BuzzSugar

A Wonderful Playlist of "What a Wonderful World" Covers

BuzzSugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:34:40 PDT

Yesterday's news of Forest Whitaker's Louis Armstrong biopic immediately made me think of the last time I heard the song that will be the movie's title: "What a Wonderful World." My ears pricked up when I heard the song as covered by Joey Ramone in the recent Simon Pegg comedy How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. I wasn't thrilled with the movie as a whole, but I like a lot of the music in it - especially this track.

Nobody can do "What a Wonderful World" quite like Louie did, but that hasn't stopped a bajillion musicians from trying. Just doing a quick search on imeem brings up many varied covers, from Ghoul's death metal version (which doesn't sound like a wonderful world at all), to Eddy Arnold's lovely version that is currently being used in a teaser trailer for Oliver Stone's movie, W.

I sifted through the extensive list and picked out my favorite versions of the song and still, no matter how many times I hear it (which is many now), it brings a dippy smile to my face. It's so warm and life-affirming, no wonder everyone wants to cover it. Want to hear "What a Wonderful World" this is, with covers ranging from rock, jazz, bossa nova and more? To check out the playlist,

What a Wonderful World Covers

Source

One Woman's Quest for the Best: The Fastest, Farthest Female Inline Skate

Fitness Magazine — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:23:05 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Over the next few months, families will travel across the U.S. via plane, train or car during summer road trips. Kacie Fischer will be covering the same distance (nearly 4,000 miles, on her route), but on inline skates. . . and in just 74 days. If she reaches her goal, Fischer will also be breaking five Guinness World Records in the process.

We caught up with Fischer, a Promax DOer, after a long day of skating to get the backstory about her fit trip which has been two years in the making.

How did you get started with inline skating?

I started skating when I was 7, but didn’t start skating longer distances until I was cross training as a college runner. I found that I could travel a lot farther and see a lot more, plus it was a lot more exhilarating-try flying down a hill at 40+ miles per hour! Inline skating is like running on steroids.

More of Kacie's interview after the break.

When and When Not to Use a Travel Agent to Save Money

LearnVest — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:02:20 PDT

Will using a travel agent help you save money for your upcoming trip? LearnVest has the answer.

Are travel agents back?

This question, posed by The New York Times, got us thinking. According to the piece, nearly one in three leisure travel agencies is hiring, and in 2011 travel agencies experienced a second consecutive year of growth; in fact, their bookings accounted for a third of the $284 billion US travel market.

Silly us, we thought travel agents had become passé.

But if the travel agent business is thriving, we started wondering - is there something to this? Could using an old-school travel agent actually save us money on travel?

To find out, we consulted Barbara Vong, a travel agent with Wright Travel Agency, the 2011 winner of the Best of the Best Globe Award from Travel Impressions.

Globe Award From Travel Impressions.

The first thing we learned? Travel agents usually don't charge customers for their services! Their payment actually comes through the hotels and wholesalers, meaning that we can simply tap into a free service. That also means using a travel agent should never be more expensive than booking by yourself online . . . and these are experts well-versed in where to find the best deals.

Of course, booking your flights in 30 seconds with a few clicks sounds a lot easier than playing phone tag with a live person, so it pays to know when a travel agent can help the most, and when you might as well DIY it. Vong let us in on the best times to call an agent, and some money-saving travel tips she's picked up in her line of work:

Use a Travel Agent If . . .

You're Traveling With a Group

For group bookings that involve coordinating travel for multiple people, it's always easier to use a travel agent, says Vong. “I just had a bride call me because one of the groomsmen booked his own trip through a discount travel site, and he wanted to add someone to the room,” says Vong. "The customer service representative from the travel site he used told him they couldn't do it, but they were probably just being lazy. This is a great example of when you’d rather hand the responsibility of changing that booking to a travel agent, rather than trying to fix it on your own."

Read on for more.

Are Money Clubs the New Book Clubs?

LearnVest — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:15:41 PDT

Money clubs are a great and fun way to stay on top of your finances. With friends supporting you, you can conquer the world and money issues! LearnVest shares how you can start one.

Thea, 31, a lawyer, lives in Brooklyn, NY. Although her friends are, in her own words, “bright, savvy, awesome women,” many felt lost financially - much like she did. “In fact, almost all of them knew someone else who was in the same financially adrift boat,” she says.

That’s when she got the idea to start a money group.

“The first meeting was held in my studio apartment in Brooklyn,” she told LearnVest. She served pizza and Diet Coke as the group of women took turns airing their money issues and goals.

The women’s issues ranged from needing to pay down credit card debt after an amazing wedding to wondering how to invest in a 403(b) retirement account that she’d left empty for years. “We left that meeting,” she says, “with the same sense of empowerment we often feel in other areas of our lives, but that was usually missing when it came to our financial life.”

Although the women are still working through their money issues and goals, it is, as Thea puts it, “easier to take a journey with a group of amazing friends.”

Are Money Clubs the New Book Clubs?

There’s a reason Thea’s personal experience was so meaningful. Just like book clubs or wine clubs - or book clubs that double as wine clubs - money clubs are groups in which you can learn interesting stuff, discuss it, and get support from like-minded friends. And maybe even add alcohol to put people at ease.

In fact, while they’re now becoming popular again, money clubs have actually been around for a long time. Many groups of women in cities across the US meet up informally, but Candace Bahr, founder of the Women’s Institute For Financial Education, or WIFE, formalized the money club concept, creating the organization’s trademarked version back in 2004.

Read on for more.

Celebrity Makeup Artist Mally Roncal's Top 5 Beauty Staples

Guest Writer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:32:00 PDT

We're excited to present the following post from our guest writer, celebrity makeup artist and founder of Mally Beauty, Mally Roncal.

Hello again, my BellaSugar beauties! A lot of you are curious about my daily routine, and what must-have products I keep in my makeup bag 24-7. When it comes to creating an effortless, glowing daytime look without juggling 101 foundations, creams, powders, shadows, and pencils, these are my top five face-savers.

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen Bring Their Onscreen Chemistry to the Pages of W

Lauren Turner — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:59:30 PDT

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen strike a serious pose on the cover of W's May issue. They portray a married couple in HBO's Hemingway and Gellhorn, and translated their onscreen chemistry to the publication's pages in the sexy spread, which you can see more of when it hits newsstands April 24. Clive and Nicole spoke with the magazine about playing the historical duo, Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, but also opened up about their own significant others. Clive even shared the moment he fell in love with wife Sarah-Jane Fenton, while Nicole got serious about her husband Keith Urban's recent throat surgery. Here's more from Nicole and Clive in W:

Clive on meeting his wife: "After drama school I did a seven-month tour of Europe performing in Romeo and Juliet. I played Romeo. I was at the first rehearsal, thinking, I wonder what Juliet is going to be like, and she came in. She had a corduroy jacket on and was carrying a pile of secondhand books, and her glasses were falling off. I kind of fell in love at that moment."
Nicole on being raw: "My husband says I’m raw. He thinks the world is not a great place for me because he fears that I’ll be hurt. He says, 'That’s my job: I’ll protect you.'"
Nicole on not being able to talk to Keith after his throat surgery: "All of those things make you closer. It was sort of profound: to go without his voice, and then to finally hear his voice. What if he sounded different? I was there for his first words, and then we cried. How many people experience their husband’s first words? If that doesn’t bring you closer, you’re not breathing."

To Give and to Receive: Top Gift Choices From House Beautiful's Editor-in-Chief, Newell Turner

Elka Karl — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:28:46 PST

With decades of experience covering design and architecture, House Beautiful Editor-in-Chief Newell Turner is a leading authority in the world of home design. With an excellent eye for style, Newell was a perfect person to ask about holiday gifting.

CasaSugar: What are your top gifts to give this year?

Newell Turner: I have a lot of nephews and nieces, so I try to find one thing that I can tweak with color or design for each person. It makes shopping less confusing and hectic. I've used ideas like electronic toys, camping hammocks, and (affordable) cashmere in the past. They're all growing up, so I'm thinking about having some fun with monograms this year. Have you been to Chris Burch's new concept shop C. Wonder on Spring Street in New York? Great things. Fantastic colors. Amazing prices. And, they have a monogramming program!

CS: What's on your personal holiday wish list? 

NT: I always love a pair of cuff links (with special meaning) - really anything with a personal thought behind it.   

Products, clockwise, starting at top right: Patterned Cashmere Scarf ($70), V-Neck Cashmere Sweater ($100), Byer Travel Hammock ($40), C. Wonder Ikat Coffee Mug ($8), C. Wonder Monogram Cheese Board With Spreader ($18), and Vintage 18K Gold Tiffany Cufflinks ($1,500).

Niki Taylor on Personal Style, Modeling, and the Most Important Thing You Can Do

Noria Morales — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:20:23 PDT

Niki Taylor landed her first cover - on Seventeen, when she was just 14. For much of the '90s, Niki Taylor was always in a magazine, from Vogue to Sports Illustrated. However, she endured personal tragedy when her sister Krissy died suddenly in 1995 at the age of 17, and in 2001 Niki was in a severe car accident that left the supermodel in a coma for six weeks. If you didn't know, yesterday was World Blood Donor Day, but Niki Taylor would be the first to tell you that everyday should be blood donor day. Today, the mother of three, who is pregnant with her fourth child, talks about her supermodel years, her personal style, and why you should sport a zebra print bandage.

FabSugar: What were some of your favorite experiences in modeling?
Niki Taylor: I have gotten to travel all over the world and meet so many wonderful and interesting people. I think what has been most powerful for me though, is that modeling and being in the public eye has allowed me to give back through initiatives like the Nexcare give program with the American Red Cross.
FS: Why blood?
NT: After receiving 100 units of donor blood after a life-threatening car accident in 2001, the importance of donating blood became so real and so significant for me. This year, Nexcare is handing out free give bandages, and they are extra chic with fashion-inspired designs that show how helping save a life is always in style. As a supporter of blood donation and a lover of fashion, I think the bandages are a perfect way to encourage people to get out there and donate.

To see some of Niki's memorial editorials, real-life style and more from our interview, read more.

10 Jobs That Didn’t Exist 10 Years Ago

Kiplinger — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:30:29 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Thinking about a career change? For the best odds of snagging and hanging onto a job for the long haul, you'll want to avoid professions on the decline in today’s economy (think bookbinders, textile workers and machine-tool operators) and focus on professions whose outlook is rosier (such as health care, financial analysis or social work).

Technology, cultural shifts and changing demographics combine to create new career fields all the time. Here are ten of our favorite new roles for 2011 and beyond, ones that didn't even exist ten years ago:

Social Media/Online-Community Manager

Social media or online-community management is a field made possible and necessary by the gargantuan rise in social networking activity. Sites like Facebook serve 500 million (yep, that's half a billion) users, who share personal and public messages, photos, videos, games and other experiences at a dizzying pace.

Social media strategists focus on building their employers' or clients' brands through the use of social media sites and tools, whereas online-community managers specialize in fostering user discussion and evangelism for the marketers they support. There is overlap between the two fields; one can manage social media tools without dabbling in online community, and vice versa, or the two functions can be combined in one group or person. What does a social media or online-community manager need to succeed? Essentials include great written communication skills, a sense of humor, empathy, a marketing background and lots of experience with social media tools (Facebook, Twitter and Youtube among them).

For more jobs that didn't exist 10 years ago, read on.

Zooey Deschanel on Why New Girl Fits Her Like the Perfect Dress

Rose Curiel — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:40:33 PDT

New Girl, which premieres this week on Fox, stars Zooey Deschanel as a quirky girl who moves in with a group of guys after discovering her boyfriend has cheated on her. The actress recently spoke with reporters over the phone about making the transition from film to a full-time gig on TV, as well as what we can expect from future episodes of the show. The She & Him frontwoman also clued us in on whether she will continue to croon on the show and how her character, Jess, will move on from her broken heart.

When did you decide to do comedy?
Zooey Deschanel: I always liked doing comedies when I would do plays in school always. I would always play the comedic roles. I guess that's kind of how it started. But I always think of myself as a comedic actress. I guess later I found that I could do drama as well, but I really started out thinking that I was more of a comedic actress. That's what I really love to do, so I'm super happy and excited that I get to do funny stuff every week on the show.

Is any part of Jess's personality based on yours?
ZD: I think it was sort of an actor-writer kismet situation. I know it wasn't written for me initially but it was sort of a perfect fit. You know, you go to a store and you see a dress and it just looks like it was made for you, but it wasn't? That's sort of like what it was like. And now that I am on the show, it is written for me and it's wonderful to have all these great writers writing stuff for me.

To find out what else Zooey had to say, just keep reading.