Place Your Bets! Oscars Are the Most Gambled Upon Annual Non-Sporting Event in the U.S.

http://www.popeater.com

By Justine Goodman Posted Feb 24th 2011 08:05PM

When it comes to movies during Oscar season, everyone’s a critic. And most people would be willing to bet they already know who’s going home with a statue on Sunday (Colin Firth, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman) and who isn’t (Jeff Bridges, Annette Bening, Jeremy Renner). But the bigger question is, how many of them would really be willing to bet — as in, make an actual cash wager — they are right?

A lot, it seems. According to some estimates, the Oscars are the most gambled upon non-sporting event in the U.S. after the presidential election.

And, as with most things in life, you have to pay to play. Ed Pownall, the entertainment and political trading director at Bodog.com, one of the largest online gaming sites, explains that there are two types of players when it comes to the Oscars: “Those looking to ‘buy’ money with very short prices (i.e., if an actor or film is 1/12 to win — you have to bet $12 to win $1, so some big players will bet $12K to win $1K thinking it is such a certainty). The other Oscar player is the genuine fan who will play with $5 to $10 and tend to back their favorite actor or film.”
If you fall into that second category, thanks a lot — you’re the reason the house always wins. Just because you loved, say, ‘Little Fockers,’ doesn’t mean you ought to risk your money on it. (Though it does mean you’re a candidate for a lobotomy.)

Pownall cautions that bettors must, “Bear in mind that their view is not what counts. It’s the view of the Academy, who are mostly actors themselves; hence the abundance of films and roles with a heavy accent on traditional acting. And characters that ‘win over adversity’ always tend to come through. Betting with a film because you liked it isn’t the smart way to bet on the Oscars!”

The odds for the outcome of any event are generally in constant flux, but since few people are expecting major surprises on Sunday, at this point the numbers are fairly static, and they echo the predictions of the general public. When it comes to Best Supporting Actor, for example, the latest stats show that Christian Bale is favored to win 1/7, with Geoffrey Rush a distant second at 4/1. At 80/1, Jeremy Renner might as well stay home. As for the other major categories, the odds overwhelmingly favor Natalie Portman for Best Actress at 1/12 and Colin Firth for Best Actor at 1/33. For Best Picture, ‘The King’s Speech’ leads the pack at 2/9.

What do the actual numbers mean? Essentially, the more money you have to play to make a profit, the higher the odds that that person will win. So, whereas you would have to bet $7 to make $1 on a Christian Bale win, you stand to make $4 for every $1 you bet on Geoffrey Rush if he should win. Conversely, if Jeremy Renner should surprise everyone and pull out a win for ‘The Town,’ those who bet on him would win $80 for every $1 invested. Too bad that’s not likely to happen. Just as in a horse race, the safe choice is the least lucrative.

(Stats via Bodog.com.)

While the gambling odds may not be surprising, the audience for online Oscar betting is. Gambling has traditionally been a male dominated activity, but the convenience (and privacy) of online gambling combined with the changing nature of what you can bet on has shifted the demographic. Pownall says, “We see a much higher volume of female bettors on things like the Oscars for sure. And the betting is from a significantly younger audience than, say, the Kentucky Derby, which is a more traditional betting event.”

He also points out that betting on things like reality show outcomes is becoming increasingly popular, especially among the younger female demographic. “‘American Idol’ finalist betting would rival the amount bet on, say, Best Actor at the Oscars, but the Oscars still win out because there is more than one prize,” he says.

At this time, most online gambling outlets, including Bodog, do not take bets on who will be nominated for an Academy Award, only who will win. If they did, it would likely prove to be a much riskier undertaking — for the bettor, not the house, which would stand to win much more, with highly uncertain odds and more horses, if you will, to bet on. But Bodog has introduced several additional pools for this year’s Oscars, including “How many of the Big 3 award-winners (Director, Actor, Actress) will visibly cry when receiving their award?” The odds currently favor none.

So, what’s the takeaway from all this? Well, betting on Colin Firth is a sure thing with a small payoff unless you have a bunch of cash lying around. But then again, if you’re inclined to participate in online gambling in the first place, there’s a good chance the only thing you have lying around is a worn-out copy of ‘Casino’ and a half-empty bottle of whiskey.

foxnews.com

LOS ANGELES — Charlie Sheen’s hit TV show “Two and a Half Men” will not film any more episodes this season, with CBS and Warner Bros. Thursday blaming the star’s behavior and comments for the shutdown.

“Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen’s statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of ‘Two and a Half Men’ for the remainder of the season,” CBS and Warner Bros. said in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, Sheen attacked “Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre on radio, after calling in as a guest on a syndicated show hosted by Alex Jones, and in an interview with TMZ.

In both instances, Sheen ranted about executive producer Lorre — referring to him as Chaim Levine, which is Lorre’s real name — calling him a “clown” and a “charlatan.”

Sheen also said he was solely responsible for the success of “Two and a Half Men,” saying he had turned the “tin can” of a show into “pure gold.”

“I violently hate Chaim Levine,” Sheen told TMZ. “He’s a stupid, stupid little man and a p*ssy punk that I’d never want to be like. That’s me being polite.

“All these guys told me to ‘clean it up.’ Well this is me cleaning it the f*ck up. All I want is to bring my family together, and I have to deal with all this B.S. politics.”

The hit CBS comedy had been on hiatus while Sheen, 45, underwent a rehab program at his Los Angeles home.

His treatment began after he was hospitalized Jan. 27, suffering from “severe abdominal pains” after a reported 36-hour cocaine bender in the company of several porn actresses.

The show had been due to return to production on Feb. 28 with another four shows to be filmed before the season wrapped.

Sheen, 45, earns $1.25 million an episode for the sitcom, and had offered to contribute to the salaries of the crew during the hiatus.

“That piece of sh*t [Lorre] took money out of my pocket, my family’s pocket, and, most importantly, my second family — my crew’s pocket,” Sheen added during his rant to TMZ Thursday. “You can tell him [Lorre] one thing. I own him.”

When men don’t want sex

cnn.com

Ancient grains: The best thing since sliced bread?

Ancient grains such as quinoa, amaranth and spelt are turning up in the bread aisle. They’re healthful and tasty, but don’t always live up to their claims.

By Elena Conis, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Ancient grains may sound like something you’d find in a museum or at an archaeological site.

But these days, they’re turning up in the bread aisle. At markets from Whole Foods to Vons, shoppers can choose from a growing number of breads made with so-called ancient grains, including quinoa, amaranth, spelt and Kamut (a patented variety of wheat).

Claims about the breads abound: They’re said to be packed with whole grains, protein, omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, and they’re supposedly safe for people with wheat allergies or gluten intolerance, also known as celiac disease. But although the ancient grains are undoubtedly healthful and tasty, not all of the claims hold up.

The idea of making modern bread out of old-style grains isn’t new. For decades, Glendale-based Food for Life has been making Ezekiel 4:9 Bread, inspired by the list of grains in the Bible passage for which the bread is named; the bread contains wheat, barley, rye, oats, millet, corn and rice.

Newer products assert that they’re made with grains that “are true to their original form,” as Trader Joe’s Ancient Grain Bread (made with quinoa, oats, amaranth, Kamut, millet, teff and barley) states on its label.

The ancient grains — confusingly — are not all grains. Grains are technically grasses. By that standard, Kamut, spelt and wheat are all grains, but quinoa and amaranth are not. Still, the common term “grain” has stuck for all of them.

“Grains” such as quinoa, amaranth, spelt and Kamut are called “ancient” because they’ve been around, unchanged, for millennia. By contrast, corn, rice and modern varieties of wheat (such as hard white wheat and hard red spring wheat) have been bred selectively over thousands of years to look and taste much different from their distant ancestors, said Mian Riaz, director of the Food Protein Research and Development Center at Texas A&M University. Modern corn, for example, bears little resemblance to wild corn from long ago.

However, the fact that they’re little changed from antiquity doesn’t necessarily make the ancient grains more nutritious than modern ones, said Joanne Slavin, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota.

The amount of protein, for example, in hard red spring wheat is comparable to the amounts found in spelt and quinoa — which means breads made from the grains differ little in protein content too. Case in point: Wonder Stoneground 100% Whole Wheat Bread contains 3 grams of protein per slice, and Rudi’s Organic Spelt Ancient Grain Bread contains 4 grams. Because the typical adult should be getting more than 60 grams of protein a day, a single gram here or there doesn’t matter that much.

Ancient grains aren’t always safer, either. People with wheat allergies or sensitivities certainly can’t lower their guard, said Dr. Suzanne Teuber, professor of internal medicine, rheumatology and allergy at UC Davis.

“There has been a lot of misinformation about spelt and Kamut being safe for patients with celiac disease or wheat allergy, when this is not the case,” she said.

Amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet and teff, however, are free of gluten, said Marion Groetch, senior dietitian at the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute. This makes these grains safe for people with celiac disease.

Like any grain, when eaten whole, the ancient grains are rich in fiber and an array of antioxidants and phytochemicals that are distinct from those found in fruits and vegetables, said Ruth Frechman, a registered dietitian in Burbank and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Assn.

Frechman recommends reading bread labels carefully; some breads contain flour made from the ancient grains, whereas others contain the more nutrient-rich whole grains themselves. Still others contain mostly whole wheat flour, with ancient grains only making an appearance way down on the list of ingredients.

The label on Trader Joe’s Ancient Grain Bread boasts 3 grams of fiber and 23 grams of whole grains per slice. Arnold Natural Ancient Grains Bread is in the same ballpark. A sandwich made from either one provides most of the three to four daily ounces of whole grains recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (according to the agency, a slice of bread is equivalent to an ounce of grain) and about one-sixth of the daily recommended amount of fiber.

For those who can enjoy them, ancient grain breads can be a real step forward. “All of these grains and seeds are wonderful additions to our modern food supply,” Teuber said. “I’ve tasted some fantastic breads with some of these grains and seeds.”

Conis writes for The Times.

Apple’s Steve Jobs at tech CEO meeting with Obama

By Matt Spetalnick and Gabriel Madway

(Reuters) – Apple Inc.chief executive Steve Jobs, on medical leave from the company he co-founded, attended a meeting of technology industry leaders with U.S. President Barack Obama in northern California on Thursday.

Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, was joined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and other members of the Silicon Valley elite for talks with Obama at a venture capitalist’s sprawling estate outside San Francisco.

Jobs, 55, a high-tech visionary who has come to embody Apple’s turbulent history and some of the industry’s most cutting-edge products, stepped away from the company on medical leave last month. It was the third time in seven years that he has taken time out because of health reasons.

Obama’s two-day West Coast visit was aimed at promoting technological innovation to help boost the struggling U.S. economy and reduce stubbornly high unemployment — considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.

Obama met with 12 leaders from technology companies and discussed ways to work together to invest in innovation and promote private sector job growth, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said after the meeting.

“The president specifically discussed his proposals to invest in research and development and expand incentives for companies to grow and hire, along with his goal of doubling exports over five years to support millions of American jobs,” Carney said.

“The group also discussed the importance of new investments in education,” Carney said, adding that Obama expressed a desire to keep the dialogue going.

The meeting was also part of Obama’s efforts to mend fences with the U.S. business community after his Democrats were routed in the November congressional elections, and garner support for a $3.7 trillion budget proposal released this week and already facing stiff Republican resistance.

The National Enquirer on Thursday published pictures that purported to show Jobs arriving at the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto, California.

A spokeswoman for Stanford Hospital declined to comment.

The company has refused to provide any details on Jobs’ health, comment on the recent reports or say when he might return from leave.

Shares of Apple closed down 1.3 percent in Thursday’s trading.

Jobs was not seen by a pool of White House reporters who were kept out of sight of participants at Thursday’s working dinner at venture capitalist John Doerr’s secluded home in the affluent suburb of Woodside. But a White House official confirmed that all those on the guest list were present.

HEALTH TROUBLES

Jobs had surgery in 2004 for an unusual type of tumor on his pancreas called a neuroendocrine tumor. He had a liver transplant in 2009.

GRAMMY.com

53rd GRAMMY Awards Slated For Feb. 13, 2011

Music’s Biggest Night will air live from Staples Center on CBS

The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place in Los Angeles at Staples Center on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, and will air live on the CBS Television Network from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). As a result of last year’s earlier show and Awards process dates, this year the eligibility dates for the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards are Sept. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010. (This year will mark a 13-month eligibility period.) The date for the GRAMMY nominations announcement — which showcases GRAMMY Award finalists, the year’s best and brightest in music as voted on by The Recording Academy’s membership of music professionals — will be announced shortly.

“The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards was a dynamic, memorable evening, and it delivered our highest ratings since 2004 and the biggest year-over-year increase in more than 20 years,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “We have every intention of keeping that momentum going with our 53rd show, and once again we are thrilled to be bringing the excellence and excitement of our GRAMMY Week events and charitable initiatives to the city of Los Angeles. We also look forward to working on another outstanding GRAMMY telecast with our partners and good friends at CBS and Staples Center.”

“The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will once again be event television with exciting and memorable performances that will entertain and engage our audience,” said Jack Sussman, executive vice president, specials, music and live events, CBS. “We look forward to working with our partners at The Recording Academy to make Music’s Biggest Night an event that can’t be missed.”

GRAMMY Week — a weeklong series of cultural events culminating in Music’s Biggest Night — will again feature celebrations of music, fashion, arts education, and philanthropy, including the Salute To series, GRAMMY Style Studio, GRAMMY Career Day, Clive Davis and The Recording Academy’s Pre-GRAMMY Gala, the annual MusiCares Person of the Year tribute, the GRAMMY Foundation’s Music Preservation Project, the Entertainment Law Initiative luncheon, a Producers & Engineers Wing event, and GRAMMY Museum programs, among others.

The Mona Lisa was a man. That is the latest theory presented by Italian art historians linked to the world’s most famous painting.

After allegedly finding the initials L and S in the eyes of the Mono Lisa, the S is thought to refer to the artist’s possible lover, an assistant called Salai.

But it is not the only discovery. The number 72 on a bridge in the background has also come under close scrutiny.

Art Historian Silvano Vinceti claims: “72, in Jewish tradition, is the name of God. 72 are the 72 disciples of Christ in the New Testament.”

But nothing is straightforward in the world of art and experts at the Louvre in Paris dispute the findings. They say the ageing process has caused cracks in the work which are open to interpretation.

The real importance is that it is a reflection of Leonardo da Vinci’s interest in religion and mysticism.

Copyright © 2011 euronews

Google plays catch-up with Apple in tablets

By Alexei Oreskovic

(Reuters) – Google Inc has fixed some shortcomings in its tablet computer strategy, as the Internet search giant steps up efforts to break into a nascent market dominated by Apple.

Google showcased on Wednesday the first version of its Android software designed to run on tablets with larger screens and greater computing horsepower, allowing for a sleeker and theoretically faster interface with built-in video conferencing.

The company also introduced a new way for developers to make money by building applications that run on Android.

The changes ratchet up the competition in the fast-growing tablet PC market, for which Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft are also developing rival software.

Analysts said “Honeycomb”, while addressing a couple perceived flaws in the operating system when used for tablets as opposed to smartphones, was unlikely to immediately shift the balance of power.

“It closed the gap quite a bit,” said BGC analyst Colin Gillis. But, he said “there was nothing there that was going to make me wait in line overnight,” referring to the lines of customers who waited outside retail stores when Apple introduced the iPad in April.

Google said at an event at its Mountain View, California headquarters on Wednesday that Android developers would now be able to sell consumers goods from directly within their apps, a key capability Apple introduced more than one year ago.

And it has started a Web version of its applications store for Android devices, which will help developers hawk their software applications to a larger audience. Previously, Android apps were available only through client software on devices.

STILL RUNAWAY LEADER

Apple, which some analysts expect will unveil a new version of its iPad later this year, has shipped 14.8 million iPads since April. But it lost its early lead in the smartphone market to Android, which Google gives away to hardware vendors and which became the No.1 smartphone operating system in the fourth quarter, according to research firm Canalys.

Whether Google can do the same in the tablet market will depend on the support its new “Honeycomb” gets from manufacturers, wireless carriers, and the armies of developers who build applications like games and productivity tools.

Google now has more than 100,000 apps available for Android devices, versus Apple’s catalog of more than 300,000.

“There really wasn’t much of a competitive playing field so far” in the tablet market, said Soumen Ganguly, a principal at management consulting firm Altman Vilandrie & Co, who noted that previous versions of Google’s Android were well-suited to smartphones but not ideal for the bigger-screened tablets.

With the introduction of Honeycomb, Ganguly expected that every major manufacturer would introduce at least one Android tablet by the end of the first half of the year.

Motorola Mobility’s Xoom, which Google showcased at its event Wednesday, is due to ship in the first quarter.

But Display Search analyst Richard Shim said there were still unanswered questions, including the price of Honeycomb tablets.

Shim said his firm expects industry-wide shipments of 55.7 million tablet PC in 2011 and that, even after seeing Wednesday’s Honeycomb demonstration, he still expects Apple to hold the majority market share this year.

“This put them at the table,” he said of Google. “What we’re seeing here is a good foundation.”

(Editing by Bernard Orr)

Sony Q3 profit drops as TVs erase gaming gains

By Isabel Reynolds

(Reuters) – Japan‘s Sony Corp posted a 5.9 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday as a price war hit its TV unit and a stronger yen weighed, and lowered its revenue forecast on slower-than-expected TV sales.

The consumer electronics giant, which competes with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics in televisions and Canon Inc and Nikon in digital cameras, has been struggling to keep pace with rivals in terms of profits and products.

Since CEO Howard Stringer took the helm in 2005, the company’s share price has fallen by a quarter and Sony has failed to replicate its early successes with iconic products such as the Walkman and PlayStation game console.

Sony reported an operating profit of 137.52 billion yen ($1.68 billion) versus 146.1 billion yen in the same period a year earlier, beating an average quarterly estimate of 127 billion yen in a poll of eight analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

“In this strong-yen environment we see this as a pretty healthy result,” Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato told reporters.

“We are getting stronger, but we feel we are still only partway there,” he added.

The maker of Vaio PCs and Bravia TVs left its full-year operating profit forecast unchanged at 200 billion yen, compared with a consensus estimate of 217 billion yen in a poll of 23 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It cut its annual revenue forecast by 3 percent to 7.2 trillion yen citing lower-than-expected sales in the consumer, professional and devices segment, which includes LCD TVs.

Operating income in that segment dropped by almost half in the third quarter, while profit more than doubled in the network products and service division, which includes games, partly on brisk sales of the latest version of Gran Turismo motor racing game, Sony said.

It cut its forecast for sales of TVs in the full year to March 31 to 23 million units, down from its previous forecast of 25 million. But it kept its forecast for PS3 game console sales unchanged at 15 million units.

Shares in Sony have fallen 21 percent since a high reached on March 23 last year, largely reflecting the yen’s rise against the dollar and euro, which eats into offshore earnings.

In contrast, shares in Samsung hit an all-time high late last month on an expected rebound after hitting its worst profit in six quarters.

The results came a week after Sony unveiled a new portable games device, the Next Generation Portable (NGP), aiming to compete with Nintendo Co Ltd and fend off competition from Apple Inc’s iPhone.

The NGP, announced alongside a plan to make PlayStation games available on other makers’ Android-based mobile devices, was generally well received, but analysts said its specifications would likely make it more expensive than Nintendo’s DS, potentially deterring some consumers.

Shares in Sony rose 0.7 percent ahead of the announcement, outperforming a 0.3 percent fall in the Nikkei average.

($1=81.72 Yen)

(Editing by Lincoln Feast and Michael Watson)

Victoria’s Secret Girls Show

Off Their Valentine’s Day Style