Modern Music

‘The Help’ trailer is out and it seems to have all the charming characteristics that made the book a blockbuster. Set in Mississippi during the late 1960s, ‘The Help’ follows Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan (Emma Stone) as she returns from college and lands a job writing a column on cleaning in her local paper. Not knowing anything about cleaning, Miss Skeeter must rely on her friend and maid, Aibileen (Viola Davis). Read more at: Moviefone

LeUyen Pham

Bestselling author and illustrator, LeUyen Pham, began her career as a layout artist for DreamWorks Feature Animation. She wrote and illustrated and   and is the illustrator of numerous other picture books. LeUyen maintains a blog with regular updates about her forthcoming titles. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, artist Alex Puvilland, and two sons.

Nicki Richesin: You made a rather dramatic exit from Saigon when you were two years old. Does your Vietnamese ancestry influence your work at all?

LeUyen Pham: I don’t think it does in the way that you mean.

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Posted Jan 1, 2012

So, New Year’s Eve is upon us again. It’s that time of year to mull things over, think about the year gone and think of our aspirations for the coming year.

2011 has been a brilliant year at Swide. We’ve expanded and added some new faces to our growing family of Swiders. Apart from doing a job that we love, we all feel lucky to be working with each other and for each other. We’re really looking forward to 2012 and have big hopes for the coming year and this is the day, the first day of the year where we usually mull over what is we want form the next twelve months.

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Surely most of you have heard by now that former Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen is trying his hand at stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, his new career isn’t as successful as he was hoping it would be. According to many recent reports, most of his acts have resulted in several audience members leaving mid-show. Could it be due to his constant bashing of ex-wife Denise Richards? Still, even though Sheen spent a majority of last week insulting her on stage, Denise is trying to stay on good terms with Charlie. She even reportedly offered to take care of Charlie’s twins with Brooke Mueller until Brooke gets her act together. Read full post…

Influential 1990s rapper Heavy D, born Dwight Arrington Myers, died suddenly today.  He was 44.

Heavy D was rushed to an L.A. hospital around noon today … and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1 PM. According to PerezHilton.com, he was found unconscious on a walkway near his home in Beverly Hills.  After 911 was called, Heavy was conscious and speaking, but was transported to the hospital for further testing. An hour later, he had passed.

Last month Heavy D performed a medly of his hits at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards, marking  his first live performance in 15 years.