Linkdump!

Folks in the Puget Sound area should watch KBTC tonight starting at 6 p.m. to watch my husband and the Emerald City Androgums answer phones during Doctor Who.

Everybody is posting this one, because it's so awesome: This isn't the petition response you're looking for.

My husband is already pretty excited about the new Oz movie, but he's also a huge Danny Elfman fan so this news has him practically squeeing in delight.

Oscar Nominees. I have seen none of the movies. The Razzies Nominees. I have seen none of the movies. Oh well.

How Voltaire got rich enough to be Voltaire.

The lie of Nazi gun control. Not that anyone who is indoctrinated by the NRA will read and believe this, but hey, I like spreading the truth when I can.

Why Adobe (and other vendors) should give away older software. I admit it, I snagged InDesign, but haven't installed it yet. More at Slashdot.

Most of these 25 foods you'll never eat again actually gross me out, but I did like the crispy M&Ms.

Future gadgets that might be worth buying from CES this year. The only one that made me wish I could afford it was the solar battery back up.

The Onion does it again. I like the Toyota Highlander comment.

Oh man, I wish I could afford to get this Aquaman #15 Blank Cover variant with art by Fred Hembeck! I did buy a blank variant for myself, but haven't figured out what to do with it yet.

One of these years I will make it to GeekGirlCon. I hope it's soon.

More on lab-grown meat. Again, I have no problem trying lab-grown foods myself. I'd rather have a cleanly grown hamburger than some of the stuff that gets into hamburger nowadays.

Speaking of food, for the twelve-week-challenge I'm using myfitnesspal to log food intake and exercise. I would have used Calorie King like I did in the past, but it doesn't have an app for Android and the PC app hasn't been updated in years.

An update on my post from the other day. Yes, the student who died was the athlete. That makes it so much more painful for some reason.

Also, when I got in on Thursday there was a note on my desk from the editor pointing out that my Wednesday afternoon's work was pretty bad compared to my usual and asking me to do more proofing before turning stuff in. When I went to talk to the editor about it I quoted a techie, "Sometimes it pays to stay in bed on Monday, rather than spending the rest of the week debuging Monday's code." At least he understood.

My Oscar Predictions

I told Eric before we started watching the Oscars that I predicted that The King's Speech would win everything in every category. Even the ones it hasn't been nominated in. That makes it nice and easy...

Update: Hrm, 17% isn't the best winning percentage. And to think I actually won the pool at an Oscar party once. *sigh*

Academy Award Nominations

Nominees for the 82nd annual Academy Awards

Best picture

"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"

I've seen Avatar. None of the others.

Best actor

Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Best actress

Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

I loved Carey Mulligan in Doctor Who: Blink, but I haven't seen this movie. Nor have I seen any of the others.

Best supporting actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best supporting actress

Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Best director

James Cameron, "Avatar"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

Best animated feature

"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"The Secret of Kells"
"Up"

Yay, another movie I've seen! Coraline!

Best foreign language film

"Ajami" (Israel)
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" (Argentina)
"The Milk of Sorrow" (Peru)
"The Prophet" (France)
"The White Ribbon" (Germany)

Best screenplay (original)

"The Hurt Locker," written by Mark Boal
"Inglourious Basterds," written by Quentin Tarantino
"The Messenger," written by Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
"A Serious Man," written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"Up," screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter; story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Best screenplay (adapted)

"District 9," written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
"An Education," screenplay by Nick Hornby
"In the Loop," screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
"Up in the Air," screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best music (original score)

"Avatar" James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker" Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes" Hans Zimmer
"Up" Michael Giacchino

Best music (original song)

"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," music and lyrics by Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," music and lyrics by Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," music by Reinhardt Wagner and lyrics by Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine," music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," music and lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best art direction

"Avatar" art direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; set decoration: Kim Sinclair
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" art direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; set decoration: Caroline Smith
"Nine" art direction: John Myhre; set decoration: Gordon Sim
"Sherlock Holmes" art direction: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Young Victoria" art direction: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Maggie Gray

Best cinematography

"Avatar" Mauro Fiore
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Bruno Delbonnel
"The Hurt Locker" Barry Ackroyd
"Inglourious Basterds" Robert Richardson
"The White Ribbon" Christian Berger

No, I haven't seen the latest Harry Potter movie.

Best costume design

"Bright Star" Janet Patterson
"Coco before Chanel" Catherine Leterrier
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" Monique Prudhomme
"Nine" Colleen Atwood
"The Young Victoria" Sandy Powell

Best documentary (feature)

"Burma VJ" Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
"The Cove" Nominees to be determined
"Food, Inc." Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
"Which Way Home" Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary (short subject)

"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province" Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner" Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
"Music by Prudence" Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
"Rabbit à la Berlin" Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Best film editing

"Avatar" Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
"District 9" Julian Clarke
"The Hurt Locker" Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
"Inglourious Basterds" Sally Menke
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Joe Klotz

Best makeup

"Il Divo" Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
"Star Trek" Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
"The Young Victoria" Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Nope, haven't seen Star Trek, either.

Best short film (animated)

"French Roast" Fabrice O. Joubert
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell
"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)" Javier Recio Gracia
"Logorama" Nicolas Schmerkin
"A Matter of Loaf and Death" Nick Park

Best short film (live action)

"The Door" Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
"Instead of Abracadabra" Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
"Kavi" Gregg Helvey
"Miracle Fish" Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
"The New Tenants" Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best sound editing

"Avatar" Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson
"Inglourious Basterds" Wylie Stateman
"Star Trek" Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
"Up" Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Best sound mixing

"Avatar" Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
"Inglourious Basterds" Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
"Star Trek" Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Best visual effects

"Avatar" Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
"District 9" Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
"Star Trek" Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Wow, I've got pretty much nothing on this year. I've seen a total of two of the movies referenced. I'll probably not watch it, and I don't have any emotional investment in any of the nominees.

A Sunday Review

Started the week with the Oscars. Although I don't generally go to parties unless I'm hosting them, I went to an Oscar party and joined in the guessing contest. I'd only seen one of the movies (Ratatouille), but I still managed to guess 11 of the winners correctly, netting me the grand prize of the party. I should have got 12 right, but I picked Persepolis for best animated despite my certainty that Ratatouille would win.

TV this week: Iron Chef America: "Flay vs. Rathbun Brothers" (any time Flay is on, I root for the challenger... and hey, fascinating theme on this one), Classic Doctor Who: "The Invisible Enemy" parts 3 & 4 (hilariously bad special effects make this one a treat), Torchwood: "A Day in the Death" (if he doesn't have any breath, how can he talk?), Supernanny: "Tafoya Family" (liquid soap in the mouth is VERY BAD), and Robin Hood: "For England...!" (whoa, that one almost upset the apple cart).

Comics this week: JLA Classified #53 had Aquaman! And he did ok, as well! And there was even an "alternate" Aquaman! Happy happy Laura! Justice Society of America #13 was more Kingdom Come, and not enough of my favorite JSA characters. Eh. JSA Classified #35 was Wildcat and not much else. I don't mind Wildcat, but he's not my favorite of the JSA.

Moving on to other books, Fallen Angel #24 was just confusing to me. Why is V for Vendetta hanging out there? Doctor Who #1 is let down by the artwork. The story needed strong art in all the "talking bits", but it didn't get it. I hope the art is better in the next issue. PS238 #29 was great as usual. I've been a big fan of Tyler, but The Flea has me in near-hysterics half the time now as well.

This week's library movie was 300. What a crappy movie! Very stylish, very pretty in some ways, but s-l-o-w as molasses and without enough plot to support the action. How can you possibly make a movie about the Battle of Thermopylae that's this boring? I've read the graphic novel, I thought I knew what to expect, but this was just silly junk. Nice try, but not good at all.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

Some Links

Superman and social justice.

The Beloit Mindset List for the Class of 2011. Ouch. This one hit me hard: "What Berlin wall?"

Geeks supporting Obama.

Peter David live-blogs the Superbowl ads.

Cell Phones change the World.

Another reason to shop at Costco instead of that Wal-dude's place.

Clues from old photograph solve mystery of who the drowned man was.

E-voting sucks, so it does, and so we perceive it. We might as well go back to paper and make sure votes aren't lost by computer "bugs".

I love this stunt. Art for fun's sake.

The TSA has a blog, and people are using the comments to complain about the TSA's insanely stupid policies.

Go here to watch the 2008 Oscar-nominated Animated Shorts.

When Geek Relationships Cool Off.

BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!

Yes, this is for the in-laws.