the week. But the results announced Saturday accounted for just 83 percent of all precincts in the state. Several communities elected to hold their caucuses at a later date.

Caucuses in Washington County scheduled Saturday were postponed until February 18 because of a major snowstorm that blanketed the region. Earlier, the state party's Executive Director Michael Quatrano said county officials were told the results would not count toward the total.

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Fouhy reported from Washington. Associated Press writer David Sharp contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120211/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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At least 3 killed in avalanche in Kosovo

PODGORICA, Montenegro?? An avalanche hit a village in Kosovo's mountainous south Saturday, killing a married couple and their 17-year-old son and leaving nine others missing, police said, as heavy snow continued to blanket the Balkans.

The village of Restelica, where the deaths occurred, and its region bordering Macedonia and Albania have been blocked by snow for several days, Kosovo police spokesman Baki Kelani said. NATO peacekeepers have been called in to help local authorities in the rescue operation.

In neighboring Montenegro, authorities proclaimed a state of emergency after the heaviest snow there in 63 years sealed off hundreds of villages, shut down roads and railways and closed the main airport in the tiny Balkan state on Saturday.

Snow virtually sealed off the capital Podgorica, closing its airport and hampering rail and road traffic. At 52 centimeters (20 inches) high, it was the biggest snowfall in the capital since 1949.

The state rail company said an avalanche had blocked a train's route near the mountain town of Kolasin and another engine had to rescue the 50 passengers.

The cold snap in Europe, which began in late January, has killed hundreds of people ? most of them homeless. Boat traffic on the frozen Danube river ? one of Europe's key waterways ? has been unable to move for the longest time in recent memory.

In Serbia, overnight snowfall hampered operations to reach about 20,000 households in remote villages, which have been cut off since the blizzards started more than two weeks ago. The country has been hit by electricity shortages, with authorities ordering a public holiday Friday to preserve energy.

Schools and universities will be closed to save electricity for the whole of next week.

High winds and blizzards closed many roads and highways on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia on Saturday, with unprecedented snow blanketing some of its islands and tourist resorts. About 3,000 households in western Croatia were affected by power cuts because of the bad weather.

Below-freezing temperatures also persisted across Germany. In Hamburg, tens of thousands of people crowded onto the frozen Aussenalster lake in the city center.

In Italy, farm lobbies said that weeks of freezing cold and a string of snowstorms have prevented fruit, vegetables and meat from reaching market, leaving around 100,000 tons of products to rot. Dairy farmers also warned that unless roads linking them to markets are cleared soon, milk will spoil.

Snow also continued to fall in the country's north-central regions, accentuating problems in towns in the Apennine mountains and near the Adriatic still struggling with several snowstorms in two weeks. The capital, Rome, dug its way out of its second snowfall in a week. Before this winter, its last significant snowstorm was in 1986. Several Italian airports had delays or cancellations.

Snow also hit southern Italy. In the town of Castelvenere, a funeral had to be canceled when snow blocked the arrival of a coffin to church.

___

Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Nebi Qena in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46351324/ns/weather/

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Looking Into Cloud Computing | Computers and Technology

Cloud Computing has emerged as a powerful price management tool for all sized businesses in a down economy. It permits enterprises to procedure and store their mission critical applications and data, not on any physical hardware or designated enterprise class data center, but over the Web. The information will be processed via the distributed computing across grids and data centers. This gives cloud computing an edge over traditional computing paradigms. Even so, lack of security remains a concern. Since security standardization has not come to the cloud but, consumers will have to take the responsibility of security and integrity of their own information. Nicely! A look at the pros and cons of cloud computing can explain its actual prospective in a far better way.

Let?s 1st talk about the reasons that make cloud computing worth your cash. Amongst the attributes are: Much better Allocation of IT Resources, Reduce Application Run and Response Time, Increased Company Agility, Increased Storage, ?Anywhere, Anytime? Data Access, Far more Mobility, Less complicated Group Collaboration and Lower Price of Ownership. On the other side of the coin are some cloud computing concerns including less security of confidential information, lack of control over your applications and high chance of latency.

Cloud computing, no wonder, will let enterprises push a comprehensive array of new profitable product and services. Improvements in the way the enterprises store, back up or archive their information or process power or develop technology will enable innovation that was not possible prior to. Then, there will be a greater emphasis on the use of World wide web and Internet two. technologies. A high rate of growth in the Internet two. has paved a way for technologies, solutions, and architecture that can cater to millions in a powerful yet price effective way. It is one of the capabilities which will aid drive the cloud computing trend.

With cloud computing, enterprises will locate themselves leveraging the advantages of multiple tech-tools be it SaaS, managed hosting or Internet two., or other technologies ion their own cloud. Given that large players will use their resources to offer the greatest cloud computing services, there will also be a new generation of cloud start off-ups coming forward with their array of offerings. For e.g. Amazon and Google are not regarded as to be extremely skilled as the enterprise services provider.

According to the industry connoisseurs, Cloud computing holds enough prospective to create a paradigm shift in technology for companies that adopt it. It is foreseen as an innovative IT development that will be highly embraced in the next many years. And the enterprises that can strike a delicate balance by producing the most of cloud computing advantages whilst managing the risks are likely to gain enterprise benefit.

As enterprises seek to consume their IT services in cash spinning way, their interest is growing in leveraging a wide array of services like computation power, storage, and enterprise applications from the cloud than from on-premises facilities. In spite of holding high expectations, the enterprises really should look out for immediate benefits of cloud computing. Moreover, they need to study the technologies thoroughly prior to embracing it.

Source: http://www.technethuancavelica.com/looking-into-cloud-computing.htm

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Judith Johnson: The Death and Dying Series Part Three ...

"For most of human history, people died fast.
Now suddenly, we have the opportunity to grow old,
to have an illness for a long period of time,
and to know what's coming.
We could make this an important phase of life."
-- Joanne Lynn, M.D., "Americans for Better Care of the Dying"

It may sound peculiar, but there are some very exciting things happening where death is concerned in America. The momentum of change in how we view and respond to death is building in many sectors of society as we transform our culture of death. For example, consider the following changes:

• People are choosing memorial services and celebrations in addition to or instead of a traditional funeral. This allows for a more personalized ritual customized to the particular beliefs and sensibilities of the deceased. It also allows for both mourning the loss of a loved one and celebrating the life he or she lived.

• Cremation is rapidly becoming the preferred method of body disposition and is projected to surpass burial, reaching 51 percent by 2025 in the U.S. Traditional funerals and burial rites are becoming one of several options rather than the only way to go. Even burial rites are changing with a growing number of requests for environmentally friendly green burials.

• In medicine, the mission of preserving life coupled with evermore sophisticated technologies have made it difficult for doctors to see death as anything other than a professional failure. With the introduction of hospice and other palliative care programs over the past 30 years, medical schools and the health care industry are beginning to embrace the emerging culture of compassionate comfort care for the dying.

• The end of life is no longer being seen simply as a time of diminished capacity spent fighting against an illness that is simply taking its natural course. Instead, there is a growing awareness of the need to take time for coming to terms with one's death, reviewing one's life, putting one's affairs in order, and for saying final goodbyes.

• Advances are being made in the area of local and internet bereavement services which are helping to reduce the isolation of the grieving and are providing support and education about the grieving process. Businesses are becoming more aware of the impact of grief on productivity in the workplace and, as a result, are increasingly providing educational and support services for their employees and community.

Unfortunately, in our personal lives, death is still largely a taboo topic. Most of us are not comfortable talking to each other about our thoughts and fears about the uncertainties surrounding dying and death. The irrational fear that preparing for death will hasten its arrival or cause medical personnel to "pull the plug" stops many of us from putting our affairs in order in advance of need. It's been reported 30-40 percent of us still do not have advance health care directives to instruct medical personnel and loved ones about personal preferences for emergency and/or end-of-life medical care. Instead, we tend to just let these things happen and be dealt with while in crisis mode.

The deeper and more profound conversation about the meaning and mysteries of death and how our view of death informs how we live our life has not yet reached public discourse. The prevailing belief remains that life is good and death is bad. When someone dies, most think of it as a tragedy rather than seeing it for what it is -- the normal course of events. Yet, dying comes with living. No one gets to live without dying. So, death is every bit as normal as birth is, yet we still shroud it in stigma, fear and rejection. Next week's article will discuss the potential available to us all, both individually and collectively, in making our peace with death.

For more by Judith Johnson, click here.

For more on death and dying, click here.

My other posts on the topic of dying and death include:

The Death and Dying Series Part Two:Grief in the American Workplace

The Death and Dying Series Part One: How Do You Relate to Death

Overcoming Our Fear of Death

What Do You Think Happens When We Die?

Facing the Holidays When You Have Lost a Loved One

More About Carrying Your Grief Through the Holidays

Death and Dying Quotes: Reframing the Conversation

How to Handle Family Dynamics Around a Dying Loved One

Honoring the Memory of a Deceased Loved One

Opening a Dialogue About Dying and Death

Talking to Doctors About a Terminal Diagnosis

Why We Need to Talk About Death and Dying

The Importance of End of Life Preparation

7 Tips for Talking About Health and Money With Elderly Parents

Please retweet this post, share it on Facebook or email it to friends who may enjoy it.

To learn more about me, visit my website, www.judithjohnson.com or my Facebook page "Tending to Your Ending."

To learn more about me, visit my website, www.judithjohnson.com For information on my future blogs, click "Fan" at the top of this page.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judith-johnson/death-and-dying_b_1263746.html

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Video: Google to Develop Home Entertainment System

CNBC's Seema Mody reports Google is about to unveil a wireless home entertainment system; LinkedIn shares soared on Q4 earnings beat; Kodak announced, after 130 years, it will stop making cameras; and Clint Eastwood speaks out on the controversy surr...

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46334430/

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