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Album Review: Yael Naim

BuzzSugar — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:30:55 PDT

We can get a taste of Yael Naim's light, pretty vocals pretty much anytime we turn on the TV these days and see that commercial for the MacBook Air, which uses Naim's sweet tune "New Soul." For those of you who want to hear more than just a 30-second snippet of the French-Israeli singer-songwriter, I highly recommend you check out her newly released (in the States, anyway) self-titled album. It is, in a word, lovely.

Her voice has an airy, innocent quality to it, whether she's singing in English, French, or soft, rapid Hebrew. Some of the tracks, like "Paris," consist of simply Naim, a strummed guitar, and a soothing cadence, though there is, of course, also "New Soul," which is more upbeat and utilizes some fun instrumentation. For more about Yael Naim,

"Too Long" is one of my favorites, with a melancholy tinging her sweet voice (which sometimes reminds me of Sarah McLachlan's). Another good one is "7 Baboker," a haunting track that gives a sense of holiness and reverence.

She also covers Britney Spears’ "Toxic" as a twinkly, slowed-down, dreamy tune, not unlike something we'd hear from Bjork. It's not the best song on the album, but it has an endearing quirkiness.

As is the case with most music, this album won't suit every mood. I would recommend it for the stressed-and-need-something-soothing mood. Naim will surely help you out.

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Girl Crush of the Day: Yael Naim

GiggleSugar — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:30:00 PST

I am seriously obsessed with this song. Just ask GeekSugar who informed me that "New Soul" by Yael Naim is the addictive little ditty that accompanies those Apple ads for the MacBook Air. We were practically co-authoring a dissertation together on why that is a perfect song for this product. (Don't hate us because we have fun jobs!) Oh, yeah, and check out Yael. She's adorable and you might never get the song out of your head . . .

Singer to Watch: Who’s Singing That MacBook Commercial?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:30:22 PST

I have a serious weakness for a pretty, quirky folk song a la Regina Spektor. When done well, songs out of this genre can feel so light and ethereal that you want to sprout wings and fly - or, buy a new laptop.

That’s at least what the folks over at Apple are hoping French-born Israeli singer Yael Naïm's song "New Soul" will inspire you to do, as they've featured it in their new MacBook Air TV spot. Computer or no, the commercial might send you racing to iTunes to get this song and others from Naïm into your library ASAP.

"New Soul," from her self-titled album with songs in French, English, and Hebrew, is incredibly infectious, yet personal. The album has been popular in France since its release in the Fall of last year, and I suspect Apple may have just launched her crossover career. Remind anyone of Feist and the Nano?

To watch Naïm's video for the MacBook tune, and a beautiful live performance covering Britney’s Toxic (seriously!),

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You're Fired! 20 Signs That a Pink Slip Is Coming

Wise Bread — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:54:53 PDT

If something feels off at the office, you may want to brace yourself for the worst. Wise Bread shares signs to look for when a pink slip is coming.

There are two types of employees. One has a good idea of what they do, who they are, and what position they play in the company. They are savvy. They know the score. They are under no delusions, and will no doubt leave for another job long before they are ever considered as cannon-fodder.

And then there's the other kind. The guy who could get Gandhi to hate him. The woman who spends most of her day chatting on the phone to friends or doing online shopping. Or the nice chap in sales who is completely oblivious that the recent merger means his job is now obsolete. They all have Ostrich Syndrome. They couldn't see a pink slip coming if it was 8ft tall and glowing in the dark, screaming "you're fired!"

You want to avoid being in that second category at all costs. So I've compiled a handy list. If you can answer yes to THREE or more of these questions, you may want to think about sprucing up your résumé and dry-cleaning your best interview attire.

1. Are you no longer in the loop about, well, anything?

This is a huge telltale sign. Suddenly you're finding out about company news from the cleaning lady or the new girl in accounting. If you were formally in the know about all things business related, but now suffer from "the company's doing what??!" disease, the writing is probably on the wall.

2. Did you recently screw up big-time?

We're not talking a minor faux pas here. Did you lose money on an account that was previously bulletproof? Oh dear. Were you caught having sex on the boss's desk with the boss's spouse? That's probably not a career-enhancing move. Unless you're a real dope, you know if you have screwed up. And if you know, HR knows. It may not be the final nail in your coffin, but it's a nail in the coffin nonetheless.

3. Are people avoiding you at all costs?

Eye contact is difficult to make with someone if you know his or her head's on the chopping block. Small talk is just as tough. It's best just to avoid that person altogether. So if people are no longer doing that fun "stop 'n' chat" in the hall, or the coffee room empties when you arrive, then guess what . . . you may be a marked man or woman.

Read on for more.

Salute the Sun: A Morning Yoga Playlist

Lizzie Fuhr — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:24:46 PDT

Sun Salutation can mark a beautiful, introspective time in your day, and I'm a huge fan of employing the help of some happy, sunny tunes to get me motivated and centered. Starting a day with even just 20 minutes on the mat can make a big difference in how you look at the world around you. If your morning practice is feeling a little tired - or like me, you've literally fallen asleep on your mat in the morning! - try out these tunes to see if something new will work. I've got you covered, whether you're into the smooth, sweet sounds of Norah Jones, or old school soul like Bill Withers is your style. And if you're feeling particularly down in the dumps, hear me out and allow me to suggest some Styx. I once had a teacher kick off a morning vinyasa class with this tune, and the whole class started cracking up. But at about 30 seconds in, the happy energy in the room was basically palpable!

Find out how to do a Sun Salutation A sequence here or a Sun Salutation B sequence here.

Keep reading to see the full 10 tracks on the list.

What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Sex and Feminism

The Good Men Project — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:00:00 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Lisa Solod, who came of age during the sexual revolution, explores what feminism means to this generation.

My mother married my father because, she told me in a rare moment of candor, she wanted to have sex with him. She was 25 and tired of pre-sex fumbling and stolen kisses. My father was, of course, far more experienced, having been in the Pacific Theater during World War II; far less discreet about his former life (and life in general) he told his daughters inappropriate tales of the women he had met on shore leave. One I particularly remember had her front teeth filed into points. Well into their marriage, each of them managed to be unfaithful and they finally separated (but not because of infidelity) after twenty years of marriage. Yet, for another dozen years or so they would hook up here and there, travel together, and, of course have sex. In a further revelation, my mother told me that the sex was the best part of her relationship with my father.

I came of age at the tail end but the real beginning of the sexual revolution (1971-1974). At that point, sexual liberation was inextricably tied to the rise of feminism. Having sex like men, i.e., without attachment, was part of our freedom. But too many of us got hurt. We hadn’t yet factored in the biology of mating and how really hard it was to have that much sex without any real commitment. Most of the women I know who grew up during those years had far more sexual encounters than they were ever willing to reveal to their husbands. Those of us who divorced then dived back into the sexual market with the same abandon. I am not sure we were all the wiser. I hear STDs are on the rise in the over 50 group, which doesn’t surprise me. We all were pretty practiced in birth control but we took it into our own hands, with the pill and the diaphragm. This was pre-AIDS. Barrier methods were not our methods of choice then. They are not, apparently, our method now, either.

Should a Man Stand Up For His Woman?

But those of us who grew up in the trenches of the sexual revolution know that feminism was about far more than women having the kind of meaningless sex with men that men had been having with us for eons. Feminism, which is still being parsed in the media as well as our own homes, still being debated and discussed and accepted and dismissed, was about being able to control (to the extent that anyone can) our work lives, our love lives, our lives as a whole. It was about being able to have a career, being paid equally well for that career, and making our own decisions about marriage and childbirth without having to merely capitulate to what society had set out for us. I, for one, was happy not to have to marry to have sex. I was thrilled to be able to go to college and think about a career without worrying that it might make me unmarriageable. I was ecstatic about the notion that I could make decisions for myself.

All those ideas I passed along to my daughter. But, of course, she had no need to wrestle with those notions as the women in my generation had. She lived in a society where (she thought) feminism was taken for granted. Women her age did not talk about marriage, either as an option or something to reject. They saw it as fact that women could do anything.

Read the rest of the story below.

The Lucky One's Taylor Schilling Talks Love Scenes With Zac Efron: "Not a Bad Day to Come to Work"

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:56:22 PDT

Zac Efron's The Lucky One costar Taylor Schilling is the lucky one, indeed - the actress plays his love interest in the drama, and when I visited the set of the film, I got to chat with her and a few other reporters about her dreamy leading man. Schilling also joked about shooting their love scenes, and gave us some insight into her character Beth.

Is it tough shooting the love scenes with Zac?
Taylor Schilling: I mean, I don't know. I don't think so. I wonder what he’ll say. . . [it's] not a bad day to come to work and do that. But you know, it’s not as exciting as you would think it is either; it’s a day that’s very technical when you have to do that in front of a camera.

What were your expectations of Zac?
TS: The thing is, honestly, I didn't know much of anything about Zac before I got this because I'd never seen those High School Musical movies - which at this point, I can't wait to see them when we're done shooting because I'm excited to see what he did before. But I did not really have much of an expectation about him. I knew that he's incredibly famous, but in terms of his work as an actor, I didn't really know. So I really got to know Zac when I tested for this film with him and he was just such an incredibly charming, down-to-earth guy - for me, coming in and having never done a studio film before - he made me so comfortable at that test, and he was so generous and so wonderful, and was also so interested in the work. He was so engaged in the scenes and was so good. So good. So talented. It's just been wonderful to work with someone I really feel has my back as a scene partner. There's some really vulnerable stuff in this movie, and I feel like I could trust Zac with anything I got. He's a special guy, a good guy.

To find out what else Schilling talked about, just keep reading.

Don't Throw Out Those Used Sneaks! How to Recycle Old Fitness Gear

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:05:25 PDT

Exercising regularly means going through lots of fitness gear. Instead of just tossing out old kicks or a worn-out yoga mat, do something good for the Earth. Here are ways to recycle or reuse old workout gear.

Sneakers

Donate: You can toss them in a Goodwill bin, or send them to an organization that'll put them to good use. Soles4Souls's tag line is "Saving the world - one pair at a time." This organization takes your tired, but "gently worn," sneakers and finds needy feet to fill them. They strongly suggest organizing shoe drives and mailing all the pairs to one of their three warehouse locations. Another organization, One World Running, has been serving runners around the world since 1986. Through collection programs, they are able to provide shoes for needy runners across the world. Check here for drop-off locations.
Recycle: Turn your old shoes into something new. Nike Reuse-A-Shoe takes all brands of sneakers that are beyond "gently worn" and turns them into a recycled product known as Nike Grind, which is used to make tracks, indoor basketball courts, fields, and playgrounds. Just drop off your retired sneakers at any Nike store, or check here for drop-off locations.
Reuse: Keep an old pair of sneakers around for days when you're running or walking in the rain or on muddy trails. Some people even use old shoes as plant potters. Fill a disinfected shoe with soil and grow some basil or cilantro on your deck or windowsill.

Keep reading to find out what you can do with your old fitness clothes, equipment, and yoga mats.

Katie and Suri Cruise Explore NYC While Tom Preps For Oblivion

Katie Henry — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:34:12 PDT

Katie Holmes fit in an early morning workout at Soul Cycle in NYC yesterday. Later she changed into jeans and ventured out with Suri Cruise on a midday shopping trip. Suri looked Spring ready in a cheery floral dress and purple jacket. The girls have been keeping busy in Manhattan while Tom Cruise prepares to start shooting a new film in New Orleans. Tom's next role takes him to outer space where he's set to share the big screen with Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Melissa Leo in Oblivion. Preproduction on the project is underway with extras currently being cast and shooting expected to begin soon.

Strong Suds: A History of Starkbierzeit and Bavarian Doppelbock

Sara Yoo — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:26:45 PDT

In New Orleans, revelers celebrate one last hurrah before the Lenten season during debaucherous Mardi Gras, but in Munich, there's less of a need to blow off steam thanks to Starkbierzeit, or "strong beer season." Each March, breweries in the region churn out doppelbock, a high-alcohol, intensely rich and malty brew, in celebration of the 17th century monks who created it. Characterized as Oktoberfest minus the tourists, Starkbierzeit isn't highly publicized, but the beer it honors has quite a following in Germany and in many other parts of the world. Ready to drink in some strong beer fun facts? Just read on.