Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup December 6

Music: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. It has been playing obsessively in my mind since I first heard it a short while ago and it is going to do the same on UK radio and TV. This is the first single taken from "21", the upcoming album by the very talented British singer Adele.

Food/Dessert: Tyropites rocked my week. They are Greek Cheese Pies with phyllo dough. You can also use spinach and they become Spanakopita. They freeze well, are easy to pack and take with you for a lunch snack on those hectic days. As far as dessert goes, brownies are always a yay for me.

Movies: I watched The Kids Are All Right again last night. I think it should make the final list of 10 nominees for the Best Picture Oscar and it most likely will. All actors give great performances here, especially Annette Bening, already tipped for an Oscar nomination (I felt that she really let her guard down in front of the camera in a way that she never has before) and Julianne Moore who is the fantastic actress she has always been. A notable mention for Mia Wasikowska who did a great job playing Joni, one of "The Kids". This is an honest, witty, stripped-down movie (no pun intended), where no one is preoccupied with looking good on camera. Matter of fact, it's exactly the opposite. It's raw emotion, with likable characters - flaws and all - simply because they become so relatable on an emotional level as the movie unfolds. By the end, it turns into something different from what it looked like at the beginning. It plays very much like a slice-of-life movie and the last 25 minutes or so are the best.

Perfume: If you like leather/suede perfumes, a nice one to try is Cuir Cordoba by Keiko Mecheri. It can be worn by both men and women. Smooth and velvety, it is one of her best creations.

Blast from the past: Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence. I admit that I have never been a huge Depeche Mode fan, I mostly appreciated them...from a distance. But this is one DM song I have always loved. One of the best of the '90s and one of the best of their entire career. If you want to see the real power of this song, check this live performance in Milan, Italy, where it's basically the crowd singing and Dave Gahan listening and not the other way around.
 
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It happened this week-ish:

The Grammy nominees were announced last Thursday, with a few surprises and a few snubs...as usual. I'll take a more detailed look at the list and possible winners in February, before the actual ceremony will take place. In the meantime, here is the link to the full list of nominees.

Coldplay released their new video to the song Christmas Lights.

Arcade Fire's new single is The Suburbs.

For the clubber in you: Far East Movement - Like A G6 is still played like crazy on the radio and TV.

Ciara proves once again what an amazing dancer she is. Check out her new video, Gimme Dat. This is some of the best executed choreography I have seen in quite a while. The song leaves a lot to be desired, to put it mildly, but with those moves and that body, who cares?

  
Pink's Raise Your Glass is the new U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No.1 song. (and she's filming the video for her next single).

Lady Gaga confirmed that her new single from the album "Born This Way" will be released in February.

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I have kindly been asked by a friend to list the recent DVD releases and with the Holiday season coming up, you might consider these as possible gifts for your addicted-to-movies friends:

*new DVD launches in Romania: Inception, Salt, Knight and Day, Up in the Air, Shutter Island, It's Complicated, Robin Hood, Avatar-Extended Collector's Edition, Step Up 3, Toy Story 3, The Back-Up Plan, Sex and the City 2, The Book of Eli, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

 
Photos from Flickr, Fragrantica.