Tyler, Perry lead Songwriters Hall of Fame class

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Songwriters Hall of Fame is saluting 1970s and ’80s rock ‘n’ roll with its 2013 induction class.

Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Mick Jones and Lou Gramm of Foreigner will join the hall of fame this year along with the writers of iconic rock hits “Love Is a Battlefield” and “Heartache Tonight.” The ceremony will be held June 13 in New York.

Aerosmith and Foreigner will get the attention here, but inductees Holly Knight, JD Souther and Tony Hatch also have distinguished careers that helped define the sound of rock ‘n’ roll.

Knight wrote anthemic hits “Love Is a Battlefield” and “Invincible” for Pat Benatar and “The Warrior” for Patty Smyth. She also wrote several songs for Tina Turner, including “The Best” and “Better Be Good to Me,” that became standards for the star.

Souther, who has a role on the music-inspired television show “Nashville,” had a partnership with The Eagles that spawned several hits, including “Heartache Tonight,” ”Victim of Love,” ”New Kid in Town” and “Best of My Love.”

Hatch made his mark during the British invasion, teaming with Petula Clark on hits like “Downtown” and “My Love” that helped shaped the future of pop music.

Perry and Tyler have survived a sometimes contentious relationship to become one of rock’s most successful songwriting teams over the last 40 years. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, staples of classic rock radio and pop culture icons, are known for hits like “Sweet Emotion,” ”Dream On” and “Livin’ on the Edge,” and released their 15th studio album last year.

Jones and Gramm are contemporaries of Perry and Tyler who also ruled radio for a time, but they sometimes came at it from a different angle. They could lay down a straight-up rocker like “Jukebox Hero” or “Feels Like the First Time.” But they also could slow it down with hits like “I Wanna Know What Love Is” and “Cold as Ice” that helped foreshadow the ballad-driven rock of the late ’80s.

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Online:

http://songhall.org

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Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott .

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Well: Ask Well: The Nutrients in Fruits and Veggies

The colorful skin of an apple, grape or tomato is certainly chockfull of nutrients. But by no means are the outer layers of most fruits and vegetables the prime source of their nutrition.

Part of what makes some fruits and vegetables so rich with color – wax and pesticides notwithstanding – are pigments in the skin that have healthful antioxidant properties. Resveratrol, for example, is found in the skin of red grapes and other fruits. But lycopene, one of the pigments that gives tomatoes and bell peppers their deep red color, is distributed throughout.

Indeed, many vitamins and nutrients are found in the skin as well as the flesh. Take apples. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a large red apple with its skin intact contains about 5 grams of fiber, 13 milligrams of calcium, 239 milligrams of potassium, and 10 milligrams of vitamin C. But remove the skin, and it still contains about 3 grams of fiber, 11 milligrams of calcium, 194 milligrams of potassium, and plenty of its vitamin C and other nutrients.

Another example is the sweet potato. The U.S.D.A. says that a 100-gram serving of sweet potato cooked with its skin contains 2 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, and 20 milligrams of vitamin C. But the same sized serving of sweet potato without skin that has been boiled — a process that further leaches away some of its nutrients — still boasts 1.4 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fiber, and 13 milligrams of vitamin C.

You can lose the skin, in other words, without losing all the benefits.

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Room for Debate: Should Companies Tell Us When They Get Hacked?

A National Priority and a Business Priority

Lauren Gelman, BlurryEdge Strategies

Like pollution, an insecure infrastructure is bad for everyone. Disclosing security breaches reintroduces the public's collective interest.

Disclosure Plays Into Hackers’ Hands

Alexander Tabb, partner, research and consulting firm

By requiring companies to disclose security breaches, we would be requiring them to telegraph their weaknesses to the world.

Investors Need to Know

Jacob Olcott, Good Harbor Security Risk Management

It’s not that the events aren’t happening. It’s that you're not being told about them -- despite the S.E.C.'s instructions.

We Need Better Notification Laws

Lee Tien, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Existing laws focus mainly on whether a breach exposed information, not why it happened. Yet the reason can be critical.

More Disclosure Is Not Always Better

Baruch Fischhoff, decision sciences, Carnegie Mellon

People may exaggerate the risk of hacking if they suddenly start hearing about a lot of it. Or they may get used to frequent reports and underestimate the risks.

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Bulgari shows off Liz Taylor's gems

It isn't easy sometimes to be an ordinary person in Los Angeles, so near to and yet so far from the city's glamorous events.

You hear about the grand Oscar parties, but you will never be invited. The award ceremony may be taking place minutes from where you live, but you watch it at home, on TV, in your sweat pants — and you might as well be in Dubuque.

Rodeo Drive too can make you feel like a scrap on the cutting room floor. As you stroll the wide and immaculate sidewalks of Beverly Hills' iconic shopping street, you pass by boutiques you'd feel self-conscious walking into. In the windows are baubles and trinkets you could never in three lifetimes afford.

Which is why it is rather nice to be invited to make a private appointment at the house of Bulgari, the fine Italian jeweler that opened its doors in 1884.

Elizabeth Taylor loved Bulgari jewels. Richard Burton, whose torrid affair with her began during the filming of "Cleopatra" in Rome, accompanied her often to the flagship shop on the Via Condotti. He liked to joke that the name Bulgari was all the Italian she knew.

So it is fitting that starting Oscar week, the jeweler is celebrating the Oscar-winning star with an exhibit of eight of her most treasured Bulgari pieces.

They are heavy on diamonds and emeralds — of rare size, gleam and value.

And Bulgari knows their value well.

After Taylor's death, it reacquired some of the gems at a Christie's auction. One piece, an emerald-and-diamond brooch that also can be worn as a pendant, sold for $6,578,500 — breaking records both for sales price of an emerald and for emerald price per carat ($280,000).

That brooch, whose centerpiece is an octagonal step-cut emerald weighing 23.44 carats, was Burton's engagement present to Taylor. He followed it upon their marriage (his second, her fifth) with a matching necklace whose 16 Colombian emeralds weigh in at 60.5 carats. Bulgari bought the necklace back too, for $6,130,500.

They are in the exhibit, along with Burton's engagement ring to Taylor and a delicate brooch — given to her by husband No. 4, Eddie Fisher — whose emerald and diamond flowers were set en tremblant so that they gently fluttered as Taylor moved.

The jewels are not for sale.

On Tuesday night, actress Julianne Moore wore the Burton necklace, with pendant attached, at a gala for Bulgari's top clients. At the dinner hour, guests were escorted along a lavender-colored carpet to a nearby rooftop that had been transformed into a Roman terrace.

Those honored guests, of course, got private viewings of Taylor's jewels.

But so did Amanda Perry, a healer from West Hollywood who arrived the next morning for one of the first appointments available to the public.

Someone had emailed news of the collection to the 35-year-old Taylor fan. She walked in off the street Tuesday, when the exhibit was open only to press — and Sabina Pelli, Bulgari's glamorous executive vice president, fresh from Rome, was taking sips of San Pellegrino brought to her on a silver tray between back-to-back interviews that started at 5 a.m.

The camera crews were long gone when Perry came back Wednesday. She had the exhibit, and handsome sales associate Timothy Morzenti of Milan, entirely to herself.

In a black suit, still wearing on his left hand the black glove he dons to handle fine jewels, Morzenti whisked Perry off via a private elevator to the exhibit on the second floor. The jewels stood in vitrines mounted high off the ground. Behind them were photos and a slide show of Taylor, bejeweled.

"Which piece would you like to see first?" Morzenti asked her as a security guard stood by. "I personally love the emerald ring."

Then he proceeded at leisure to explain Bulgari-signature sugar-loaf cuts and trombino ring settings, while tossing in occasional Taylor stories.

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Pinterest Gets a Billion-Dollar Bump, Pins More Cash to Its Boards

Everyone’s favorite online discovery site Pinterest has raised yet another round of funding, $200 million from San Francisco firm Valiant Capital Partners, the company confirmed Wednesday. Existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners and FirstMark Capital also participated. The massive round – twice as much as Pinterest’s last VC infusion of $100 million – values the company at $2.5 billion, according to Pinterest. All for a company that has either yet to figure how to make any money from its 50 million monthly visitors, or just as likely is keeping its mouth shut about its plans.
In the last year Pinterest has exploded. What started out as an invite-only social bookmarking network, where anyone could save a photo and link they found online, has become one of the top 50 websites, according to comScore. In May 2012, the site attracted $100 million at a $1 billion (or $1.5 billion, depending on who you talked to) valuation from Japanese firm Rakuten, leading venture capitalists and the media to hint at the possibility of another bubble set to burst.

It’s spent some of that money on buying recipe aggregator PunchFork in January 2012, and on a new office near San Francisco’s design district. Another chunk of that cash went toward growing the 20-person team to more than 100 employees.

With this new cash, Pinterest is going abroad and buying more companies, says early Pinterest investor Rick Heitzmann of FirstMark Capital. “Pinterest will continue to build out and improve its products; you’ll see more international expansion and there will be additional acquisitions to fit Ben’s (Silbermann) greater vision for the company,” he says. The site is already popular in Europe and Asia, but Pinterest has plans to add more languages and create a more custom experience in other countries.

While $200 million seems over the top for a company that’s not pulling in any revenue, it’s just right, according to Heitzmann. “You always want more than enough capital to execute the vision,” he says. “Pinterest’s vision is to become one of the largest companies in the world for both online and offline discovery, and we want to make sure the company has enough to do that.”

Apparently a lack of revenue isn’t a problem yet. Heitzmann isn’t worried, saying when the time comes Pinterest will find a way to make use of all the content we’re pinning to our board to turn a profit. There’s already been hints of how that might happen. Pinterest started pulling in pricing information when someone pinned a product from an online shop. Pinterest is also immensely valuable to e-commerce retailers because of how much traffic a pin of a dress or coffee mug can send to their sites, and there’s been talk that businesses would be willing to pay for those referrals.

Still, potential avenues for revenue do not equal actual revenue. And while investors championed enterprise startups in the market last year for their clear-cut business models, it seems VCs are still taking their chances on a consumer company with lots of pretty pictures, lots of users and no profits. Either Pinterest’s viral growth is just that impressive, or there’s something else going on behind the scenes that have investors signing those fat checks. We’re betting on the latter.

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Well: The Benefits of Exercising Outdoors

While the allure of the gym — climate-controlled, convenient and predictable — is obvious, especially in winter, emerging science suggests there are benefits to exercising outdoors that can’t be replicated on a treadmill, a recumbent bicycle or a track.

You stride differently when running outdoors, for one thing. Generally, studies find, people flex their ankles more when they run outside. They also, at least occasionally, run downhill, a movement that isn’t easily done on a treadmill and that stresses muscles differently than running on flat or uphill terrain. Outdoor exercise tends, too, to be more strenuous than the indoor version. In studies comparing the exertion of running on a treadmill and the exertion of running outside, treadmill runners expended less energy to cover the same distance as those striding across the ground outside, primarily because indoor exercisers face no wind resistance or changes in terrain, no matter how subtle.

The same dynamic has been shown to apply to cycling, where wind drag can result in much greater energy demands during 25 miles of outdoor cycling than the same distance on a stationary bike. That means if you have limited time and want to burn as many calories as possible, you should hit the road instead of the gym.

But there seem to be other, more ineffable advantages to getting outside to work out. In a number of recent studies, volunteers have been asked to go for two walks for the same time or distance — one inside, usually on a treadmill or around a track, the other outdoors. In virtually all of the studies, the volunteers reported enjoying the outside activity more and, on subsequent psychological tests, scored significantly higher on measures of vitality, enthusiasm, pleasure and self-esteem and lower on tension, depression and fatigue after they walked outside.

Of course, those studies were small-scale, short-term — only two walks — and squishy in their scientific parameters, relying heavily on subjective responses. But a study last year of older adults found, objectively, that those who exercised outside exercised longer and more often than those working out indoors. Specifically, the researchers asked men and women 66 or older about their exercise habits and then fitted them all with electronic gadgets that measured their activity levels for a week. The gadgets and the survey showed that the volunteers who exercised outside, usually by walking, were significantly more physically active than those who exercised indoors, completing, on average, about 30 minutes more exercise each week than those who walked or otherwise exercised indoors.

Studies haven’t yet established why, physiologically, exercising outside might improve dispositions or inspire greater commitment to an exercise program. A few small studies have found that people have lower blood levels of cortisol, a hormone related to stress, after exerting themselves outside as compared with inside. There’s speculation, too, that exposure to direct sunlight, known to affect mood, plays a role.

But the take-away seems to be that moving their routines outside could help reluctant or inconsistent exercisers. “If outdoor activity encourages more activity, then it is a good thing,” says Jacqueline Kerr, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, who led the study of older adults. After all, “despite the fitness industry boom,” she continues, “we are not seeing changes in national physical activity levels, so gyms are not the answer.”

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Euro Watch: Manufacturers Survey Points to New Downturn in Euro Zone

LONDON — Hopes the euro zone might emerge from recession soon were dealt a blow on Thursday, as surveys showed the downturn in the region’s businesses worsened unexpectedly this month — especially in France.

The data came a day before the European Commission is due to announce interim economic forecasts for the 27-nation bloc, including which countries did not meet E.U. budget deficit targets.

European stock indexes were lower, following sharp declines in Asian benchmarks, and the euro slipped against the dollar. Analysts attributed the declines to nervousness about economic growth, especially following indications Wednesday that the U.S. Federal Reserve is divided on maintaining stimulus measures.

Economists had expected that the Markit Flash Eurozone Services PMI, a business survey and one of the earliest monthly indicators of economic activity, would add to tentative signs that a recovery is in the offing.

But the indicator fell in February to 47.3 from 48.6, marking a year below the 50 threshold for growth and confounding expectations for a rise to 49.0 from more than 30 analysts polled by Reuters, none of whom forecast such a poor reading.

Markit said the schism between Germany and France — the two biggest economies in the euro zone — was now at its widest since the survey started in 1998.

While companies in Germany sustained a healthy rate of growth, French services companies are in the midst of their worst slump since early 2009, when the financial crisis and subsequent recession were doing their worst.

“If it wasn’t for Germany, these would be really dire readings,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. “At least the German economy is still helping to keep the euro zone afloat in some respects.”

He said the latest survey pointed to the euro zone economy shrinking 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent in the first quarter, following an estimated 0.4 percent contraction at the end of last year.

A Reuters poll of economists last week suggested the economy would merely stagnate this quarter.

By far the most worrying aspect of the data released Thursday was the dismal performance of French companies.

Mr. Williamson said the data for France were more befitting a struggling “peripheral” euro zone economy like Spain or Italy, rather than the “core” status that France traditionally shares with Germany.

By contrast, Germany has enjoyed a good start to the year. German investor morale soared to its highest level in nearly three years this month, according to the ZEW research institute, while the federal statistics office said on Tuesday that employment hit its highest level in the fourth quarter since reunification.

Still, there are limits to what German prosperity can do for the rest of the region, blighted by harsh budget austerity and rising joblessness.

The latest Markit survey suggests that the “positive contagion” noted by the European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi, in January may be more in hope than expectation.

New orders at euro zone service sector companies — which include banks, information technology companies, hotels and restaurants — declined at a faster rate this month, with the index sinking sharply to 46.0 from 48.4 in January.

The survey also dashed optimism that the slump in euro zone factories would ease further in February, as the manufacturing index barely moved, to 47.8 from 47.9 in January.

Output fell at a faster rate, although new export orders brought at least a glimmer of hope, as the index rose to 51.7 in February from 49.5 - its first above-50 reading since June 2006.

The composite index, which combines both the services and manufacturing surveys, fell to 47.3 in February from 48.6 in January.

Companies cut more jobs, although not as quickly as in January, when layoffs rose at the fastest pace in more than three years.

In afternoon trading in Europe the Euro Stoxx 50, a barometer of euro zone blue chips, was down 1.75 percent. National benchmarks were down by more than 1 percent, with the MIB in Milan down 2.42 percent.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225-stock index closed down 1.39 percent, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 1.72 percent.

The euro was at $1.3207, down from $1.3340 late Wednesday in New York.

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Grapevine on Interstate 5 closed due to ice

By Hailey Branson-Potts

February 20, 2013, 7:19 a.m.

The California Highway Patrol shut down a stretch of Interstate 5 through the Grapevine early Wednesday because of ice.

The freeway was closed about 6:35 a.m. between Castaic and Grapevine Road, said CHP Officer Ed Jacobs. No motorists were stranded, he said.

“Until further notice, it’s Mother Nature’s call” on when to reopen the highway, Jacobs said.

Lingering rain, snow showers and gusty winds were expected to affect mountain regions until midday, according to the National Weather Service. Up to three inches of snow could fall Wednesday at elevations as low as 2,000 feet.

The additional precipitation could create hazardous icy roadways, the National Weather Service said. Snowfall, coupled with heavy winds, could reduce visibility to zero.

A stretch of California 58 in Kern County, which was shut down Tuesday night because of snow, remained closed, according to the California Highway Patrol.

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Turkish Soccer Fans Roar Loudly Enough to Damage Your Ears

ISTANBUL, Turkey — The Turks, who love football as much as anyone, have the loudest fans on earth.

The 51,998 people packed into Turk Telekon Arena, home to the Galatasaray football club, let out a 131.76-decibel roar during a match against Fenerbahçe two years ago, enough to secure a spot in the Guinness book of records. That’s louder than The Who during their 126-decibel gig in London in 1976, and louder even than standing behind a fighter jet at takeoff.

They haven’t gotten any quieter.

Check out a Galatasaray game and you’ll have no doubt how much the Turks love the sport Americans call soccer. Oh sure, their three biggest clubs, Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beskitas, may not be the most successful, but they boast millions of followers.

Millions of very, very loud followers. The fans, profiled in Ford’s Fantastic World of Football documentary series, are passionate about the beautiful game, and want everyone to know it.

They pack the stands, screaming as if the the match will be won or lost on noise alone. I brought along a decibel meter for a recent match and the din hit 97 decibels — about as loud as a jackhammer, and enough to cause some serious hearing loss at sustained levels. It was modest compared to that derby game against Fenerbahçe, but enough to make your hair stand on end.

So even if the team can’t guarantee the right result, one thing Galatasaray’s fans can guarantee is an incredible — and incredibly loud mdash; atmosphere.

Video: IncWord.com

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Lawrence, Chastain, Riva in Oscar battle of youth versus experience

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A young widow, a bayou girl, an elderly woman, a mother and a CIA agent battle it out on Sunday for the Best Actress Oscar, a race that includes the youngest and oldest nominees in the category’s history.

Jennifer Lawrence of “Silver Linings Playbook,” 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis from “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” 85-year-old star of “Amour” Emmanuelle Riva, “The Impossible” lead Naomi Watts and “Zero Dark Thirty’s” Jessica Chastain are competing for their first Academy Award.

“Any one of these five can win, it’s one of the most hotly contested races in recent memory,” Scott Feinberg, lead awards analyst for The Hollywood Reporter, told Reuters.

In the long movie campaign season, awards have been split between Lawrence, Chastain and Riva.

Lawrence, 22, who picked up her first Oscar nomination in 2011 for “Winter’s Bone,” was nominated for her portrayal of an endearing young widow in quirky comedy “Silver Linings Playbook.”

The actress won the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice awards in the comedy acting categories, and bested Chastain for the Screen Actors Guild trophy.

“Jennifer Lawrence fits the perfect profile of a winner. (The voters) love an ingenue at the peak of her career,” Tom O’Neil of awards website GoldDerby.com told Reuters.

“She is queen of popcorn pictures with ‘The Hunger Games’ franchise and she is delivering the kind of dramatic performance in ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ that merit her the ultimate crown,” he added.

Chastain, who landed her first Oscar nod for supporting actress for the 2011 film “The Help,” has picked up the Critics’ Choice Best Actress award, and the Golden Globe for drama actress.

Yet Chastain, 35, an early Oscar front-runner for her role as dogged CIA agent Maya in the Osama bin Laden manhunt thriller “Zero Dark Thirty,” has seen some of her support wane in the wake of criticism for the film’s portrayal of torture, and director Kathryn Bigelow’s omission from the Oscar director’s race.

The race between Chastain and Lawrence has been fueled by reports of a rivalry between the two, which Chastain was forced to deny through her Facebook page last week, calling Lawrence “utterly charming and a great talent.”

But with French actress Riva winning Best Actress at Britain’s version of the Oscars this month, the star of foreign-language entry “Amour” could pull off an upset.

AN OPEN RACE

At age 85, Riva is the oldest Best Actress nominee for her performance as a retired music teacher felled by a series of strokes in “Amour.” Many pundits believe this year is an opportune time to recognize the French actress for her five-decade film career.

“Riva may be helped by the fact that people want to do this now. They’re not going to put it off for her as they might for the other nominees, who are all considerably younger,” Feinberg said.

Chastain and Watts, 44, are nominated for playing characters based on real people. But Feinberg suggested that Watts, who plays a mother torn from her family by a tsunami in “The Impossible,” had another advantage.

“(Voters) like to see that kind of physical transformation and Naomi is playing a real person, which they think is a taller order … you need to provoke more than respect, you need to provoke awe or enthusiasm,” Feinberg said.

“The problem with Jessica Chastain, as good an actress as she is, the part is very cold. It’s hard for people to get excited about it,” he added.

O’Neil noted that the 5,800 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – a predominantly male, over 50s group of movie professionals who select the Oscar winners – often vote for younger, attractive actresses in a close contest.

That would give Lawrence or perhaps child star Wallis an edge.

Wallis was a surprise Oscar nominee for her first acting role in mythical drama “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” playing a defiant young girl in an impoverished Louisiana bayou community.

“Oscar voters love little girls,” O’Neil said, citing Tatum O’Neal and Anna Paquin who won in the supporting category when they were children.

“Just because she is an adorable 9-year-old does not mean we should dismiss her as a contender. Oscar voters have historically shown that they love to give big hugs to little girls,” O’Neil said.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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