A Royal Engagement

       


       The most anticipated wedding since the marriage of the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles 30 years ago is underway.  Britain's Prince William, who is second in line to the British throne, popped the question to the beautiful Kate Middleton, his long time girlfriend, during a vacation in Kenya last month.  William and Kate, both 28, have been dating since 2003.
       The couple first met 2002 when they were both students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where William studied geography and Kate studied history of art.
      They briefly split in 2007 but the pair remained close and by July of that same year, Middleton sat in the royal box at Wembley Stadium in London for the Concert for Diana, a massive charity concert to remember Prince William's mother, Princess Diana, 10 years after her death in a car crash.  Soon by the end of the year the couple were dating again.
       What makes the engagement so special is Prince William gave Kate his mother's engagement ring, a huge, stunning sapphire surrounded by diamonds.  

       "It's my mother's engagement ring, so of course it's very special to me," Prince William explained, "and Kate's now very special to me, so it was only right to put the two together."
       The wedding will take place in London in either the spring or summer of 2011.  After the wedding the newlyweds will reside in north Wales where Prince William will continue to serve in the Royal Air Force. 

      When it came to the royal family's thoughts of the engagement, everyone was thrilled.
     
      Prince Charles, William's father said, "We're obviously thrilled."
      Michael and Carole Middleton, Kate's parents said, "They make a lovely couple, they're great fun to be with and we've had a lot of laughs together. We've got to know William really well. We all think he's wonderful and we're extremely fond of him."  
      William's grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, are "absolutely delighted for them both," Buckingham Palace said.
      His brother Prince Harry said he was "delighted that my brother has popped the question! It means I get a sister, which I have always wanted."




References:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/11/16/kate.middleton.bio/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/search/?query=royal%20engagement&sortBy=date
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/11/19/middleton.royal.engagement.ring/index.html?iref=allsearch
       

2010 American Music Awards

       The 38th annual American Music Awards 2010 aired live on ABC from Los Angeles on Sunday, November 21.  The show was packed full with some of the biggest celebs of today with big winners and even bigger performances.  For those of you who missed out, I have it covered for you!

       Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber swept the awards as the night biggest winner, winning all 4 awards he was nominated for; Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Pop/Rock Male Artist, Pop/Rock Album of the Year, and Artist of the Year.  The 16 year old teen idol became the young winner ever to take home the Artist of the Year trophy.

       During his acceptance speech Bieber called up his proclaimed "big brother" and "best friend," Usher who has help Bieber get to where he is today.  Bieber said, "I really was embraced by a man named Usher Raymond," he said. "It would be only right if I invited him up here to share it with me."

   

Other winners of the night included:

Eminem

Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Male Artist

Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Album for "Recovery"

Lady Antebellum

Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group

Lady Gaga

Female Pop/Rock Female Artist

Usher 

Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist

Favorite Soul/R&B Album for "Raymond vs. Raymond"

Carrie Underwood

Favorite Country Album for "Play On"

Rihanna

Favorite Soul/Rhythm/Blues Music Artist

Michael Buble

Favorite Adult Contemporary Music Artist

Glee

Favorite Soundtrack for 

"The Music, vol 3 The Showstoppers"

Taylor Swift

Favorite Female Country Artist

Black Eyed Peas

Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group

Shakira

Favorite Latin Music Artist

Brad Paisely

Favorite Male Country Artist

Muse

Favorite Alternative Rock Artist

       The show was also jam packed with many memorable performances with some of the biggest names in the industry.  Rihanna opened the show as she belted out a medley of her new songs, "What's my Name," "Love the Way You Lie," and "Only Girl in the World," all from her new album Loud.  She gave her performance island flavor with tribal dancers and drummers.

       Pink gave a signature goofy performance, not only showing off her new single "Raise Your Glass," but her new baby bump.

       

Usher busted out his famous dance moves while performing his hit "DJ Got Us Falling in Love."

       

Black Eyed Peas performed "The Time (The Dirty Bit)" with a futuristic theme.

Ne-yo sang a mash up of his 3 popular songs "Champagne Life," "One in a Million," and "Beautiful Monster."

Christina Aguilera performed "Express" from her film debut soundtrack of Burlesque which hits theaters Thanksgiving.

Katy Perry entered from the ceiling singing her hit "Firework" wearing a red glitter leotard.  She was joined by a choir of kids and added colorful pyrotechnics for a colorful performance.

Ke$ha flaunted her outcast/party girl pride as she performed her new song "We R Who We R" and "Take it Off"

Taylor Swift slowed things down with her apologetic new hit "Back To December" under a winter themed stage, also showing off her new hair do.

Justin Bieber, the man of the night, sang "Pray" along with a gospel choir 

The lengthy line up of performers included Train, Enrigue Ingesias, Kid Rock, Bon Jovi, Miley Cyrus, Diddy, Santana, New Kids on the Block, and Backstreet Boys

References:

http://idolator.com/5696371/2010-american-music-awards-the-performances

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6038126/2010_american_music_awards_winners.html?cat=33

Four Loko is a No No!

      You probably see them everywhere.  College students with the large colorful cans are plastered all over facebook and you can't walk into any party without seeing at least one person drinking it.  "Four Loko," is the new craze that is sweeping college campuses nationwide by storm, but no one really knows how dangerous they are.  I feel it is important for students to know the dangers of these drinks and they way they effect your health and behavior, to the point where law makers want to ban it.


      Four teens in White Plains, Nine Central Washington students, and 23 students in New Jersey have been hospitalized only this month after being sickened, and almost seemed drugged, from the alcoholic beverage.  Some police reports from the hospitalizations have found kids with a blood alcohol level of .3 --- which could kill you!

      For those of you who are unfamiliar with Four Loko, it is a caffeinated malt liquor which as also been nicknamed, "blackout in a can," "cocaine in a can," and "a binge drinker's dream."  Self explanatory? Basically Four Loko gets you very drunk, very fast.  It is 12% alcohol by volume in 24oz can, combining as much alcohol equivalent to a six pack of beer mixed with a couple cups of coffee.  Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna who is calling for federal food regulators to ban the beverages explains, "They're marketed to kids by using fruit flavors that mask the taste of alcohol and they have such high levels of stimulants that people have no idea how inebriated they really are.  They're packaged just like non-alcoholic drinks, but include a dangerous dose of malt liquor."

      Before choosing this drink you should understand that the large amounts of caffiene and other stimulants in Four Loko is extremely dangerous because it keeps you awake allowing you to drink more volumes of alcohal without passing out.  Tiredness and passing are some of Mother Nature's way in which your body defences against consuming amounts of alcohal that will kill you.  Dr. Manny Alvarez, FoxNews senior managing editor of health, said in a news story. "Fatigue is your body's way of telling you it's had enough, so fooling the body with stimulants creates the perfect scenario for acute alcohol poisoning and potentially death."


      Phusion Products, the makers of Four Loko, have defended themselves by stating they are doing "all we can to ensure that our products are consumed safely and responsibly.  When consumed responsibly, (our products) are just as safe as any other alcohalic beverage."  They even added that they shouldn't be critized because they  weren't the ones who invented the concept of caffiene mixed with alcohal.  What about rum & Cokes?  Or vodka Red Bulls?


      What do you think?  After hearing this will you still drink Four Loko?  Will you stay away?  Should it be banned or should kids be held accountable for their own consumption?






Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXgm01r_wBU 
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2010/10/26/nr.alcoholic.energy.drink.cnn 



Reference/Links:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/25/washington.students.overdose/index.html?hpt=T2 

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s1803988.shtml 

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/post_297.html