Today was one of those days.

I was invited to a powerful discussion about an upcoming CBS News/48 Hours presentation to be broadcast on Friday night at 8pm EST called “Bullying: Words Can Kill”.

I have two very young children, ages 6 and 8, and I have yet to find them suffer from bullying, but I’m fully aware that it goes on in every school across the country.  Bullying is everywhere.  I grew up with glimmers of it in my own life, and I know how hard it can be on a child.

But we live in a new age.   A digital age.  My kids, and your kids, are fully capable of using all digital devices, and if you think about it, that kind of use is going to change over the next few years.  As my daughter grows up, she’ll go on Facebook; she’ll start to IM her friends.  Words that might be hurtful or derisive will not only be verbal, they’ll be cyber.  90% of all middle school students have phones.  Technology is more important to our kids than ever.  According to the 48 Hours report, reported by correspondent Tracy Smith, this cyber explosions is only making bullying worse, as victims cannot find relief from their tormentors in a 24/7 digital world. The report, with links to the CBS News website, will have important new information for parents, educators and legislators about how bullying affects children and how to address it.

For six months, producers and camera crews were allowed in-depth access to the classrooms, cafeteria and gym at Birchwood, a Rhode Island middle school that is one of the few in the United States that has openly acknowledged it has a bullying problem and has taken action to address it. The 48 HOURS special documents the real lives of students at that particular school, and has the powerful stories of other young people and their families from around the country who have felt the impact of bullying firsthand.

The CBS team behind "Bullying: Words Can Kill"

One constantly harassed 13-year-old told Smith, “They got inside my head. They did it because they knew it would hurt.” His mother said dropping him off at school was like “sending him off to war.” Tragically, more than 150 children have taken their own lives in recent years because they were victims of harassment in school and online.

We were introduced to Lisa Cagno, the mother of a victim of bullying who attempted suicide at age 14, who told us that her son was bullied so badly.   The bullying got so bad that he couldn’t shake the feelings. In the special, she says:

“He was hurting himself. He was cutting himself, and he would just (say), ‘I hate myself, I don’t want to live anymore. I hate my life. Nobody likes me, no one cares about me.’ And I just – I would just have to constantly just reassure him. I couldn’t get those feelings out of his head.”

We also met her school’s amazing social worker, Lisa Vachon, who has created the Can’t Bully in School Program.  She has integrated many helpful experiences into her school’s program including:

- Turning the student’s experiences into a dramatic play in which they act them out.

- Mentoring program

- Support Group

- Post anti-bullying messages around the school.

- Allowing the students to anonymously report bullying in boxes.

The panelists compared middle school to ground zero.  Personally, it gave me so much to think about.  As parents, we need to teach our children how to defend themselves, but how also not to hurt other children’s family.  They are smaller versions of our own selves, so let’s teach them how to be good kids, good friends, good people now. I’m planning a lecture at my synagogue about bullying in the upcoming months to help educate my community.  But at the end of the day, we need to keep the lines of communication open with our children and help guide them through these years.

So, don’t miss this program. Friday night at 8pm on CBS and viewers can join the conversation online on  Twitter.  Prepare yourself so you can help your children now or later. Remember, some kids may be too afraid to tell you what’s going on and you may need to look for the signs.  A lot of bullying goes unreported.

Here’s a video clip:

Disclosure: I was invited as a guest of the discussion, but no opinion was asked of me.  The ones expresses are my own.

Source: NYT

Just when I was about to give up completely on summer television comes along a fab new Internet only show on AMCTV.com called The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks.  It’s very Woody Allen, very Freudian.  It’s a homage to Allen, who I adore, not only because it uses narration and black and white video, but also because it’s about an actor/writer (played skillfully by Adam Goldberg) who is having an affair with a young protege.  He feverishly tries to sort out his life, while writing bits of it into his scripts.  His therapist, played by Jeffrey Tambor, adds the perfect neurotic touch and even the music is a la Woody.

The episode that I watched tonight is 12 minutes long and is called “I Pulled a Polanski” and was right up my alley.  If the writers weren’t channeling Woody’s fact and fiction, I’m not sure whey they got their ideas, but it was funny, poignant and I definitely want to keep watching.  Besides, I need summer material.  Check it out on Hulu.

Source: DailyPress.com

Apparently, Lin-Manuel Miranda from “In the Heights” wrote Neil Patrick Harris’ rap that closed down the Tony Awards tonight.  It was bloody brilliant.  It summed up the show so clearly and succinctly.  Please note that this transcription was originally transcribed and posted at The New York Times Arts Beat Blog by Dave Itzkoff.  Here it is:

Tomorrow, if anyone asks you what happened at the Tonys, you can say this:

We straightened things out in the opening number, Ellen Barkin and John Benjamin Hickey took home awards for their hilarious performances in “The Normal Heart.”

Daniel Radcliffe kicked some butt, and we were so elated

Even Voldemort was sad he wasn’t nominated

Norbert Leo Butz sang and danced and tried to catch ya, comin’ atcha,

Chasing Trey and Casey ‘cause they nabbed a Tony statue

Commencing in the Chattanooga station

From the grand imagination of the Kander-Ebb collaboration

It takes a lot for a recipient to humble me

But everybody cried for gorgeous Nikki James, the bumblebee

Andrew Rannells sang “I Believe” and he landed it

So well now he’s Mitt Romney’s V.P. candidate

All across the country, from the north and to the south

They’re saying Brooke’s a hottie with a crazy potty mouth

John Larroquette brought an eloquent mood to the room

I’m still imagining him at home in his Fruit-of-the-Looms

Spider-Man and Mary-Jane gave us perspective here

They sang a ballad, we didn’t need protective gear

Patina Miller’s nun sang “Raise Your Voice” with cheer

And “Memphis” is relentless, they’re performing every year

“The Normal Heart” won, Larry Kramer made us weep

And “War Horse” dazzled us with a theatrical sweep

Sutton Foster never lost her knack

For talking smack

And tapping a full-on assault attack

I’m awesome, Hugh Jackman, take that

Go ahead and roll the credits if you need to

I’m out of control, I’m on a roll, this is my Tonys speed-through

“Anything Goes” took the best revival prize in stride

We didn’t see it, we were singing “Side By Side By Side.”

McDormand loves her job, Sutton Foster won again

Paul Shaffer sang and suddenly it started raining men

Mark Rylance runs at fences, he’s won the Tony twice

That guy can do it all, his follow-up is “Fanny Bryce.”

Norbert Butz and “Mormon” swept the floor,

Won even more awards than “War Horse”

Par for the course,

Someone get a car for the horse

And in the final analysis, what survives tonight?

Theater, because it’s what we live, we’re changing some lives tonight

And theater thrives because we live to give it, so to speak

This ain’t reality TV, this is eight shows a week

Every chorus member that you saw tonight tappin’

Had to make miracles happen

For a chance to see you clappin’

And applauding in the audience. What’s next? Who knows?

Anything goes. Now go see a ____________ Broadway show.

Thank you, good night.

Disclosure: This piece was originally posted at The New York Times Arts Beat Blog by DAVE ITZKOFF.  I had started to transcribe it, too, when I realized that he had done the same, but I am giving them full responsibility as I did stop the transcription when I saw it posted with their punctuation it but I have to share with my readers, as well.  I am posting this because the Tony Awards were brilliant.

Source: MSNBC.com

In the midst of it all, there was the “Oprah” finale.  I have been a huge fan of the show my entire life. Twenty-five years ago, I was a teenager (am I revealing my age? Yes, I am over 40).  My mom, who was a big fan of Phil Donahue, turned me onto Oprah.  I was a soon-to-be journalism major in college and I was intrigued by her bravery and courage.  Not only was she female, but she was black, and few women had ventured into the talk-show territory.  My first few jobs out of college were with women-orientated companies, Lifetime and Oxygen Media (where she was one of the owners at the time).  I truly feel that my interest in women’s affair stemmed from my love for her show and mission.  I have always believed in using media for social good, and that is precisely what she set out to do with her show.

This week, no matter how busy my own life was, I took time out each day to wish Oprah farewell.   It was just me and my TV set.  I waited until my kids were tucked away in bed, sound asleep, so I could have my own homage to Oprah.  Alone.

During her final tapings at the Chicago, I teared up along with Oprah, as she thanked thousands and was saluted by the best stars in show business.  The show highlighted her charity efforts over the years. About 300 Morehouse College scholarship students walked along the United Center aisles as Kristen Chenoweth sang “For Good” from the musical “Wicked.” Grammy winner John Legend was beamed in from a New Orleans school and Winfrey’s book club was lauded for getting millions to read.  ”She fights for things she believes in, even if it makes her unpopular,” Madonna said.  Oprah used her status and tremendous viewership to change lives.

She helped so many people with her show.  Over the years, she admitted to nearly packing it in, as daytime TV was taking a turn with the likes of Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer, but she held on to her convictions and was determined to not only educate the public about important issues, some that were hard to discuss, and get people to get up and start changing lives.

In her hour long finale, Winfrey spoke directly to the camera.  I, like many others, felt like  Winfrey was talking directly to me.  Seriously.  She was staring into the camera, through the screen, and looked into my eyes.  She said so many things that struck a chord with me including:

“Find your calling and stick to it.”

“Nobody but you is responsible for your life. You are responsible for your life. What is your life? What is all life? What is every flower, every rock, every tree? Energy. And you’re responsible for the energy you create for yourself, and you’re responsible for the energy that you bring to others.”

“What are the whispers that are in your life right now? And will you hear it? Your life is speaking to you right now. What is it saying?”

Wow.  How did I really feel after the episode?  Like I’d been dealt a blow.  And it wasn’t because it was her last episode, it was because Oprah was talking to me.  She got the wheels spinning in my mind about my own life, my own goals.  Since I’ve had kids, my life has changed so much.  I’m not just in charge of me, I’m in charge of my kids.  My time isn’t my own now.  I have a husband, I have two kids who are reliant on me.   I have made many changes to live a better life.  A life that I am more engaged in, a life with purpose.  My husband and kids give me a lot of purpose, but there is more.  I started this blog – I amped up my volunteer efforts – I have found a balance that suits me with work and family.

Yet reflecting on Oprah’s hour-long monologue made me feel conflicted.  ”What are the whispers that are in your life right now? And will you hear it? Your life is speaking to you right now. What is it saying?” Why was I not as lucky as Oprah to have heard those whispers when I was younger?  What will become of me in the next 20 years of my life?  My happiness is tied to so much more than my kids.  I want to live my life knowing I have I have found my calling.   Have I found it?  My time for myself is limited so how can I set out on a road to finding my true calling?

When I told my mother that Oprah sent my mind into a whirlwind, that it made me feel inefficient.   She called me on it.  ”How much can one person do,” she said?  She is my biggest fan, as well as a big Oprah fan.  What she heard come out of Oprah’s mouth was more positive, more inspiring.

So, I slept on it.  I woke up empowered.  And then luck came my way.  I won’t talk about it right now, but an opportunity did present itself to me the very next day.  The whispers in my life were talking to me. Oprah is right, you can make your dreams come true, but you have to know what they are.

Farewell, Oprah, I’ll look for you on OWN.

To mark this Sunday’s season five premiere of its hit drama Army Wives, Lifetime has partnered with the social media aid organization BroadCause.com to raise funds for military families in the U.S.  As part of the partnership, Lifetime will donate $1 for every Tweet and Facebook post about Army Wives this week to the non-profit organization Blue Star Families.  Formed by a group of military spouses in 2008, Blue Star Families raises awareness of the challenges of military family life.

Launched on Monday, Lifetime has already raised more than $25,000 for Blue Star Families through BroadCause.com, the new social media platform designed to activate, accelerate and aggregate passionate communities around cause-based initiatives.   If you want to participate with and learn more information about the initiative can visit BroadCause.com.  Each week, BroadCause.com showcases one cause, which is then socialized to an audience of 10+ million people.

Simply retweet this:

RT this and Lifetime’s @armywives will give $1 to @BlueStarFamily. Season 5 premieres 3/6. #Armywives Preview http://bit.ly/armywatch

Or join at these places:

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/army-wives/ | on facebook |  on youtube

Army Wives’ fifth season will premiere this Sunday, March 6, at 9:00 PM ET/PT.  The most successful series in Lifetime ’s 27-year history, Army Wives follows the struggles, dreams and friendships of a diverse group of women – and one man – living with their spouses and families on an active army post.  The series stars Kim Delaney, Sally Pressman, Brigid Brannagh, Brian McNamara, Sterling K. Brown, Wendy Davis, Drew Fuller, Terry Serpico and Catherine Bell. Immediately following Army Wives at 10:00 pm ET/PT, Lifetime will premiere its all-new reality series Coming Home, featuring U.S. armed forces service members’ surprise family reunions after serving long tours of duty on behalf of the country.  In paying tribute to American armed forces personnel and their families, Coming Home will follow the unforgettable and inspiring surprise reunions of members of all five branches of the military with their spouses, children, parents and other loved ones as they return home from active duty throughout the world.  Coming Home is hosted by former American Idol finalist Matt Rogers.

Disclosure: I am a Lifetime Moms Affiliate.

Source: FoodNetwork.com

For the past few years, I’ve had a minor ongoing argument with my now nine-year-old daughter over what constitutes appropriate television fare. For a short time, she watched Hannah Montana and The Suite Life, until I realized she’d finish watching an episode and stroll back into the living room speaking like those pre-pubescent brats. Forget that: I have years of teenage rebellion looming ahead, and I don’t need to put up with verbal obnoxiousness early.

One of the things she had noticed about us, her parents, was that we love food. We cook at least four nights a week, usually from scratch. We take her out to eat at interesting restaurants all over L.A. And, like many foodies, we watch shows on The Food Network (mostly Good Eats). It’s not that we think we’re really getting any great cooking skills out of the shows, but we do like looking at the food.

Lo and behold, our daughter is now obsessed with The Food Network. She regularly DVRs shows like Chopped, in which four chefs compete in a three course meal using mystery ingredients. The food is then judged by rather famous chefs, most of whom are based in New York. Anna is mesmerized by the fast paced competition. There’s food flying, stuff catching on fire, fingers cut, and she sits in judgment herself.

“Mom, I’m pretty sure that chef is going to get chopped,” she informed me solemnly. “His meat was definitely overdone, and his sauce seemed thin. Still, I just don’t understand why Geoffrey Zakarian always has to be so mean.”

The drama continues for Anna with Iron Chef America. She is well acquainted, at this juncture, with all of the Iron Chefs, and her favorites are Michael Symon (because he’s a nice guy), and Cat Cora (because she’s cool). In fact, Anna has discovered a whole new world of female role models through the shows. Reverently, she recites the names of Cat Cora, Alex Guernaschelli, and Donatella Arpaia. These are some strong women, tough women who hold their own with the guys in the kitchen and on a judging panel. At one point, Anna said she would like to be the youngest judge on Iron Chef America, but she’d only do it under two conditions: no alcohol would be served (she’s underage, after all), and that one of her fellow judges would be Ms/  Arpaia. She would also prefer that the episode be called Battle Cupcake.

One of the other advantages to this foodie TV habit is that Anna can no longer really put up a fuss regarding trying new foods. After watching two chefs beat a bunch of animal insides into submission on Iron Chef America’s Battle Offal, very few food mysteries remain. She certainly has her preferences, but there’s no longer that massive suspicion of any food that doesn’t look like a chicken finger (a short but totally frustrating phase).

I realize that a lot of what Anna likes about these shows is the competitive nature; at heart, these are really game shows. I don’t think she’d be interested in watching Julia Child bumble around a kitchen by herself for a half an hour (like I did when I was a kid). But, I think she’s learning something beyond the idea that there’s a winner and loser, a concept that these people are actually creating something wonderful. She’s helping a lot in the kitchen now, and is mastering basic knife skills (she fries a mean egg, too). And I’d way rather have her want to be Cat Cora than try and emulate Miley Cyrus.

Anna was very excited to learn that there’s going to be a Chopped All Stars series, in which the judging chefs will compete against each other. Just think: all her favorites coming together. She can hardly wait to see what they’ll make, and to watch Geoffrey Zakarian get his comeuppance.

“We’ll see how he does on his plating,” she said.

Jenny Heitz has worked as a staff writer for Coast Weekly in Carmel, freelanced in Los Angeles, and then switched to advertising copywriting. She now writes about gift ideas and products on her blog, Find A Toad (www.findatoad.com). Jenny’s op-eds on education have been published recently in the Los Angeles Daily News (www.dailynews.com). Jenny also writes for the Los Angeles private elementary schools blog, Beyond The Brochure (www.beyondthebrochure.blogspot.com). She has also been a guest blogger on Mamapedia,The Well Mom, Sane Moms and other sites. She has a BA in Journalism from UC Santa Cruz and an MS in Mass Communications from San Jose State University. Jenny has a nine-year old daughter and teaches Pilates. She lives in Hancock Park, Los Angeles.

The day I watched Outsourced, I’d already had a bad experience with another West versus East movie. No offense to funny man Albert Brooks, but Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World was cheap, superficial, and without revelation or redemption in the sense that absolutely nothing of note happened. There were no lessons learned on behalf of the characters—which is fine, since this in itself can be a lesson for the audience—except there was no such lesson for the audience, either. I’d been hoping for a sort of mockumentary, but the film was a mere string of feeble attempts at intellectual stimulation, story, and embarrassed chuckles.

Since the TV show inspired by the movie had received lukewarm reviews to boot, I was not looking forward to Outsourced. Still, my live-in boyfriend misses India dearly—he spent a month there in 2006—and he insisted we at least give Outsourced a shot.

The Plunge into Outsourced

From the get-go, the characters of Outsourced are compelling. Todd Anderson is the only person on the floor of his building with a job after his boss outsources the department to India, where Todd must then go to train his affable and motivated (and absolutely adorable) replacement, Puro. Like Puro, the call center is confused and eager to get going but with no idea how. Todd looks down his nose at the workplace and his tongue-tied employees until lovely and outspoken Asha (played by Ayesha Dharker) suggests that before trying to make Americans out of Indians, Todd should learn about what makes India tick. A romance inevitably ensues, but not of the predictable, Sandra Bullock sort of vein.

Cultural Clash

Most Americans find it terribly easy to become offensive when frustrated to hear an Indian accent on the other end of their call to buy their made-in-China American bald eagle figurine. Where some films would be similarly underhanded and offensive, Outsourced is enchanting and good-natured. Director John Jeffcoat with fellow writer George Wing poke fun at the things that should be poked fun at as well as bring up very relevant issues amidst the clash of East and West.

Instead of adhering stubbornly to his western ways, Todd allows himself to wander aimlessly through the streets of India, not quite understanding what’s making the air smell that way, why the kids are throwing paint at him, how a cow managed to wander into his office. Most Westerners who smile at the thought of India allowed themselves that period of unknown as well—my boyfriend calls it The Plunge. Then, through little and everyday revelations, they learn what indeed makes India tick. The things Todd raised his brows at from across the ocean by the end of the film seem very ordinary, and the ways of Westerners in fact are called into question.

The Importance of Being a Cultural Mom

As an Easterner myself (I hail from Hiroshima, Japan) who’s had her own clash with Westerners, Outsourced is a joy and something I wish was less independent and more massively, unabashedly popular in America. Too many children grow up not knowing what lies on the other side of the fence, never mind the ocean. Although perhaps a bit mature for anything younger than teens, Outsourced is a nice reminder for moms everywhere, in the East and West, that boundaries are blending with globalization, and insisting on a singular outlook is a fast ticket to nowhere.

Consider Outsourced a nice film to watch with your older teen kids or with other moms and dads, perhaps with a nice cup of chai spiced tea.

If you enjoy the TV series, give the film a shot. If you’ve never heard of either, start right here.

Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education, where she’s been performing gender wage gap research as related to the highest paying bachelor degrees. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Now I’m a parent and, because of my upbringing without any TV, I do allow my kids to watch TV. They watch their favorite shows, but they tend to get bored after an hour or so and move on to doing something else. My kids have been watching Disney Channel shows for several years. I’m lucky that when I say, “turn off the TV,” they usually do it without argument.

The problem is that I’ve recently detected an attitude from my daughter (she’s 10) that seems suspiciously like a few of the characters in her favorite show, Good Luck Charlie. At first, I thought it might be a developmental phase she was going through. However, upon closer examination, I saw similarities between her behavior and the show’s characters that were more than a mere coincidence. The other day, she rudely told my husband to “shhhhh” with her finger over her mouth. Door slamming and telling me my clothes don’t look good on me are another of my daughter’s recent behavioral developments. All this is very unlike her.

So, the other day, I sat down to watch Good Luck Charlie, a Disney Channel show, with my daughter to find out what was really going on. We watched two episodes. I was appalled. In one episode, the family’s teenage son, PJ, 17, takes their baby to a “mommy and me” class. When he returns, his mom asks if the baby enjoyed the class. His response? “I don’t know, I wasn’t watching her.” Jokes about him flirting with the moms were made. Ha ha. Not funny!

Next, the topic of school came up. Cut to the oldest daughter and her friend discussing school. The oldest daughter, Teddy, 15, is a beautiful, blonde who was upset that she got a “B” on a school project. Her strategy is to bring the family’s baby to class to charm the teacher. Her friend is an overweight African American girl who said, between dancing, singing and trying to be funny, she’d be glad to get a “B”. More references to her being lucky to get a “B” follow. I was appalled. The racial stereotypes were blatant and offensive. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

My son is 7 years old. He also likes Good Luck Charlie. I haven’t noticed any behavioral similarities between my son and the show’s characters. Yet.

The other TV show my kids watch is The Suite Life On Deck, a Disney spinoff of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. This show features a group of kids, one, London Tipton, an Asian teen girl, a wealthy, materialistic “celebutant” who is loud, hates school and seems about as dumb a character as the show writers could possibly create. Luckily, my kids seem to have lost interest in this show.

The sassiness (no, more like obnoxiousness) of the characters on the shows mentioned above definitely isn’t what I want my kids watching. Especially since it’s rubbing off and becoming part of their behavior.

While I don’t blame these TV shows for my kids’ behavior, I do think the shows influence their attitudes. Because these are Disney shows, I assumed they were harmless entertainment. Clearly, I need to re-think my assumption.

It’s my job as a parent to curtail my kids’ ability to watch shows that are either influencing them in negative ways and shows that I find portray any specific race in an offensive or unflattering way. I’m African American. My husband is white. My kids, therefore, are mixed. I simply will not have them watching TV shows that have a double whammy: bratty characters and negative stereotypes.

So, in our house it won’t be Good Luck Charlie anymore. It will be bad luck for that show because my kids won’t be tuning in anymore.

Christina Simon, 46, is the co-author of “Beyond The Brochure: An Insider’s Guide To Private Elementary Schools In Los Angeles”. She also writes the blog, www.beyondthebrochure.blogspot.com about applying to private elementary schools in Los Angeles and life as a private school mom. Christina is a former vice president at Fleishman-Hillard, a global public relations firm. She has a 7-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter. Christina lives in Hancock Park, Los Angeles with her husband and children. She has a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an M.A. from UCLA.

Source: NYT.com

The 2011 Golden Globes were handed out tonight. The Social Network, Glee, Boardwalk Empire, The Fighter and The Kids Are All Right were among the night’s big winners.  I am proud to say that I have actually seen most of these films and shows, but I was clearly wrong about some of my projected winners.  I thought that Black Swan and The King’s Speech would take more awards home (although they did both  generate best actor and actress nods) and that Mad Men would continue its award sweep after a blow-out season.  But I was happy for  most of the winners, particularly the cast of Glee.

As far as films, I’m wondering what will happen come January 25th when the Oscars come (early this year, as you must know).  Usually, films that are released early in the year seem to be lost in the shuffle come Oscar season, and The Social Network was released last summer.  More recent releases are fresh in my mind, and I assume the judges’ minds,but I do not forget how wow’ed I was by Sorkin’s film a mere six months ago.

After tonight’s big wins and countless awards already received by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review, there is no question that The Social Network will take on all the nominated films head on.  I love awards season.  The dresses (My favorite: Amber Riley from Glee; The worst: Helena Bonham Carter, as much as I love her and respect her for being a non-conformist); the snarky host, Ricky Gervais, with his snide comments in his opening monologue that called a Cher a senior citizen, Hugh Hefner “the walking dead” and bashed the Angelina Jolie- Johnny Depp heist-thriller The Tourist and glimpses of my favorite stars provided just the right amount of Hollywood glitz and glamour  that I seek every now and then.

The complete list of winners follows:

Best Motion Picture – Drama
The Social Network

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
The Kids Are All Right

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version

Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical
Glee

Best Director – Motion Picture
David Fincher, The Social Network

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Robert De Niro

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical
Laura Linney, The Big C

Best Foreign Language Film
In a Better World (Denmark)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jane Lynch, Glee

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack

Best Animated Feature Film
Toy Story 3

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” Burlesque
Music and lyrics by Diane Warren

Best Television Series – Drama
Boardwalk Empire

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Chris Colfer, Glee

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Carlos

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale, The Fighter

So, when the network officially launched at noon this past Saturday, I watched the preview special in which Oprah introduced the following shows: Master Class, In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman, Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star, Miracle Detectives, The Gayle King Show, Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes, a reality show with Sarah Ferguson, another show with Lisa Ling, a talk show with Rosie O’Donnell, a reality show featuring Shania Twain, a reality show with the Judds and another reality show with Ryan O’Neal and estranged daughter Tatum O’Neal, as well as other specials.

On Sunday, during different parts of the day, I looked forward to watching the channel’s debut, but for some reason Verizon Fios was not picking up the audio and I couldn’t hear which was really frustrating.  I did read people’s comments on Twitter and knew that other people were able to watch the network, and their comments were mainly positive.

Tonight, after watching Oprah’s All Stars (where she has taken Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Suzie Orman and put them on the same show) and Master Class, Oprah’s interview with Diane Sawyer, I feel confident that Oprah will take see her vision blossom on OWN.  She has taken pieces of everything she loves – primarily helping and inspiring people to be the best people possible – and she is producing only the type of shows she herself would want to watch.  She is also working with the people she has loved and watched thrive on her own show and is giving them their own shows, so that they can have the kind of opportunity she had 25 years ago.

I am not sure yet how much of a viewer I will be of OWN, but I am certainly going to give the channel a serious try.  Are you?