The Simone Camille bag has just completely sold out on net-a-porter.com. They’re priced at $1860 also on stylist Simone Harouche’s Web site. They’re multi colored, embroidered, and made completely from vintage textiles. Completely handmade, no two are alike. Harouche’s company can design a custom bag for you, as well.

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You can pack everything into these deep pocketed bag. A broad shoulder band is perfect for easing shoulder and back aches and those colors are so beautiful and can last a very long time, because they simply do not go out of style. Dress up or down your jeans, maxi dresses and broomstick skirts with these easy bags. Great for all occasions and also the perfect Indian Summer, prefall transition bag!

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By Sasha Charnin Morrison for UsMagazine.com. To read more of the Recessionista blog, click here.

Window #1: Isabella Blow

1. Alexander McQueen mauve silk brocade and black lace appliqué evening jacket with lock of hair in a transparent pocket. Dante Collection.

2. Purple, coiled plastic and chiffon wrap.

3. Alexander McQueen ruched, pale pink chiffon dress with leather bodice.

4. Gold and cream embroidered Chinese kimono and scarf.

5. Philip Treacy pink squid hat.

6. Alexander McQueen antiqued gold-embroidered dress.

7. Alexander McQueen seamed leather coat.

8. Philip Treacy gold horn hat.

9. Philip Treacy black coil hat with crystals.

10. Philip Treacy black veil hat.

11. Teerable Sondvitch shoulder cape and matching skirt of red ombré paillettes.

12. Alexander McQueen mirror dress composed of overlapping paillettes.

13. Philip Treacy hat with turquoise spikes.

14. Alexander McQueen black lace dress with trailing headdress. Fall 1996.

15. Yoshiki Hishinuma red and white dress.

16. Blond horse-hair outfit with tresses.

17. Embroidered red and gold Chinese kimono.

18. Alexander McQueen black cowhide dress with seaming and tulle underskirt.

19. Philip Treacy straw and neoprene “A” hat.

20. Comme des Garçons black silk jacket.

21. Viktor & Rolf black Lurex pantsuit with oversized pompom trim.

22. John Galliano black and white velvet coat.

Window #3: Daphne Guinness

1. L’Wren Scott green and gray striped satin coat.

2. Alexander McQueen black satin hourglass dress.

3. Daphne Guinness’ own blue tuxedo jacket.

4. David Koma ivory long-sleeved dress with peplum and sheer insets.

5. Daphne Guinness’ own three-quarter-sleeved, ivory satin cape with train.

6. Gareth Pugh black vinyl pantsuit.

7. Haider Ackermann charcoal ostrich-feather sleeveless dress.

8. Alexander McQueen long iridescent blue silk cape.

9. Chanel black satin dress with sequined sleeves and fringe trim.

10. Balmain dark blue sequined dress with peaked shoulders.

11. Alexander McQueen dress with pale green and blue paillettes.

12. Alexander McQueen gray wool short-sleeved pencil dress.

13. Daphne Guinness’ own gray satin coat with cropped sleeves.

14. Threeasfour long gray robe with lace detail.

15. Gareth Pugh two-tone gray cap-sleeved dress.

16. Rick Owens pale gray crepe jacket with cascading neckline.

17. Hogan McLaughlin deep red catsuit.

18. Chanel ivory floral-embroidered long-sleeved minidress.

19. Natacha Marro gray glitter platform shoes.

20. Natacha Marro blue floral platform shoes.

21. Massarro metallic silver platform shoes.

22. Natacha Marro blue glitter platform shoes.

23. Hogan McLaughlin red leather platform shoes.

Window #4: Isabella Blow

Renowned for creating his own fabrics, designer Yoshiki Hishinuma pairs the workmanship,Wholesale Iceberg, attention to detail, and labor-intensive processes of traditional Japanese textile-making with innovative techniques and the synthetic materials to produce stunning results. In the 1980’s, he designed a series of garments he called Kite Clothes and Air Clothes that incorporated the element of wind as part of the design. This concept led to the evolution of unique and fantastic shapes as displayed in this parachute dress from the collection of Isabella Blow.

Window #5: Daphne Guinness

1. Chanel long black silk coat with red lining.

2. Daphne Guinness’ own red tuxedo jacket.

3. Hogan McLaughlin corset with chains and spikes.

4. Vintage Moroccan gold-embroidered cream silk vest.

5. Gareth Pugh black ribbed dress.

6. Alexander McQueen long, black sequined cape with a red-lined hood.

7. Alexander McQueen tweed jacket with shawl collar and red paint details.

8. Vintage Pauline Trigère red chiffon dress.

9. Vintage Chinese dragon-embroidered kimono.

10. Alexander McQueen rhinestone catsuit.

11. Threeasfour ruffled black tulle dress.

12. Alexander McQueen gold sequined gown.

13. Daphne Guinness’ own black feather cape.

14. Vintage gold-sequined three-quarter-length coat.

15. Hogan McLaughlin mirror winged shoe.

16. Alexander McQueen gown with green feather and sequined bodice and tulle skirt.

17. Daphne Guinness’ own black wool jacket with long tails.

18. Chanel metallic silver three-quarter-length coat.

19. Oscar de la Renta sleeveless silver and gold sequined dress.

20. Alexander McQueen black cap-sleeve dress with padded shoulders and belt.

21. Nina Ricci black lace-up platform boots.

22. Daphne Guinness’ own blue platform shoes.

23. Nina Ricci light magenta platform shoes.

24. Daphne Guinness’ own gold-studded and rhinestone red platform shoes.

Accessibility links
Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help 30 January 2012 Last updated at 14:03 GMT 5 live ’should boost minority sports coverage’
Radio 5 live should provide more coverage of non-mainstream and minority sports, the BBC Trust has said.

The station and its digital offshoot Sports Extra currently offer news and live commentary across 20 sports.

However in a review, the trust found up to two-thirds of 5 live’s sport output in 2010/11 was football focused.

The report added the station should spend more of its budget on news output in the future, to be representative of its 75% news output remit.

5 live and Sports Extra currently provides coverage on sports including cricket, golf, athletics, women’s football, baseball, swimming and snooker.

The trust, which is the corporation’s governing body, said while the current offering was a “good starting point” it felt the station could “increase its commitment” with a wider range included during peak listening hours.

“Although football will continue to be the most covered sport, other sports should receive more representation,” the report said.

BBC management, in its submission to the trust, said 5 live would “explore the possibilities” of reporting on swimming, extreme sports and American sports, depending on audience interest.

‘Sport network’

BBC Trustee Alison Hastings, who led the review, told 5 live’s Victoria Derbyshire she did not think it was “sensible” for the trust to specify which sports the station should be covering.

“But certainly during the Olympics, and perhaps at other times, you will be hearing a wider range of sport,” she said.

The BBC Trust carries out an in-depth review of each of the BBC’s services at least once every five years.

It assesses performance, through public consultation and from responses from the broadcasting industry, against the service’s remit and decides whether amendments are necessary.

The review found 5 live was highly valued by listeners, with a weekly audience of about 6.7m.

It said news coverage on the station had “breadth, depth, wit and intelligence” but said audiences were more likely to think of it as a sport network.

The Trust said the station needed to do more to raise awareness of its news output and re-balance the spending towards news instead of sport.

“We recognise that sports rights and high-quality sports production can be expensive, however we feel that the balance of spend towards sports does not reflect the station’s role to provide 75% news,” the Trust said.

‘Non-news’ features

The report added a small proportion of the audience felt that,wholesale Ed hardy t-shirts, at times, 5 live had too much focus on trivial or less serious issues.

The Trust said it would therefore like to see fewer “non-news” features in news programmes, particularly when there was more important news in the agenda to cover.

“Audiences really value the fact that it’s not wall-to-wall hard news all the time,” said Ms Hastings. “They like the tone.

“But if you’re a programme that, maybe because of the time of day, is less likely to be doing more hard-driven news, you’ve got to think carefully about some of the regular features. Does that make the whole programme less ‘newsy’ than it’s meant to be?” Ms Hastings said.

“It’s great to see that 5 live’s approach to news coverage and breaking news really stands out for listeners.

“We’ve set out ways in which we think 5 live could build on this to ensure that all of its journalism continues to meet the high standards that audiences expect.”

A spokesman for 5 live said: “We are pleased the report concludes the both 5 live and Sports Extra are performing well and are rated highly by our audiences.

“We will now consider the detailed findings and develop the plans to implement the report’s recommendations.”

In response to the report, RadioCentre - the trade body for UK commercial radio - said it welcomed the BBC Trust review, particularly “measures to prioritise high quality news coverage and feature minority sport more regularly”.

However, it added that the “modest” nature of the changes represented “a missed opportunity for the BBC”.

The Houston-based company said in a statement that the two had reached an agreement with China’s Ministry of Agriculture over the oil spills last June in the Bohai Sea.

The spills were considered small, especially compared with the Gulf of Mexico spills in 2010, but Conoco, the operator of the Bohai field, still came under intense media criticism in China.

Conoco said the money, 1 billion yuan, would be used “to settle public and private claims of potentially affected fishermen in relevant Bohai Bay communities.”

It said 10 percent of the money would go to the company’s previously announced fund to improve fishery resources.

The agreement will likely stop a lawsuit that a group of more than 100 Chinese fishermen filed last year seeking compensation from ConocoPhillips China for damage to their sea cucumber catches.

In September, ConocoPhillips announced plans to set up two funds to pay compensation and address environmental problems resulting from the spills.

The government has already ordered the company to stop all production pending a full cleanup and a review to ensure no more oil seeps into the sea.

The oil spill covered about 2,500 square miles (6,200 sq. kilometers) of water surface. It drew attention to pollution in the Bohai region due to industrialization, oil drilling and fast population growth that has decimated sea food and fish stocks and caused frequent red tides.

Sea cucumbers, one of many types of sea product harvested in the Bohai,wholesale Adidas, are sausage-shaped, often spiky marine animals that are viewed as a delicacy by many in Asia.

The number of newly approved foreign ventures in November fell 12.9 percent from a year earlier to 2,718, the ministry said.

Investment from the U.S. has dropped 23 percent this year, as of the end of November, to $2.74 billion, though spending by other regions grew or held steady, the ministry said.

Investment from the European Union edged up 0.3 percent from a year earlier to $5.98 billion while investment from Asia jumped 18 percent to $89.6 billion.

The $8.8 billion in foreign investment in November was down 9.8 percent from a year earlier, the Commerce Ministry reported. Foreign investment in October climbed 8.8 percent from the year before.

The ministry reported a surge in trade with other emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia. China has said it will focus more on boosting exports to those countries to help offset weakness in the West.

SHANGHAI Foreign direct investment in China fell for the first time since 2009 in November, by nearly 10 percent, as weakness in the U.S. and crisis-stricken Europe takes a growing toll on the country’s growth.

China Ministry of Commerce: http://www.mofcom.gov.cn

___

Foreign direct investment covers spending on physical assets such as factories and excludes financial assets such as stocks.

Online:

In assessing China’s trade situation, ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said weak demand due to Europe’s debt crisis means China’s exporters will face “very severe” conditions in coming months.

The report didn’t credit any specific measures for the improvements, though China has cracked down on the smaller, illegal mines blamed for many deaths.

Zhao Tiechui told Xinhua that the number of deadly accidents fell 18.7 percent to 892 during the same period.

BEIJING China says its coal mines have had fewer fatalities and accidents this year compared with the same period in 2010, though its mines are still the world’s most dangerous.

Fatalities in China’s coal mines last year were about one-third of the high of nearly 7,000 in 2002.

Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann said GM had a solid quarter, but needs to improve its profit margins in all regions. The company also needs to take better advantage of its global scale, building the same cars for all markets to cut engineering and research costs, he said.

“There’s nothing that’s off the table,” he said.

GM said Wednesday that its third-quarter net income fell 15 percent from a year earlier, pulled down by losses in Europe and South America and weak earnings in all areas except North America and China.

Europe faces a financial crisis and could slip into recession. Growth is slow is several key nations. Italy, the region’s third-biggest economy, is bucking under the weight of government debt. Greece faces default unless it can accept a new debt deal, and the region also is dealing with high unemployment, stingy bank lending and declining exports. General Motors Co. is among the first U.S. corporations to forecast lower earnings due to the problems.

“These guys just aren’t going to sit around and let Europe lose a bunch of money,” he said. “I imagine they’re working on plans to rightsize capacity to make money on lower (sales) volume.”

European sales rose 4.6 percent during the third quarter. But the growth rate was about half the 9 percent increase GM reported worldwide.

In South America, Ammann said GM is revamping an aging car and truck lineup to try to boost sales. It also offered buyouts to employees that resulted in a 4 percent reduction in the work force there to deal with cost inflation, he said. GM is coming out with nine new vehicles in the next year in South America, including the Chevrolet Cruze compact and a subcompact named the Cobalt, he said.

Ammann said GM plans actions companywide to improve profit margins. Its profit margin, or pretax profit as a percentage of revenue, is around 6 percent, a full percentage point lower than its closest global competitors, Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co.

While the company plans to cut costs further, it mainly will boost profit margins by increasing revenue, he said.

“You can’t cost-cut your way to prosperity in the business. You’ve got to grow the business, get the right vehicles on the road,” he said.

Michaeli said he thought GM would have been able to remove more costs in Europe by now. Third-quarter costs at GM Europe were about even with a bad quarter a year ago, so that means more cuts will have to be made, probably by cutting factory capacity with plant closures, he said.

Ammann said that in Europe, GM will follow the formula used to turn around the company’s North American operations. GM cut its break-even point in North America by closing 16 factories since 2008. It also won concessions from the United Auto Workers union, and it rolled out new vehicles that are selling well. But Ammann wouldn’t say for certain if plant closures are coming in Europe.

Sales in Europe are about 18 percent of GM’s 2.2 million global total, but they are expected to weaken as the economy slows in the fourth quarter.

Citi Investment Research analyst Itay Michaeli said other automakers have hinted at difficulties in Europe, but GM was sounding a louder alarm based on the third-quarter performance.

DETROIT The fragile European economy is dragging down General Motors’ profits, forcing its management to look harder for cost cuts and ways to boost revenue in the struggling region.

In the third quarter, GM’s net income fell to $1.7 billion, or $1.03 per share, compared with $2 billion, or $1.20 per share, a year earlier. The quarter’s figures also included $200 million in dividends paid on preferred stock that didn’t exist a year earlier.

The company’s shares fell over 10 percent to $22.31 Wednesday as GM executives were backed off an earlier prediction that the company would break even before taxes in Europe this year.

Ammann said the company has made significant progress in Europe and is more than $1 billion ahead of last year’s pretax earnings.

GM CEO Dan Akerson told industry analysts that the company’s performance in Europe is due in part to slower sales “which itself is a manifestation of Europe’s economic morass.” He said the results in Europe and South America are “not sustainable and not acceptable” and said GM must look for more ways to control costs. But Akerson stopped short of giving specifics.

GM posted a pretax loss of $292 million in Europe. Its profit rose slightly in North America to $2.2 billion, but earnings at its international operations, including China, fell 29 percent to $365 million. South American operations also swung to a loss of $44 million for the quarter.

Cutting costs appears to be a bigger challenge than trying to sell more cars in the region. It’s difficult for GM to close plants and cut staff in Europe because of strong unions and laws that protect jobs.

Ricky Gervais opened the Golden Globes by asking the audience if they were nervous. He immediately said the Golden Globes was second place to the Academy Awards. He pulled out a list of rules, supposedly of what was expected of him. Some of the audience seemed amused, with a few trying not to laugh. He mentioned celebrity scandals of past year. In a backhanded sort of way, he thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press for inviting him back.

“The Artist” topped the night with three Golden Globes. Jean Dujardin won best actor in a musical or comedy, and the movie won in the best original score and best motion picture - musical or comedy categories. “The Descendants” followed “The Artist” with two wins. George Clooney took home the trophy for best actor, and the movie won for motion picture - drama.

Other standouts in the motion picture categories included Christopher Plummer, who won for best supporting actor, Octavia Spenser for best supporting actress and Meryl Streep for best actress in a drama. Veteran actor Christopher Plummer humbly acknowledged his fellow nominees and his costar Ewan McGregor. He thanked his wife of 43 years, saying her bravery and beauty still haunts him.

The television categories spread trophies all over network television and cable. Laura Dern won for best actress in a television comedy. She beat past winner Tina Fey and veteran comedienne Amy Poehler. With all of the hype behind “New Girl,” I thought Zooey Deschanel would pull the upset. First-time Golden Globe winners included Indris Elba for best actor for the television mini-series “Luther” and Matt LeBlanc for best actor in a comedy series.

Kelsey Grammar, who won Golden Globes for his comedic work, received the trophy for best actor in a drama for his work on “Boss.” With two Golden Globes, “Homeland” took home the most television awards. Claire Danes won for best actress in a drama, and the show won for best drama series.

The Golden Globes presented the Cecil B. DeMille Award to Morgan Freeman. Golden Globe and Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier introduced Freeman, receiving a standing ovation when he came on stage. Pointier called Freeman a prince in his chosen profession. Helen Mirren introduced a montage of his 50 films, even joking that she only got to play in one of them.

The night was full of surprises. Gervais was generally contained during the ceremony. Occasionally, he said something that was right on the boundary that could be funny or offensive. The Golden Globes also distributed the awards across the board, not letting one television production or movie dominate the categories. It was refreshing to hear different names being read and people being honored for stepping away from characters that became emblazoned on the minds of the public. Hopefully, audiences will hear new names next year.

List of Nominees and Winners:

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Kenneth Branagh - “My Week with Marilyn”

Albert Brooks - “Drive”

Jonah Hill - “Moneyball”

Viggo Mortensen - “A Dangerous Method”

Christopher Plummer - “Beginners” (winner)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical

Laura Dern - “Enlightened” (HBO) (winner)

Zooey Deschanel - “New Girl” (FOX)
Tina Fey - “30 Rock” (NBC)
Laura Linney - “The Big C” (SHOWTIME)
Amy Poehler - “Parks and Recreation” (NBC)
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Cinema Verite” (HBO)
“Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)” (PBS) (winner)
“The Hour” (BBC America)
“Mildred Pierce” (HBO)
“Too Big to Fail” (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Romola Garai - “The Hour” (BBC America)
Diane Lane - “Cinema Verite” (HBO)
Elizabeth McGovern - “Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
Emily Watson - “Appropriate Adult” (ITV)
Kate Winslet - “Mildred Pierce” (HBO) (winner)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Steve Buscemi - “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
Bryan Cranston - “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Kelsey Grammer - Boss” (STARZ) (winner)
Jeremy Irons - “The Borgias” (SHOWTIME)
Damian Lewis - “Homeland” (SHOWTIME)
Television Series - Drama
“American Horror Story” (FX)
“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
“Boss” (STARZ)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“Homeland” (SHOWTIME) (winner)
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
“The Artist” - Ludovic Bource (winner)
“W.E.” - Abel Korzeniowski
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
“Hugo” - Howard Shore
“War Horse” - John Williams
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
“Gnomeo and Juliet” - “Hello Hello” by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
“Machine Gun Preacher” - “The Keeper” by Chris Cornell
“Albert Nobbs” - “Lay Your Head Down” by Brian Byrne and Glenn Close”
“The Help” - “The Living Proof” by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas
“W.E.” - “Masterpiece” by Madonna, Julie Frost and Jimmy Harry (winner)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hugh Bonneville - “Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
Idris Elba - “Luther” (BBC One) (winner)
William Hurt - “Too Big to Fail” (HBO)
Bill Nighy - “Page Eight Masterpiece” (PBS)
Dominic West - “The Hour” (BBC America)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Jodie Foster - “Carnage”
Charlize Theron - “Young Adult”
Kristen Wiig - “Bridesmaids”
Michelle Williams - “My Week with Marilyn” (winner)
Kate Winslet - “Carnage”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Peter Dinklage - “Game of Thrones” (HBO) (winner)
Paul Giamatti - “Too Big to Fail” (HBO)
Guy Pearce - “Mildred Pierce” (HBO)
Tim Robbins - “Cinema Verite” (HBO)
Eric Stonestreet - “Modern Family” (ABC)
Best Animated Feature Film
“The Adventures of Tintin” (winner)
“Arthur Christmas”
“Cars 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Woody Allen - “Midnight in Paris” (winner)
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon - “The Ides of March”
Michel Hazanavicius - “The Artist”
Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne, Jim Rash - “The Descendants”
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian - “Moneyball”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jessica Lange - “American Horror Story” (FX) (winner)
Kelly MacDonald - “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
Sofia Vergara - “Modern Family” (ABC)
Evan Rachel Wood - “Mildred Pierce” (HBO)
Maggie Smith - “Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
Best Foreign Language Film
“The Flowers of War” (China)
“In the Land of Blood and Honey” (United States”
“The Kid with a Bike” (Belgium)
“A Separation” (Iran) (winner)
“The Skin I Live In” (Spain)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
Claire Danes - “Homeland” (SHOWTIME) (winner)
Mireille Enos - “The Killing” (AMC)
Julianna Margulies - “The Good Wife” (CBS)
Madeleine Stowe - “Revenge” (ABC)
Callie Thorne - “Necessary Roughness” (USA)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical
David Duchovny - “Californication” (SHOWTIME)
Johnny Galecki - “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
Thomas Jane - “Hung” (HBO)
Matt LeBlanc - “Episodes” (SHOWTIME) (winner)
Alec Baldwin - “30 Rock” (NBC)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Berenice Bejo - “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain - “The Help”
Janet McTeer - “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer - “The Help” (winner)
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants”
Best Director - Motion Picture
Woody Allen - “Midnight in Paris”
George Clooney - “The Ides of March”
Michel Hazanavicius - “The Artist”
Alexander Payne - “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese - “Hugo” (winner)
Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical
“Enlightened” (HBO)
“Episodes” (SHOWTIME)
“Glee” (FOX)
“Modern Family” (ABC) (winner)
“New Girl” (FOX)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Jean Dujardin - “The Artist” (winner)
Brendan Gleeson - The Guard”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - “50/50″
Owen Wilson - “Midnight in Paris”
Ryan Gosling - “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Glenn Close - “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis - “The Help”
Rooney Mara - “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep - “Iron Lady” (winner)
Tilda Swinton - “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
“50/50″
“The Artist” (winner)
“Bridesmaids”
“Midnight in Paris”
“My Week with Marilyn”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
George Clooney - “The Descendents” (winner)
Leonardo DiCaprio - “J. Edgar”
Michael Fassbender - “Shame”
Brad Pitt - “Moneyball”
Ryan Gosling - “The Ides of March”
Best Motion Picture - Drama
“The Descendants” (winner)
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“The Ides of March”
“Moneyball”
“War Horse”

New York State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten ruled on Tuesday that to show fraud, MBIA need only show Countrywide misled it about the $20 billion of securities it insured, not that the misrepresentations caused its losses.

MBIA shares closed 8.1 percent higher.

MBIA accused Countrywide of misrepresenting the quality of underwriting for about 368,000 loans backing 15 financings it insured between 2005 and 2007, while the housing market was booming. It said it would not have provided insurance on the agreed terms had it known how the loans were made.

While not ruling on the merits, Bransten lowered the burden of proof on MBIA to show Countrywide committed fraud and breached its insurance policies.

“No basis in law exists to mandate that MBIA establish a direct causal link between the misrepresentations allegedly made by Countrywide and claims made under the policy,” she wrote, citing New York common law and insurance law.

The judge also said Armonk, New York-based MBIA may try to prove financial damages, while agreeing with Countrywide that it “will not be an easy task.”

She rejected Countrywide’s argument that MBIA’s only remedy was to void its insurance policies. MBIA had said that would be unfair to investors.

KEY DEFENSE REJECTED

“The importance of today’s ruling cannot be overstated,” said Manal Mehta, a partner at Branch Hill Capital, a San Francisco-based hedge fund.

“Bank of America has lost one of its key defenses in the ongoing litigation over mortgage putbacks by the monoline insurers,” he said. “It could become significantly more devastating for the banks if it becomes a precedent for putback litigation over private label securitizations.”

Bransten issued a similar ruling on Tuesday against Countrywide in a case brought by another insurer, Syncora Holdings Ltd’s (SYCRF.PK) Syncora Guarantee unit.

Lawrence Grayson, a Bank of America spokesman, said the bank is reviewing the rulings.

“The insurers’ losses are due to the mortgage market collapse, a risk they agreed to insure,” he said.

Jay Brown, MBIA’s chief executive, said in a statement the insurer is “very pleased” with its ruling, which provides “a straightforward path to recovery of our losses.”

MBIA shares closed up 94 cents at $12.53 after earlier rising as much as 11.4 percent to $12.91. Bank of America shares rose 24 cents to $5.80.

BIG COSTS

Bank of America has incurred tens of billions of dollars of legal bills and writedowns tied to mortgages since the second-largest U.S. bank bought Countrywide in 2008.

In a November regulatory filing, Bank of America said unresolved litigation could “significantly” boost costs and materially impact future results.

It also said that, through September 30,Discount D&G wholesale, it had resolved about half of the $6 billion of representations and warranties claims tied to monoline-insured transactions, including $2 billion in an April settlement with Assured Guaranty Ltd (AGO.N).

MBIA meanwhile was restructured by New York’s insurance department in 2009 after the company, which traditionally insured municipal bonds, incurred big losses from insuring mortgage debt. Bank of America and some other banks are challenging that restructuring.

The cases are MBIA Insurance Corp v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 602825/2008; and Syncora Guarantee Inc v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc et al in the same court, No. 650042/2009.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; additional reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York, Ben Berkowitz in Boston and Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; editing by Carol Bishopric, Gary Hill and Andre Grenon)

Of the collaborations on display, most ran continuously throughout the afternoons, with the exception of special performances by “Greater New York 2010″ alumni Linzy and Rashaad Newsome, which occurred only once a day, and which filled up so quickly that audience members resorted to using sharp elbows and none-too-subtle shoves to push their way into the front row.

For his billing, Linzy performed a set mixing original songs with a cover of Salt n Pepa’s 90s hit “Push It” as his alter ego, Labisha — garbed in a sparkly DVF gown for the occasion. A series of music videos of Linzy’s songs, including “Fuck You” and “Labisha’s Bonus Track (Turn It),” looped continuously in the room long after he left the stage. (In that former video, a bit of institutional intertextuality emerged when the Labisha character confronts a miffed lover at a posh garden party in front of a tableau of horrified guests that includes PS1 founder Alanna Heiss, along with fellow “Greater New York” artist Ryan McNamara.)

Whereas Linzy’s performance was a one=man act, Newsome — continuing his “Shade Compositions” piece, brought sampled footage of people “vogueing” to “Greater New York” — took the stage with about a dozen men and women dressed in Alexander Wang clothes and chunky black high-heeled boots, who strutted up to microphones and repeatedly uttered attitudinal noises (”uh-uh” and “pfft”) and confrontational phrases (”stop playin’!”) that were layered by Newsome to create a musical composition. The song, which lasted more than 20 minutes, was accompanied by video projected on the wall of other people making similar gestural sounds of contempt and annoyance, which Newsome arranged to play in sync with the live performers. When they weren’t speaking, the artist’s performers shot nasty looks at the audience, staring them down with intimidatingly haughty glares.

Meanwhile, Swiss artist Olaf Breuning and fashion designer Cynthia Rowley came together for an ongoing “Happening”-like event that was aimed at bridging the differences between the fashion and art worlds, underscoring their shared processes of production and creativity. Moving through a series of rooms, models were outfitted in denim clothes designed by Rowley and led next door where they posed in a elevated box while Breuning poured a cans of paint over their heads. (It didn’t take long for the floor under the models’ feet to resemble a Jackson Pollock.)

Onlookers excitedly squealed and snapped photos as the mannequins grinned and bore the cold paint that oozed over their bodies, coating the protective goggles strapped across their faces. The subjects were then led to a third room for a photo shoot, after which they privately removed the denim outfit — an easy process, Rowley said, since each garment was fitted with zippers allowing it to pull easily away from the body — and showered to prepare for the process all over again. The photographs documenting the process, meanwhile, were displayed on the walls, and the paint-encrusted clothes were arrayed on hangers in another room as if on sale, complete with custom tags that listed “Cynthia Rowley/Olaf Breuning” as the brand. To whit, both art and fashion emerged from the process.

A powerful installation by performance artist Terence Koh and Calvin Klein designer Italo Zucchelli was accessible through a thick black curtain, which gave way to a room shrouded in white smoke where two men dressed completely in silver — from their trench coats to their pants, shoes, face paint, and foil-textured head wraps — walked slowly towards and away from each other, meeting at the center of the space and then turning back. Lights installed in each of the four corners of the room pierced the fog and lit the silver performers as a deep rumbling noise seemingly emanated from within the mist. The light refracting off the men created a dizzying effect, as the beams shifted startlingly but the movements of the performers remained unvaried and methodical.

Some preferred to focus their collaborations on MoMA PS1’s visitors, directly implicating them in the work. When one walked into the installation by Rob Pruitt and Marc Jacobs, he or she was admonished by assistants with clip boards for being so late to the fashion show — “Fashion waits for no one, people!” — and instructed to strut down a green-screened hallway, flash the camera a fierce looks, and stalk back out the door. In the next room, the audience-turned-models could watch on giant screens the digital footage of their runway skills spliced into footage of a politely applauding celebrity audience — with Madonna in attendance — that was lifted from a exclusive runway show. Taking another approach to the same idea, artist Dan Colen and Proenza Schouler screened live video from hidden cameras they had installed in different New York neighborhoods, creating catwalks out of the street to spotlight the fashion and attitudes of everyday — and unaware — New Yorkers passing by.

A film short by designer Adam Kimmel and David Blaine, called “Dressed for Dinner,” showed the magician floating underwater, wearing a formal suit supplied by Kimmel, while pointing at the schools of fish and occasional shark that passed by and, strangely enough, eating a banana. Blaine performed in the galleries throughout the weekend as well, peddling card tricks and other magic acts to visitors as they walked into his first floor gallery.

Among the other pairings on offer were McNamara and Robert Geller, who  arranged for 30-minute dance classes — from stripping to line-dancing — to be taught continuously throughout the day by professional instructors, and an installation by Brody Condon and the Rodarte sisters that featured silent performers wearing white robes and face paint who moved slowly but continuously throughout a space, mysteriously clinking together the tips of gold-plated sticks that they carried. Artist Tauba Auerbach and Ohne Titel outfitted young women in blue-and-white patterns that match the striped interior of a room they danced in. Jonah Bakaer and Narcisco Rodriguez presented a choreographed solo performance by an individual dressed in black who moved methodically upon a black box in a black room under a spotlight. Then, in a final gallery, videos by designer Telfar and artists Lizzie Fitch, Rhett Larue, Fatima al Qadiri, Ryan Trecartin, and Leilah Weinraub played. 

As opposed to the usual commercially-minded fashion/art combines — think Murakami and Louis Vuitton — what set “MOVE,Cheap Juicy Couture!” apart was that the undertakings were clearly intended simply as explorations, or giddy fun. Visitors who came over the weekend didn’t leave the museum feeling under-dressed, but maybe a little overwhelmed by the sheer manic diversity of work on display.