A Note from Taylor Swift's Desk

“Back To December is a song that addresses a first for me. In that I've never apologized in a song before. Whether it be good or bad or an apology. The person I wrote this song about deserves this. This is about a person who was incredible to me- just perfect in a relationship- and I was very careless with him. So, this is a song full of words that I would say to him that he deserves to hear.
I’ve never felt the need to apologize in a song before, but in the last two years I’ve experienced a lot, a lot of different kinds of learning lessons And sometimes you learn a lesson too late and at that point you need to apologize because you were careless. ['Back To December'] is about a person who was incredible to me, just perfect to me in a relationship, and I was really careless with him.
I’ve written songs about things like burning my ex boyfriends pictures… I’ve written songs about the times that I’ve been hurt by love. But then one day I woke up and realized that I had hurt somebody… And so I wrote this song to tell him I’m sorry.”
― Taylor Swift

Exclusive: Industry Nite

Rambo part 5 coming out soon

Sylvester Stallone has been discussing a number of forthcoming projects on his slate, and has revealed that he will be making a fifth Rambo film.

Stallone confirmed via twitter that his next project would be Rocky spin-off, Creed, which will follow the grandson of Apollo Creed, an aspiring boxer being mentored by none other than Rocky Balboa.

Stallone then announced that Creed would be followed by Last Blood: Rambo, the fifth film in the popular franchise that kicked off with First Blood back in 1982.

Stallone didn’t disclose any further details about the project, so we don’t know whether he will be directing and starring, or indeed where the plot will take our musclebound hero this time.

Given how the rest of the franchise has played out, we’d imagine killing people will remain a central theme. The last film included 247 on-screen fatalities. Hope the new one doesn't count up to that.

Internatinal Review: The pop culture moments that went viral in 2014

January: Pharrell Williams made everyone Happy - 

Pharrell's Happy was originally written for the 2013 Dreamworks sequel Despicable Me 2, for which it received an Oscar nomination. However, it became a viral hit this year. The video alone has been viewed 531 million times on YouTube, then in September Happy became the most downloaded song of all time in the UK. It was also the fourth single to be declared triple platinum in 20 years with more than 25 million streams. 

February: Ellen Page came out on Valentine's Day - 

The Juno actress gave a ground-breaking speech at a Human Rights Campaign for LGBT youth in February, announcing that “I’m here today because I am gay.” The video of the speech, which was watched globally, showed Page talking about the pain of hiding her sexuality and telling her audience: "We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise."

March: Ellen Degeneres' Oscar selfie - 

An unrivalled collection of the Hollywood elite (and Lupita Nyong'o's brother) Oscars host Ellen Degeneres's selfie was retweeted over three million times. Twitter collapsed briefly because of the snap, which included Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence and Channing Tatum. It is reportedly valued at around $1 billion dollars to Samsung, the manufacturer of Degeneres's phone.

May: The wedding that that broke the internet -

Kim Kardashian's cover shoot for Paper magazine was one of the more controversial celebrity events of 2014, it was her wedding to Kanye West in May that proved the most shareable. Her Instagram snap of the big day, which showed the newlyweds kissing in Florence, was the most liked photo on

the platform in 2014, with 2.4 million likes. Just as well - the couple spent four days tweaking the photo.

June: The Queen ruled Westeros -

Game of Thrones fans watched with trepidation as the Queen eyed the Iron Throne while visiting the hit TV show's set in Belfast in June. They may have been disappointed that the monarch decided

against sitting on the iconic seat, but the popular HBO series was referenced in Her Majesty's speech on Christmas Day.

August: Chris Pratt became an online hit -

As if being the highest grossing actor of 2014 wasn't enough, Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt also became an internet sensation. Whether he was meticulously rapping Eminem's Forgot About Dre on American radio station Shade45 or demonstrating how to do the perfect French braid in July for an Entertainment Weekly correspondent, the star peaked in August, with more content generated about him than ever before according to Google's search trends. 

August: Beyoncé continued to champion gender equality -

It was successful year for feminism in pop culture, with Beyoncé championing the cause throughout the year. Performing at the MTV Video Music Awards to a TV audience of 8.3 million, the singer quite literally put gender inequality into the spotlight, bringing the debate to a younger generation by sampling Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk into her single ***Flawless

August: Taylor Swift surpassed pop stardom -

Once the video for Shake It Off (currently clocking 422,139,663 views on YouTube) came online, Taylor Swift moved beyond the status of country starlet and became think piece fodder among the blogosphere. Feminism, racial stereotypes and Swift's new musical direction were all picked apart after the surprise launch of the debut single from 1989.

September: Emma Watson and #HeForShe -

The British actress was appointed UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in July, and in September she used her role to launch the #HeForShe campaign encouraging men and boys to join the gender equality cause.
Following her speech, male celebrities including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Simon Pegg and Tom Hiddlestone showed their support by using the hashtag #HeForShe on Twitter and Instagram. Encouraging men to pledge to gender equality via social media, the campaign has thus gained a movement of over 200,000 followers online. 

October: Daniel Radcliffe showed the world he can rap -

The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, the Harry Potter actor left Hogwarts firmly in the past as he delivered a seamless version of Blackalicious 'Alphabet aerobic. The video of the challenge currently has 32 million views, making it the show's third most popular video to date.

November: Russell Brand went Brit Pop -

After it was suggested on Twitter that every one of Brand's political rants could be concluded by tweeting "Parklife" in response, the actor turned activist responded with his own version of the Blur
Brit Popclassic. The Twitter trend, which saw thousands responding to Brand's tweets with the phrase, began in November and the video has since passed a million views.

November : The new lightsaber divided fans -

The first trailer for JJ Abrams' Star Wars sequel The Force Awakens has reached over 51 million views on YouTube, making it the most watched teaser trailer ever. But, the 91-second trailer caused controversy as well as excitement. The double-hilted lightsaber wielded by the Kylo Ren divided
fans. While some embraced it, others created memes of other unnecessary alterations to the weapon. 

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Quotes and Cheers of 2014-15

A great year is almost ending and a new year is about to begin, bringing with it new hope, aspirations, resolutions and excitement.

IB Times UK has compiled a list of top 10 quotes and messages that you can send to your family and friends to say 'Happy New Year 2015.'

1. "Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right" — Oprah Winfrey.

2. "New Year's Day.. Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." — Mark Twain

3. "For last year's words belong to last year's language And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." — TS Eliot, 'Little Gidding

4. "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." — Mother Teresa

5. "I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's." — Henry Moore

6. "All of us every single year, we're a different person. I don't think we're the same person all our lives." — Steven Spielberg

7. "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." — Albert Einstein

8. "Each age has deemed the new-born year the fittest time for festal cheer." — Walter Scott

9. "We will open the book.. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its chapter is New Year's day" — Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Top messages to wish Happy New Year 

1. Hey! New Year's day 2015 is here! Put on your party hat and raise a toast to good times. Begin this New Year in a very special way with your friends, family and loved ones.

2. May the New Year bring you courage to break your resolutions early! My own plan is to swear off every kind of virtue, so that I triumph even when I fall!

3. Wish you and your family a joyful, bright, healthy, prosperous and happiest new year ahead! Happy New Year.

4. This New Year I wish that God showers you with His choicest Blessings, Fate never takes you for a bumpy ride, Cupid strikes you with his sweetest arrow, Lady Luck bestows upon you health and wealth, your Guardian Angel keeps your mind alert and bright.

5. New is the year, new are the hopes, new is the resolution, new are the spirits, and new are my warm wishes just for you. Have a promising and fulfilling New Year.

Nicki Minaj Sets New Billboard Records & Earns 58th Billboard Hot 100 Entry

Earlier this month, Nicki Minaj's "Only" became her fourth number one on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, giving her the most among female rappers in the 56 years since the chart launched as a sales/airplay hybrid tally. Now, she's accomplished another noteworthy chart feat.

The rapper debuts two star-assisted tracks on the Hot 100, furthering her Hot 100 achievements on two levels. "Feeling Myself," featuring Beyonce, starts at No. 43, and "Get on Your Knees," featuring Ariana Grande, enters at No. 88. With the bows, Minaj ups her count to 58 career Hot 100 hits, passing Madonna and Dionne Warwick (56 each) for the third-best total among women. Aretha Franklin leads with 73, followed by Taylor Swift (66).

Minaj also boasts a career-best eight songs on this week's Hot 100 (dated Jan. 3). Among women, only Swift has charted more titles at once: 11 (Nov. 13, 2010). Minaj is one of just eight acts overall to post at least eight songs on the Hot 100 at once, joining the Beatles, who charted a record 14 on April 11, 1964, Chris Brown, David Cook, Drake, the cast of Fox's Glee, Lil Wayne and Swift.

Other exclusive 2014 Best Selfies

The Pop Diva Selfie

Music worlds collided when Katy Perry shared this selfie with Adele.

The Royal Selfie

 A lot of things have to fall together when taking a selfie. This young man, for instance, happened to take his royal tour snap right when Kate Middleton looked into the camera.

The Clinton Family Selfie

 Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at the infamous Oscars selfie saying, "@TheEllenShow- No Brad Cooper but 3 Clintons & a Kimmel @BillClinton @HillaryClinton @ChelseaClinton #selfie."

The Presidential Selfie

The vice president had a very special guest for his first selfie on Instagram: President Barack Obama!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The World Cup Win Selfie

Germany national team soccer player Lukas Podolski tweeted this epic photo shortly after Germany won the World Cup.

The best celebrity selfies of 2014

Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar selfie

Ellen broke Twitter records with her star-studded selfie at the Oscars, which went on to become the most retweeted picture of all time.
Oscar host Ellen assembled an A-list group of celebs – including Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Spacey, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt – and got Bradley Cooper to snap it on her phone.
It went viral as soon as it arrived on Twitter and was soon shared millions of times. Twitter even had to send out an apology because all of the retweeting disrupted the service.

 

Joan Collins’ copycat selfie

Joan Collins orchestrated a star-studded selfie of her own at the Celebrate Success Awards, which championed those who have succeeded against the odds with help from the Prince’s Trust.
The former Dynasty star captured Dominic West, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jeremy Irons, Pixie Lott, Sam Bailey and Jools Holland in the shot.
“We got it,” she declared. “If they can do it at the Oscars we can do it here.”

 

Kim Kardashian

Kim is the undisputed Queen of the Selfie, and no other contenders for the title can even come close.
Her mission to “break the internet” with raunchy nude shots from a magazine shoot came towards the end of the year, but Kim has actually been causing Twitter pile-ups for a long time – 2013 saw some classics like her pregnancy selfie and a sizzling snap of her swimsuit clad post-baby body (which her hubby Kanye West responded to by tweeting soon afterwards: “HEADING HOME NOW”.)
And Kim hasn’t let the side down in 2014, sharing pictures of herself enjoying her glam lifestyle, more pouts than we can mention, and cosier snaps of her at home with daughter North.
A highlight of this year has been selfies of Kim showing off her tiny waist in corsets, having declared she was “waist training”.

 

Lupita Nyong’o and Jared Leto cosy up

Lupita and Jared were at the centre of relationship rumours after they hung out during film awards season, which saw them both pick up Academy Awards. And speculation about a possible romance was fuelled by selfies of the pair looking cosy.

 

Baby bump selfies

Sharing pictures of baby bumps is on the rise among mummies-to-be, with stars like Gwen Stefani, Alyssa Milano and Snooki showing off their growing tummies this year.
Some media-savvy celebs have also used selfies posted on social media to announce their pregnancies.

 

Courteney Cox engagement selfie

Ahhh… former Friends star Courteney shared a selfie of her snuggled up to boyfriend Johnny McDaid to announce they were engaged.
Her beau did the same, tweeting the same cute snap.

Ellie Goulding's friends threw her a surprise birthday party earlier this month.

Ellie Goulding was delighted when her friends threw a surprise party for her 28th birthday three weeks ago. 
The 'Light' hitmaker turns 28 today (30/12/14) but will be unable to celebrate it exclusively as she is heading to the US for a gig. But thanks to her close pals who  marked the occasion with a special bash in which she was kept completely in the dark about last three weeks.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''I'm flying on my birthday to do a show in New Orleans.
''I got a surprise birthday. I was like, 'What's going on? My birthday isn't for three weeks.' It was awesome.'' 
Ellie's surprise party came just a few weeks after she helped boyfriend Dougier Poynter celebrate his 27th birthday with a private museum tour.
The 'Starry Eyed' hitmaker whisked her Mcbusted bassist boyfriend off for an intimate midnight stroll around the exhibits of London's Natural History Museum.
Posting an image on Instagram of the couple in front of a dinosaur skeleton, Dougie wrote: ''I got the Natural History Museum for my birthday! Thank you to me luuuuvly lady. (sic)'' 
Despite coming up with the idea, his singer/songwriter girlfriend seemed to find the experience a bit more scary than she hoped, describing the evening as ''eerie''.
Writing on her own Instagram account, she said: ''The Natural History Museum at midnight. Eerie when there's only two of you... (sic)''
The twilight trip was not the only part of the 'Air Guitar' singer's birthday treat, having already enjoyed a vegan cookie cake and a massage earlier in the evening.