There’s been a lot of attention paid to Facebook’s business model recently, especially with the news that General Motors has killed a $ 10-million advertising campaign devoted to the giant social network — not exactly a great sign of confidence in advance of the world’s most eagerly anticipated IPO. And GM’s move is only the latest indication of discontent, as other advertisers are also questioning their spending. What all of these moves reinforce is that while Facebook may look like and function like a social network for the majority of its users, on the business side it looks almost exactly like a traditional media company, and that is both good and bad.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2011)
White’s voice is real a distinctive one, so there’s no trouble picking hers out of the star studded crowd in this animated hit movie. Danny DeVito heads a cast of familiar names like Zac Efron (High School Musical) and country singer Taylor Swift. Efron plays Ted, one of the main leads, and ever maternal White plays his grandmother Grammy Norma. White and her talented cast mates helped propel the movie into big bucks territory by hauling in over $ 300 million dollars at the box office.

You Again (2010)
This playful comedy romp starring Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Sigourney Weaver (Aliens) and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) sees White playing a grandmother seeking to right a wrong from her youth. The movie’s production team cleverly cast Cloris Leachman, who co-starred with White on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” as Phyllis, who engaged in more than a little heated rivalry with White’s home baked character of Sue Ann Nivens.

The Proposal (2009)
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds co-star as a most unlikely couple to be involved romantically. Bullock is a highly driven executive who dearly loves the American dream – the only trouble is that she’s not American. Her Canadian character will be deported if she doesn’t concoct a temporary marriage so she can stay in the good old USA When she taps her assistant, Reynolds, for a sham marriage, the sparks fly. White plays Reynold’s grandmother, residing in a small town in Alaska. The romantic comedy garnered mixed reviews all around, but there’s no doubting its financial success. It has earned nearly 8 times its budget at the box office.

Lack Placid (1999)
Writer and producer David E. Kelly (Ally McBeal) gave us the screenplay on this quirky sci-fi horror movie about a rather large reptile living in a placid lake. White stars alongside actors Bill Pullman (Casper), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) and Bridget Fonda (Single White Female) in a homespun role that turns more than a bit dark.

The Story Of Us (1999)
Bruce Willis and Michele Pfeiffer star in this love story with heavy emphasis on the romantic comedy element, but it details a once loving couple who’s basically fallen out of love. While the movie made many of the worst list of film critics that year, it’s chock full of appearances by comedy veterans like Audrey Meadows (City Slickers) and it’s the last feature film for stand-up comedian, actor and pop culture favorite Red Buttons, an Oscar winner for “Sayonara”, co-starring Marlon Brando.

Hard Rain (1998)
Christian Slater gets pretty darned wet, and so does most everything else, in this action packed thriller, also starring Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy). White plays a small town local who at first thinks Slater is one of the bad guys looting people of their money. Ed Asner, White’s co-star as Lou Grant from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” plays Slater’s ill fated uncle. Remember to take an umbrella for this one, things get plenty and awfully wet.

http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/taylor-swift-and-zac-efron-hit-the-red-carpet-at-the-lorax-premiere http://www.thewrap.com/deal-central/column-post/zac-efron-betty-white-danny-devito-star-lorax-21949 http://www.eonline.com/news/movie_reviews/review_even_betty_white_cant_save_you/202107 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/09/you-again-premiere-kristen-bell-sigourney.html

The Valles Caldera (pronounced “Vie-yez”) is located just west of Los Alamos, about an hour north of Albuquerque. Because of its amazing beauty, volcanic features and abundant wildlife, the 12-mile wide crater has often been called “The Yellowstone of the Southwest.” Most of it is contained inside Valles Caldera National Preserve – a large, beautiful paradise born out of one of nature’s most powerful forces.

Located at the intersection of the Rio Grande Rift and Jemez Lineament fault zones, Valles Caldera was created 1.2 million years ago by a major eruption followed by the collapse of the crater floor into the magma chamber below. Eruptions continued until 50,000 years ago, when the last lava flow came from the El Cajete crater in the southern part of the caldera.

But ever since that last eruption the caldera has transformed into a poster for peace and tranquility. It’s nickname, “Yellowstone of the Southwest,” comes from its slight resemblance to America’s most popular national park. Like Yellowstone, Valles has a volcanic origin, large grass valleys, forested mountainsides, geothermal areas and large herds of elk, introduced to the Caldera from Yellowstone in 2001.

Among the natural attractions is 70-foot Jemez Falls, a plunge of the Jemez River down the caldera rim, Battleship Rock and Soda Dam, a massive travertine mineral deposit located down the river and near the town of Jemez Springs. However, unlike Yellowstone, Valles Caldera National Preserve is largely closed to motorized traffic and commercialization. It is primarily a wildlife and nature sanctuary.

For 160 years the caldera was owned by the Baca Ranch, a well-known cattle operation. But in 2000 the U.S. government bought the property for $ 101 million and created the Valles Caldera National Preserve to protect the caldera as a working ranch and wildlife sanctuary. The caldera would be maintained by the U.S. Forest Service and governed by a 9-member board of trustees – a new concept in public land management.

Valles Caldera is considered by many to be so beautiful that some wonder why it isn’t a national park. Despite its original designation as a national preserve, a movement has been underway for years to get the caldera placed under National Park Service control.

In March of 2011, legislation was introduced to the U.S. Senate by New Mexico senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall to disband the trustee board and transfer the property to the National Park Service (NPS) for management. Bill S.564 “Designates the Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico as a unit of the National Park System for the protection, preservation, and restoration of the fish, wildlife, watershed, natural, scientific, scenic, geologic, historic, cultural, archaeological, and recreational values of the area.” The bill has widespread support in New Mexico and by the National Park Service but, more than a year later, it has yet to be considered by a Senate subcommittee.

Despite its relative obscurity, Valles Caldera National Preserve had about 97,000 visitors in 2011. Only one highway traverses the preserve, scenic New Mexico Highway 4. There are no other public roads. However, staging areas exist along the highway for hiking trails, trails leading to hot springs, and public campgrounds. On the caldera’s southeastern border is Bandelier National Monument, which preserves ancient Native American ruins.

The caldera is a hotspot for scientific study. Minor volcanic activity continues in the western and southwestern parts of the crater in the form of a hydrothermal system that includes hot springs, fumaroles (gas and steam vents) and boiling sulfur and mud pits, the latter of which are on private land and not open to the public. But just like other parts of the caldera, they are closely monitored by scientists.

Thankfully, there is little evidence that the Valles Caldera will erupt again anytime soon. Several studies conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s showed that magma is still present underneath the caldera, creating a “low velocity zone” – a thinning of the earth’s crust found at the site of active and dormant volcanoes. But there are no warning signs to indicate that the volcano is waking from its long slumber.

Just like Yellowstone National Park in 1988, last summer Valles Caldera also fell victim to a massive wildfire. In June of 2011 wind toppled an aspen tree and it struck a power line, igniting the tree. Drought conditions and summer winds fueled a massive wildfire that burned for over a month, consuming 30,000 of the caldera’s eastern acres – 156,000 acres of public and private land in total.

Large wildlife escaped largely unharmed but Valles Caldera National Preserve’s chief scientist, Bob Parmenter, said last fall that the fire’s effect could take 150 years to reverse. But most of the Valle Grande and hiking trails, and all of the visitor’s facilities and campgrounds were spared. Bandalier National Monument, despite having most of its vegetation burned, also had its buildings spared along with its irreplaceable Native American artifacts.

Valles Caldera National Preserve is a great place to spend a day or two, soaking in the natural beauty of the Valle Grande, visiting with rangers at the visitors center, hiking the trails in search of wildlife, or driving up and down massive San Diego Canyon. Public hot springs are located to the south of the caldera along Highway 4. Some can be accessed by vehicle while others involve a short hike.

• ‘Run the Caldera’ – The annual “Run the Caldera” race will be June 9-10, 2012. On June 9th is the 2nd annual 10K race. On Sunday the 7th annual full marathon and half marathon will take place, following old logging roads up and down 2,100 feet of elevation change inside the caldera, providing access to oft-hidden areas of the preserve.
• Camping – There are three campgrounds within Santa Fe National Forest lands around the preserve – Jemez Falls, Redondo, and San Antonio – and Fenton Lake State Park about 10 miles away. Only Fenton Lake has electric hookups and those are at a premium.
• Shopping & Tourism – The town of Jemez Springs to the south features craft shops, cafes and public baths and the city of Los Alamos to the east has shopping, restaurants and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where they developed the first atomic bomb.
• Fishing & Hunting – The preserve is usually a popular place for trout fishing but the 2011 wildfire has delayed the opening of this year’s fishing program. Check with the preserve for an opening date. Elk and turkey hunting is permitted on the preserve at certain times of the year and by lottery only. Check the preserve’s website for information.