While folks are having strange addictions to black market silicone butt injections in America , folks in South Africa are doing the complete opposite… According to IOL News: When it comes to plastic surgery it appears that for young black South Africans, less is more. Nip-and-tuck procedures, breast reductions and even lip reductions are on the increase among young, affluent black South Africans. Dr Leon Dumas said the procedures being done on young black people were contrary to the perceptions about what patients wanted. “Normally there is a perception that everyone wants breast implants, but what we are seeing with our young, black patients is that reduction is the major trend. It’s no longer seen as acceptable to have big breasts or a big body.” Dumas said a lot of black people now had access to a disposable income and no longer saw cosmetic surgery as taboo. “As young black people become more affluent, they are more open-minded about plastic surgery. And what we are noticing is that the surgeries are mostly cosmetic and voluntary. So people do them not because their health depends on them, but because they often see them as a lifestyle enhancement.” According to independent research carried out by the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of Southern Africa, the local market is in line with global trends because over the past 10 years it has seen an increase of 780 percent in non-invasive procedures such as botox injections and a 128 percent increase in breast procedures. Association spokesman Dr Chris Snijman said a growing number of people had been able to have cosmetic surgery because of cheap pricing. “Cosmetic surgery in South Africa is among the most affordable in the world,” he said. According to First Health Insurance (FHI, a company that finances plastic surgery), it received applications to the value of R100 million last year alone. Jason Sive, the director of surgical finance at FHI, said that now, more than ever, South Africans who could not finance their procedures were willing to put up valuable items as collateral for surgery-related loans. “A lot of the people we deal with are people who are not able to afford the cost of procedures, or have only a fraction of the money to cover the cost. “Now they are willing to invest more in getting it done and are putting up the necessary collateral and going through credit checks to get these loans. “It’s important when people take out loans for cosmetic surgery that they take it for a long-term surgery, not for something they may want to change even before they have repaid the costs. We have had lots of people who do that and it’s not worth it.” Due to the affordability of plastic surgery in South Africa, an increasing number of international tourists have been coming to South Africa for cosmetic procedures. Hundreds of these so-called medical tourists flock to South Africa every year and often do so without fully disclosing the medical reasons for their visits. Interesting….
By now if you’ve seen one Harlem Shake video , you’ve kinda seen them all. Still, doing the viral “dance” craze while skydiving? That’s a must-watch! Harlem Shake – Skydiving The skydivers made note of the virtual deluge of Harlem Shake videos in making their own, calling this their way of “closing this chapter of the Internet.” “That’s why we decided to go out with style,” they said. You tell us: Is the Harlem Shake officially over? The song is #1 on Billboard , so that suggests otherwise. Check out some of our favorite videos below: Harlem Shake Video (Original) Harlem Shake Video Harlem Shake – Office Style Harlem Shake – Office Version Norwegian Army Harlem Shake Video Best Harlem Shake Video
Ding! Ding! Will Glenn Beck soon appear in the WWE squared circle? On his TheBlaze TV show Thursday, the conservative commentator slammed the wrestling organization due to its portrayal of Zeb Colter, an overly patriotic grappler who Beck feels is “demonizing” the Tea Party. “You’re making a villain out of what?” Beck asked, adding that the company is alienating its fans: “Probably 80% of your audience who’s tired as it is of being miscast? They’re tired of this.” Beck went on to wonder: Has Vince McMahon been influenced by liberal billionaire George Soros? “Did George Soros buy the WWE? I expect that from Hollywood, but I don’t expect – if I’m getting my entertainment from somebody that I think is on my side – and I’m sorry. I just don’t see a bunch of progressives going and buying their tickets to the WWE. Do you?” In response to his rant, WWE executives have invite Beck to appear on Monday Night Raw , saying in a statement: “WWE is giving Beck the opportunity to address our 14 million weekly viewers and our global fan base, as he believes we are offending our ‘conservative’ fans with this storyline.” Should Beck accept the offer? Yes, and he should get body slammed! Yes, so he can set it straight! No, what a dumb idea! View Poll »
Sorry, random ex-boyfriend. But tonight, Carly Rae Jepsen is getting over you. The Canadian singer, in her continual quest to prove she is more than just a ” Call Me Maybe ” phenomenon, has released a new music video for the track “Tonight I’m Getting Over You.” And just how does Jepsen plan to get over the man at the center of the single? But dancing with someone new until the sun comes up, of course! Watch now and give this method a shot the next time you are heart broken:
Raise those glasses and let’s share a toast, THGers: It’s National Margarita Day! A holiday that honors the long tradition of this delicious drink, which was founded by by our forefathers in… … JUST KIDDING! It’s a celebration made-up by alcohol companies that want to see you get sloshed on their brand of liquor. But whatever, right? Is that concept really so different from Valentine’s Day? So slap on that salt, stick in a lime, grab yourself America’s top-selling cocktail and designate a driver. We’ll meet you at the bar.
The Oscar season enters its last weekend, but one suspects it is far from over. Even if Academy members ultimately hewed to tradition and voted Lincoln and Steven Spielberg Best Picture and Director, respectively — as is the customary coronation for films with the most Oscar nominations — this outlier season will be studied and debated. For at least days to come. The Final Countdown To The 2013 Academy Awards The final week of voting saw pundits and bloggers get in their final shots, filibuster like Jefferson Smith for their lost causes (“the only causes worth fighting for”), issue their final predictions or revise earlier forecasts. Roger Ebert backtracked slightly from his self-described “cocky” “Outguess Ebert” boast that he had guessed every (contest category) correctly. “Every year it is the same,” Ebert wrote. “I came out of the gate filled with certainty, and as the deadline draws near I begin to falter.” Several enterprising writers persuaded some Academy members from various branches to share—anonymously—their Oscar ballots, and the results might give pause to anyone convinced that any of the major categories (except perhaps Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress) are locks. The Oscar Index views and duly notes these ruminations objectively. The reported (conjectured?) groundswells make for compelling Oscars storylines, last-minute cliffhanging drama and even, perhaps, better ratings for the telecast. The Index admits to a conservative risk tolerance here, but on Monday morning will probably say it knew De Niro would win Best Supporting Actor all along. Let’s look at how the Gold Linings playbook plays out on Oscars eve. Academy Award For Best Picture In Oscar season, as in war, the first casualty is truth. Three of the Best Picture nominees, frontrunners at various stages of Oscar season, took Battleship -like hits for remaking history. Critics of Zero Dark Thirty , said it was pro-torture — oh, for the days of the Orwellian Bush era and “enhanced interrogation techniques” — and heightened its role in the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Lincoln slandered the state of Connecticut by depicting its representatives as voting against the 13 th Amendment. And to read The New York Times ’ Maureen Dowd and Salon ’s Andrew O’Hehir this week, about the only things Argo got absolutely right was that there is a country named Iran and a CIA operative named Tony Mendez. I’m bracing myself for the eleventh-hour revelation that Quvenzhane Wallis is actually a 32-year-old psychopathic Russian dwarf pretending to be a child. Which opens the door for Silver Linings Playbook . Reconsiders Ebert: “( Argo ) was also my choice of the year’s best movie. Now, more and more, from many different quarters, I hear affection for Silver Linings Playbook . People tell me, I have a brother-in-law exactly like that. I sense a groundswell.” But just as those Iranian guards discovered as they chased the hostage-carrying plane down the runway (yes, I know; didn’t happen) there should be no stopping Argo ’s awards season take-off, lifted by wins from such major Oscar precursors as the PGA, DGA, SAG, BAFTA and, most recently, WGA (you know; the guild supposedly more terrifying than the Ayatollah). For awards bloggers, this Best Picture race has been all kinds of personal. Lincoln champion Sasha Stone at Awards Daily concedes the race to Argo , but will have none of it, diss-missing director Ben Affleck as “a movie star director…(who) finally made a movie people liked” and bemoaning the injustice suffered by “a film that good, that well intentioned.” Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells, too, picks Argo to win, but not before raging against the machine for the film he believes should win: “ Zero Dark Thirty , Zero Dark Thirty , Zero Dark Thirty , and I don’t care…going down with the ship.” The more journalistic pundits at Gold Derby and Gurus o’ Gold mostly favor Argo to win, but Anne Thompson sees echoes of last year’s race between The King’s Speech and The Social Network : “On the one hand, there’s recognition of what the older Academy goes for: quality, heart, period seriousness. On the other is a more youthful, ardent and in its way, au courant popular favorite. This year, both contenders are resonant and timely, but one seems more establishment while the other is the hip up-and-comer.” And the Academy, she notes, is more establishment than the guild members who honored Argo . As for the Academy members who shared their ballots with the media, they’re all over the map. Of the five ballots shared with Entertainment Weekly , Argo was the pick of the Executive and the Actor. The Director went with Silver Linings Playbook , the Actress, Life of Pi, and the Writer, Beasts of the Southern Wild . A Director sharing his ballot with The Hollywood Reporter went with Zero Dark Thirty. Apropos of nothing, the Oscar Index remembers vividly being in thrall to Argo . When it was over, I leaned over to Mrs. Index and said, perhaps facetiously, “Best Picture.” Like Lincoln , it celebrated America at its best. But it also celebrated Hollywood at its best. It was not a valentine to the movies like The Artist ; it was more of a “We love this country, too,” pat on the back. But with all the potshots that Lincoln has taken over the last few months, it should be noted that the film truly did make history. After seeing the film, inquisitive Mississippi moviegoer Dr. Ranjan Batra discovered upon further research that the state had yet to technically ratify the 13th Amendment. He got the ball rolling and on Feb. 7, the state’s ratification became official. So Lincoln ’s got that going for it. 2013 Oscar Nominations For Best Director Here’s one of the categories in which we are fending off a little Index remorse. Steven Spielberg edges out Ang Lee , according to pundits Gold Derby and Gurus o’ Gold. With Affleck out of the running, this might be the category in which Academy voters choose to acknowledge Spielberg’s achievement. But The Wrap’s Steve Pond posits: “…as much as voters admire and respect ( Lincoln ), they don’t seem to love it, and as a result I think he is going to lose. The huge Actors Branch could sway things in favor of David O. Russell , whose film has been coming on strong in a typical Harvey Weinstein-engineered surge. But I suspect that the rest of the Academy will lean toward the spectacle of Life of Pi , and give Ang Lee his second Best Director award without a corresponding Best Picture win.” What do those shared Oscar ballots in EW reveal? The Director went with Russell (“the heart of the job remains performances”), but the Actress, Writer and the Executive went with Lee. The Actor voted for Spielberg. Academy Award Nominees For Best Actor Raymond Massey couldn’t do it. Henry Fonda couldn’t do it. Rex Hamilton couldn’t do it (that’s for any Police Squad watchers out there). Daniel Day-Lewis will be the first actor to win the Academy Award for portraying Abraham Lincoln. Oh, and he’s poised to become the first three-time Best Actor Oscar-winner. On this, Oscar-watchers are near unanimous. He was also the pick of four of the five members who shared their ballots with EW. The Actress went with Bradley Cooper . If she’s available and she ever runs into Cooper, it will make a nice icebreaker. Oscar Nominations 2013: The Best Actress Contenders This is another category that seems to be in last-minute flux. Jennifer Lawrence has retained her frontrunner status among pundits, but several are noting the intangibles attached to 85 year-old Emmanuelle Riva, not the least of which is the “too soon” factor. In other words, Lawrence and Chastain will be back and this is Riva’s first, and presumably last, bid for an Academy Award. Then again, three of those five EW ballots went with Naomi Watts in The Impossible . Could enough votes divided among the top three contenders make that possible? 2013 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor Nominees Former frontrunner Tommy Lee Jones has endeared himself to no one this Oscar season and stayed off the campaign trail. On the one hand, you’ve got to grudgingly respect that. On the other, he might get the Golden Globe glums again watching Robert De Niro pick up his first Academy Award since Raging Bull . De Niro can be as taciturn and intimidating as Jones, but he gamely put himself out there this season and revealed an emotional side that swings votes. Now that is acting, dear readers. Twelve vs. nine of Gold Derby’s experts are now on Team De Niro. The Gurus o’ Goldsters also now rank De Niro as the frontrunner, dropping Jones to No. 2. Two out of three of In Contention’s experts are also in De Niro’s camp. If De Niro does win, he owes it to Katie Couric to acknowledge her in his acceptance speech. But there is one Silver lining — for TLJ: Nate Silver , the breakout prognosticator in the last presidential campaign, predicts Jones (and Spielberg) will win. There has, too, been some late-breaking buzz for Christoph Waltz. That Director who shared his Oscar ballot with the Hollywood Reporter admitted that he did not vote for Jennifer Lawrence because he was offended by her Saturday Night Live monologue (on principle alone, can his privileges be revoked?). I wonder what he thought of Waltz on “SNL” as “Djesus Uncrossed”? Oscar Nominations 2013: Best Supporting Actress Nominees This Oscar has a first name; and it’s Anne. LAST WEEK IN THE 2013 OSCAR INDEX: OSCAR INDEX: Will Academy ‘Amour’ For Emmanuelle Riva Lead To Best Actress Upset? More 2013 Oscar Nominations: Academy Award Nominees Announced – ‘Lincoln’ Leads 2013 Oscar Noms Oscar Nominations 2013 — The Biggest Snubs & Surprises Of The Year 2013 Oscar Predictions By The Numbers: Which Nominees Are Hot (Jennifer Lawrence) & Not Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The 14th Annual Anatomy Awards have landed, and there are plenty of trophy polishers amongst the pack. The category of Best Breasts is always a favorite, especially since previous winners included the succulently stacked Eva Green , Salma Hayek , and Lake Bell . Now let’s take a walk down mammary land with 10 years of the Best Breast winners from the Anatomy Awards! 10 Ludivine Sagnier … Winner 5th Annual Anatomy Awards. 9 Eva Green … Winner 6th Annual Anatomy Awards. 8 Carla Gugino … Winner 7th Annual Anatomy Awards. 7 Salma Hayek … Winner 8th Annual Anatomy Awards. 6 Keeley Hazell … Winner 9th Annual Anatomy Awards. 5 Asia Argento … Winner 10th Annual Anatomy Awards. 4 Alice Eve … Winner 11th Annual Anatomy Awards. 3 Jessica Par
I love the smut that Rihanna always writes on her social media…assuming that Rihanna knows how to write…something I kinda doubt you know with being a high school drop out who moved to America at 14 to become this 25 year old money making machine for a lot of already rich record execs….modern slavery repressing the black man for the benefit of the rich white plantation owner….only this plantation is a luxurious office… I digress…… What I was trying to say was, I love when Rihanna writes on her social media because it is always weird and random God quotes coupled with nudes and her smoking weed…and getting fucked up…with guys who fuck her up….in what makes for a seriously mixed message for her millions of little girls who wish they were her and follow her footsteps…. Shit is weird, but I like the bikini pics….
Cameron is sticking to her guns Model Cameron Russell Says She Won The Genetic Lottery With Her Beauty Via CNN Last month the TEDx talk I gave was posted online. Now it has been viewed over a million times. The talk itself is nothing groundbreaking. It’s a couple of stories and observations about working as a model for the last decade. I gave the talk because I wanted to tell an honest personal narrative of what privilege means. I wanted to answer questions like how did I become a model. I always just say, ” I was scouted,” but that means nothing. The real way that I became a model is that I won a genetic lottery, and I am the recipient of a legacy. What do I mean by legacy? Well, for the past few centuries we have defined beauty not just as health and youth and symmetry that we’re biologically programmed to admire, but also as tall, slender figures, and femininity and white skin. And this is a legacy that was built for me, and it’s a legacy that I’ve been cashing in on. Some fashionistas may think, “Wait. Naomi. Tyra. Joan Smalls. Liu Wen.” But the truth is that in 2007 when an inspired NYU Ph.D. student counted all the models on the runway, of the 677 models hired, only 27, or less than four percent, were non-white. Damn, 4 fawking percent… I am not a uniquely accomplished 25-year-old. I’ve modeled for 10 years and I took six years to finish my undergraduate degree part-time, graduating this past June with honors from Columbia University. If I ever had needed to put together a CV it would be quite short. Like many young people I’d highlight my desire to work hard. But hard work is not why I have been successful as a model. I’m not saying I’m lazy. But the most important part of my job is to show up with a 23-inch waist, looking young, feminine and white. This shouldn’t really shock anyone. Models are chosen solely based on looks. But what was shocking to me is that when I spoke, the way I look catapulted what I had to say on to the front page. Even if I did give a good talk, is what I have to say more important and interesting than what Colin Powell said? (He spoke at the same event and his talk has about a quarter of the view count.) She makes a good point, say what you want about “post-race America” but when it comes to the catwalk, if it ain’t white, it ain’t right . The numbers don’t lie. Image via WENN
Into the third week of Black History Month, Centric TV continues to celebrate some of African American’s greatest musical talent this weekend. From Feb 16-17, Centric will celebrate America’s favorite family with the Cosby Show & Jazz Weekend. America’s beloved dad loved jazz and related forms, so episodes airing during this weekend will feature groundbreaking artists from Dizzy Gillespie and Lena Horne to Stevie Wonder, B.B. King and Miriam Makeba. Join the conversation on social media by logging on to Centric’s multiple social media platforms: • On Facebook by liking their fan page at facebook.com/CENTRICTV • On Twitter by using hashtag: #Centrictv; and following @CentricTV • On Google+ at bet.us/gplusBET We are giving away one American Express gift card worth $50 and one Soul Train Box set! Enter below and be eligible to win: *We will select 2 winners at random. We will email winners and you have 48 hours to respond with your name and mailing address. Must have a valid U.S. address
