Wow, I haven't blogged in ages. Must mean I got a life? Nah, just a job and I've been at it for three weeks now and I even moved to Zurich. And then there's the Euro 2008, the occasional Die Ärzte concert, the occasional house warming party and so on, so life's good.
I've lately been having the urge to blog in German again, so I went and got myself a wordpress account and yet another incredibly cheesy title. Feel free to have a read right. here.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Copenhagen
On Monday I got back from a well-deserved break which brought me and a friend to Copenhagen, visiting another friend who's on exchange there. We were very lucky weather-wise and got to enjoy a beautiful boat ride through the canals, spend an afternoon in the park and another in Christiania and of course party in the evenings. I have to agree with Kirk, Copenhagen's definitely a city I could live in!
In other news, I'm starting work on Monday and moving to Zurich this Saturday, so I'll have a lot of things to get done in a very short time-frame - therefore there will probably be only limited for the next week or so, sorry!
In other news, I'm starting work on Monday and moving to Zurich this Saturday, so I'll have a lot of things to get done in a very short time-frame - therefore there will probably be only limited for the next week or so, sorry!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Miracles Do Happen!
- I have proof! See, I'm pretty sure at some point me and all my faithful readers (Hey guys! Been a while! Sorry! *waves*) have resigned to the fact that my master's thesis will always be something to aspire to but never to actually complete. Turns out there is a God and He/She/It somehow put me in a trance for a couple of days and made me finish. Oh, I'm not saying it turned out well because it didn't, but what would you expect? Even God needed a full seven days to create the earth and I believe he actually would've had to do it within seven years but just couldn't get started until the last minute. And while He/She/It did their best within that time-frame, I think we all know it's far from perfect. Some would even say it turned out a disaster, but I digress.
Anyway, my thesis isn't that much of an epic disaster, it's more just meh. Very meh. But it's really pretty! So let's all pray to whatever entity we believe in, that it will be accepted and that I can officially graduate on October 4th!
Anyway, my thesis isn't that much of an epic disaster, it's more just meh. Very meh. But it's really pretty! So let's all pray to whatever entity we believe in, that it will be accepted and that I can officially graduate on October 4th!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Colbert is Awesome: Anniversary
Yesterday marked the 2-year-anniversary of Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. If you haven't seen / heard / read it I strongly urge you to catch up on it. Find the video here and a transcript here.
I still can't believe he had the guts to say that stuff with the President sitting right there. And I still can't believe that he got invited at all. Further proof that sometimes the stars do align and make beautiful things happen. Even Justice Scalia didn't seem so bad when he actually laughed out lout at jokes at his expense (sadly, he may have been the only one in that room to do so, though).
I still can't believe he had the guts to say that stuff with the President sitting right there. And I still can't believe that he got invited at all. Further proof that sometimes the stars do align and make beautiful things happen. Even Justice Scalia didn't seem so bad when he actually laughed out lout at jokes at his expense (sadly, he may have been the only one in that room to do so, though).
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Word of the Day: Awareness
Awareness. A word I've officially come to loathe. The straw that broke the camel's back was reading about this video to raise awareness of the death of the honeybee. Yes, the extinction of the honeybee would be an ecological desaster for us since we depend on them to fertilize our fruit trees. And yes, what's happening in Darfur is horrible. And yes, childhood obesity is a big issue. So are the dangerous of nicotine and melting glaciers.
Thing is, I'm pretty sure that all of those are problems can not be solved by raising "awareness". We've been asked to be "aware" of so many things today that their importance is somewhat diluted and you forget to actually do something about it (if you even can, which in most cases is not at all clear).
It's like watching the news - another bomb in Iraq? Nothing new, NEXT. I really do have to wonder if maybe we would care a bit more if we were a bit less "aware".
Thing is, I'm pretty sure that all of those are problems can not be solved by raising "awareness". We've been asked to be "aware" of so many things today that their importance is somewhat diluted and you forget to actually do something about it (if you even can, which in most cases is not at all clear).
It's like watching the news - another bomb in Iraq? Nothing new, NEXT. I really do have to wonder if maybe we would care a bit more if we were a bit less "aware".
Friday, April 18, 2008
Born To Sell?
I am of the firm belief that good salespeople are born, not trained. This occurs to me every time I see an obviously trained, not born salesperson, tipically male, in his twenties. You know the type, straight off the training where he did everything just right and where he was brainwashed into believing that he'll be awesome and as long as he just keeps prospective customers firmly in the clutches of a sales pitch and wears a suit, he'll earn unimaginable piles of money.
And then, out on the street, he's pushy, tries too hard and makes people extremely uncomfortable. And he doesn't notice or doesn't understand why. And he probably has the highest rate of customers revoking a contract after he badgered them into signing something.
Apparently, the most fundamental truth is not taught in these sales trainings: the person you want to sell something to has to actually find you somewhat likeable. Otherwise it's not going to happen, even if they need / want your product.
I, by the way, would not make a good salesperson. Talking someone into buying something they don't need? Or something they could get cheaper or in better quality elsewhere? Nah, I think I'd always end up telling them my honest opinion, which in the sales business probably isn't the best policy...
And then, out on the street, he's pushy, tries too hard and makes people extremely uncomfortable. And he doesn't notice or doesn't understand why. And he probably has the highest rate of customers revoking a contract after he badgered them into signing something.
Apparently, the most fundamental truth is not taught in these sales trainings: the person you want to sell something to has to actually find you somewhat likeable. Otherwise it's not going to happen, even if they need / want your product.
I, by the way, would not make a good salesperson. Talking someone into buying something they don't need? Or something they could get cheaper or in better quality elsewhere? Nah, I think I'd always end up telling them my honest opinion, which in the sales business probably isn't the best policy...
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sleeping Patterns
Ever since my aforementioned three - day - bender celebration, my sleeping patterns have grown increasingly less discernible, to the point where I'd hesitate calling them "patterns". Somehow this does not make thesis prepping (i.e. reading longwinded text books) any easier.
In completely unrelated (and I know, very belated) matters, when Nathan Lane first mentioned this on The Daily Show I thought he had simply made up a very elaborate joke for his appearance on the show. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this was not the case. A Nazi - Guard - In - Concentration - Camp - Fetish? Really? Whatever floats your boat, I guess...
By the way, have I mentioned how much Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf reminds me of my Godmother? Trust me, this does very little to endear her to me.
Also, my mum had another birthday last week. She does this every year! I'm sure it's just a ruse to get me to buy her nice presents and I fall for it every time. At least she does the same for me every year in September (I guess one might argue that on that very first occasion in 1983 she did a lot more than get me presents, so we're even).
In completely unrelated (and I know, very belated) matters, when Nathan Lane first mentioned this on The Daily Show I thought he had simply made up a very elaborate joke for his appearance on the show. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this was not the case. A Nazi - Guard - In - Concentration - Camp - Fetish? Really? Whatever floats your boat, I guess...
By the way, have I mentioned how much Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf reminds me of my Godmother? Trust me, this does very little to endear her to me.
Also, my mum had another birthday last week. She does this every year! I'm sure it's just a ruse to get me to buy her nice presents and I fall for it every time. At least she does the same for me every year in September (I guess one might argue that on that very first occasion in 1983 she did a lot more than get me presents, so we're even).
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Thank The Gods, It's Back!
Battlestar Galactica is back, since April 4th! Final season, unfortunately, but still very nice to have this excellent show back on the air. So say we all.
By the way, I signed and mailed my job contract yesterday. Unfortunately for some reason that doesn't mean that my thesis is magically finished now. Frack.
By the way, I signed and mailed my job contract yesterday. Unfortunately for some reason that doesn't mean that my thesis is magically finished now. Frack.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Good News
Aena went out and got herself a job! Starting in early June I'll delve deep into the world of Corporate Tax (I swear that's more interesting than it sounds)!
Of course I celebrated for three days because that's the right thing to do.
Peace out.
Of course I celebrated for three days because that's the right thing to do.
Peace out.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Slut / Easter
The band, not the derogatory word for promiscuous people. They played a concert last Friday at the Abart in Zurich, and I thought it was great. It was really nice to re-discover them, since I had only listened to them during a brief period in '05 or so.
Apart from that I spent the weekend in a friend's cottage up on the mountain in the canton of Appenzell. In the spirit of the region we killed a bottle of Appenzeller and generally had a good time, including taking a bath out in the snow in an old bathtub with water heated up by a huge ass fire beneath the tub and getting an early start into the BBQ-ing season (outside. in the snow fall. in the dark. yes) .
Apart from that I spent the weekend in a friend's cottage up on the mountain in the canton of Appenzell. In the spirit of the region we killed a bottle of Appenzeller and generally had a good time, including taking a bath out in the snow in an old bathtub with water heated up by a huge ass fire beneath the tub and getting an early start into the BBQ-ing season (outside. in the snow fall. in the dark. yes) .
Monday, March 10, 2008
Me? Stressed?
Never! Actually, that's almost true. I'm a very upbeat and laid back person normally. But this whole applying for jobs stuff is starting to really get to me - I'm nervous all the time and cringe when I notice I sent out something that had a stupid little mistake in it that will probably cost me the interview. In addition, every day the deadline for my thesis comes closer. I still have enough time to do it right, but I'm still starting to panic. I find feeling this way very disconcerting, I'm not used to this at all. Can't someone just give me a job so I can be done with it?
It would also be nice, if the problems (big 'uns) some of my loved ones are having, could magically be solved. Really, that would be quite nice.
It would also be nice, if the problems (big 'uns) some of my loved ones are having, could magically be solved. Really, that would be quite nice.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Recruitment
The recruitment season is upon us. This means various high-profile companies descend on the Universities like flies and try to pick out the goodies among the students. Everyone with exceptional grades, work experience, time spent abroad, extracurricular activities, great language skills and a low number of semesters until graduation, is the human equivalent of the Holy Grail. Right now I'm hoping that this Holy Grail-person is as fictional as it sounds, although I think I actually have met people like that. So I'm hoping that there are fewer Holy Grail-people than the companies want to recruit.
What really annoys me though, is that looking at all these company profiles, reading application guides, trying to polish my CV and filling out various online profiles for these recruitment events prevents me from doing what I should be doing: spending quality time with my thesis and the pile of books that goes with it. Damnit.
What really annoys me though, is that looking at all these company profiles, reading application guides, trying to polish my CV and filling out various online profiles for these recruitment events prevents me from doing what I should be doing: spending quality time with my thesis and the pile of books that goes with it. Damnit.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Oscars - The Aftermath
So, my Monday was really productive, as you've probably guessed. So were Tuesday and Wednesday, but I can't blame that on the Oscars, really.
A few things to add to my coverage:
- The two sound editing/mixing presenters were Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill. Actors, not writers. Oopsie.
- Brad Renfro wasn't the only one they left out of the dead people-montage. Roy Scheider died a couple of days too late to be considered. He'll probably show up in next year's montage.
- I don't remember most of Jon Stewart's jokes, but one I really liked was when he mentioned all the pregnant ladies in the audience (Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett), called them "nominees", opened an envelope and said: "...and the baby goes to: Angelina Jolie!".
Thanks to everyone who actually bothered to read the whole thing! Turns out, actually several people did. Thanks, I appreciate it! And however long it took you, to get through it - take solace in the fact, that it took me much longer to watch the actual telecast and type it all up, so in a way, I have saved you a lot of time, not wasted it!;-)
ETA: For a list of Jon's best one-liners of the night, click here.
A few things to add to my coverage:
- The two sound editing/mixing presenters were Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill. Actors, not writers. Oopsie.
- Brad Renfro wasn't the only one they left out of the dead people-montage. Roy Scheider died a couple of days too late to be considered. He'll probably show up in next year's montage.
- I don't remember most of Jon Stewart's jokes, but one I really liked was when he mentioned all the pregnant ladies in the audience (Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett), called them "nominees", opened an envelope and said: "...and the baby goes to: Angelina Jolie!".
Thanks to everyone who actually bothered to read the whole thing! Turns out, actually several people did. Thanks, I appreciate it! And however long it took you, to get through it - take solace in the fact, that it took me much longer to watch the actual telecast and type it all up, so in a way, I have saved you a lot of time, not wasted it!;-)
ETA: For a list of Jon's best one-liners of the night, click here.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Oscars 2008 - Live Blog Part 4: The Show II
Penelope Cruz presents Best Foreign Language Film (with a Spanish accent!). The Oscar goes to Die Fälscher, the Austrian nominee. Let's hear that accent, dude. He talks about Nazis. Hollywood loves that, that's why the movie won.
Patrick Dempsey presents the third song nominated from Enchanted. You know what this means? Bathroom break!
John Travolta presents Best Original Song. The Oscar goes to the song from Once. So the Enchanted-guys were right, their multiple nominations cancelled each other out. The winners are really happy. The guy may be Irish, but I'm really bad at placing English accents. And the poor girl didn't get to say anything, the orchestra had already started.
Steven Spielberg-retrospective to lead us into commercials. Time-check: 04.50am. By the way, "Resident Evil" sounds better with the ominous, mystical promotional trailer announcement voice than "Madagascar".
Jon Stewart gets the Best Song - girl back onto the stage, so she can also say her thankyous. Awww (by the way, this is "awwww" number three of the night, for those of you who are counting).
Cameron Diaz presents Achievement in Cinematography. The Oscar goes to There Will Be Blood. Dude was nominated for Goodnight and Good Luck, but didn't win. He's thanking people in a medium boring way. Not funny, no accent, but not yawn-inducing.
Hillary Swank presents the "Geez, all these people died last year?"-montage. Names I actually recognized: Ingmar Bergman. Heath Ledger. They didn't show Brad Renfro, which is kinda mean. He was even younger than Ledger!
Commercials. Classy timing. Time-check: 5.05am CET.
Amy Adams presents Best Original Score. The Oscar goes to Atonement. I'm starting to notice that these people are all white. All of them. All categories, almost all nominees (except for Ruby Dee). I guess I shouldn't be surprised, should I? The winner is boring, by the way. He has an accent, but I can't place it, so no bonus points for him, sorry.
Tom Hanks presents a satellite video connection to Bagdad. Soldiers are presenting Best Documentary, I think. Could be Short Documentary. Treehouse won. Two women who are very happy and hug Tom Hanks. One of them talks a lot and cries, the other woman says something about 38 minutes, so I think this was indeed for Short Documentary.
Ah, now Tom Hanks presents Best Documentary Feature. Iraq or American Healthcare? The suspense! And the Oscar goes to Taxi to the Dark Side. So neither Iraq nor American Healthcare - Afghanistan and Guantánamo it is!
Retrospective to lead us into commercials, this time with Elton John. Time-check: 5.20am CET.
Harrison Ford presents Best Original Screenplay. I'm rooting for Juno, since I have actually seen Juno. Probably Michael Clayton, though. And the Oscar goes to Diablo Cody for Juno! Yay!! This will probably stay the biggest win for Juno tonight, the competition's just too tough (i.e., too dark and serious). Diablo Cody used to be a stripper and she looks exactly like someone who used to be a stripper. But she's cute and she thanks the appropriate people and sheds a few tears. Awww (number 4!).
Commercials. Wtf? Time-check 5.25am CET.
Best Leading Actor retrospective means it is time for Best Leading Actor, I guess. Presenter is last year's Best Leading Actress, Helen Mirren. I'm gonna say Daniel Day-Lewis will take this one. No suspense there. Let's make it official - the Oscar goes to Daniel Day-Lewis. Wonder if he'll dedicate it to Heath Ledger (whom he did not know personally) again? Nope, all the appropriate people are thanked (wife, director, etc.). Especially Paul Thomas Anderson (the director, I think?) and also daddy and grandpa. Who would've thought such an eccentric actor could be so boring?
Commercials. Again. Time-check: 05.35am CET. The commercials really aren't too bad, by the way. The last few have consisted solely of trailers of Oscar nominated movies. So I was able to actually get an idea about the ones I haven't seen (which would be all but Juno).
Director retrospective. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, that it may be time for Best Director. And hey, I'm right! Martin Scorsese, who won last year (finally!) gets to present. And the Oscar goes to Joel Coen and Ethan Coen! Wow, good night for these two. Which one of them is married to Frances McDormand (the lead in Fargo) again? I'll have to check. Ah, it's Joel. Now is that the shorter or the taller one? Ok, I looked it up. It's the tall one. All righty then.
Denzel Washington presents Best Picture (damn, he looks old!). I'm guessing No Country For Old Men will take it, after the run the Coens had. And the Oscar goes to No Country For Old Men! Up on the stage, for a third time, the Coen brothers and some other producers. One of them talks a LOT. But this was the last award, so no Orchestra of Doom.
Stewart says goodbye. It's over. And I guess I'm off to bed! I don't think anyone will ever read this, but it was fun to write! My gift to me, or something.
Patrick Dempsey presents the third song nominated from Enchanted. You know what this means? Bathroom break!
John Travolta presents Best Original Song. The Oscar goes to the song from Once. So the Enchanted-guys were right, their multiple nominations cancelled each other out. The winners are really happy. The guy may be Irish, but I'm really bad at placing English accents. And the poor girl didn't get to say anything, the orchestra had already started.
Steven Spielberg-retrospective to lead us into commercials. Time-check: 04.50am. By the way, "Resident Evil" sounds better with the ominous, mystical promotional trailer announcement voice than "Madagascar".
Jon Stewart gets the Best Song - girl back onto the stage, so she can also say her thankyous. Awww (by the way, this is "awwww" number three of the night, for those of you who are counting).
Cameron Diaz presents Achievement in Cinematography. The Oscar goes to There Will Be Blood. Dude was nominated for Goodnight and Good Luck, but didn't win. He's thanking people in a medium boring way. Not funny, no accent, but not yawn-inducing.
Hillary Swank presents the "Geez, all these people died last year?"-montage. Names I actually recognized: Ingmar Bergman. Heath Ledger. They didn't show Brad Renfro, which is kinda mean. He was even younger than Ledger!
Commercials. Classy timing. Time-check: 5.05am CET.
Amy Adams presents Best Original Score. The Oscar goes to Atonement. I'm starting to notice that these people are all white. All of them. All categories, almost all nominees (except for Ruby Dee). I guess I shouldn't be surprised, should I? The winner is boring, by the way. He has an accent, but I can't place it, so no bonus points for him, sorry.
Tom Hanks presents a satellite video connection to Bagdad. Soldiers are presenting Best Documentary, I think. Could be Short Documentary. Treehouse won. Two women who are very happy and hug Tom Hanks. One of them talks a lot and cries, the other woman says something about 38 minutes, so I think this was indeed for Short Documentary.
Ah, now Tom Hanks presents Best Documentary Feature. Iraq or American Healthcare? The suspense! And the Oscar goes to Taxi to the Dark Side. So neither Iraq nor American Healthcare - Afghanistan and Guantánamo it is!
Retrospective to lead us into commercials, this time with Elton John. Time-check: 5.20am CET.
Harrison Ford presents Best Original Screenplay. I'm rooting for Juno, since I have actually seen Juno. Probably Michael Clayton, though. And the Oscar goes to Diablo Cody for Juno! Yay!! This will probably stay the biggest win for Juno tonight, the competition's just too tough (i.e., too dark and serious). Diablo Cody used to be a stripper and she looks exactly like someone who used to be a stripper. But she's cute and she thanks the appropriate people and sheds a few tears. Awww (number 4!).
Commercials. Wtf? Time-check 5.25am CET.
Best Leading Actor retrospective means it is time for Best Leading Actor, I guess. Presenter is last year's Best Leading Actress, Helen Mirren. I'm gonna say Daniel Day-Lewis will take this one. No suspense there. Let's make it official - the Oscar goes to Daniel Day-Lewis. Wonder if he'll dedicate it to Heath Ledger (whom he did not know personally) again? Nope, all the appropriate people are thanked (wife, director, etc.). Especially Paul Thomas Anderson (the director, I think?) and also daddy and grandpa. Who would've thought such an eccentric actor could be so boring?
Commercials. Again. Time-check: 05.35am CET. The commercials really aren't too bad, by the way. The last few have consisted solely of trailers of Oscar nominated movies. So I was able to actually get an idea about the ones I haven't seen (which would be all but Juno).
Director retrospective. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, that it may be time for Best Director. And hey, I'm right! Martin Scorsese, who won last year (finally!) gets to present. And the Oscar goes to Joel Coen and Ethan Coen! Wow, good night for these two. Which one of them is married to Frances McDormand (the lead in Fargo) again? I'll have to check. Ah, it's Joel. Now is that the shorter or the taller one? Ok, I looked it up. It's the tall one. All righty then.
Denzel Washington presents Best Picture (damn, he looks old!). I'm guessing No Country For Old Men will take it, after the run the Coens had. And the Oscar goes to No Country For Old Men! Up on the stage, for a third time, the Coen brothers and some other producers. One of them talks a LOT. But this was the last award, so no Orchestra of Doom.
Stewart says goodbye. It's over. And I guess I'm off to bed! I don't think anyone will ever read this, but it was fun to write! My gift to me, or something.
Oscars 2008 - Live Blog Part 3: The Show
Jon Stewart. Heh, he's funny. Not going to transcribe him, sorry. I actually want to enjoy the show. Try hunting for his opening monologue on youtube tomorrow, I think it's worth it.
Jennifer Garner presents Achievement in Costume Design. The Oscar goes to Elizabeth - The Golden Age. Her name's Alexandra and she thanks her family, among others.
Barbra Streisand in some kind of retrospective. This is random. And - commercials! Time-check: 2.45am CET. This year's equivalent of coin commercials seem to be the Michael Clayton trailer and promotional trailers for ProSieben programming.
George Clooney talks about the Oscars turning 80 (which according to Jon Stewart automatically makes Oscar the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination). There's a montage. Awww.
Anne Hathaway and Steve Carrell present Best Animated Feature Film. The Oscar goes to Ratatouille. Second Oscar for the guy. He's thanking his high school guidance counsellor. He was actually kind of funny. I wish more of these people we don't know were funny. He's being interrupted by the orchestra. I guess being funny doesn't leave you enough time to thank everybody.
Katherine Heigl presents Achievement in Makeup. The Oscar goes to La Vie En Rose. Cute French accent from French guy! The woman sounds British. She's being interrupted by the orchestra. I think if you're unknown and not funny, you should be required to have a cute French accent.
The first of the several nominated songs from Enchanted is performed. My favourite part of the Oscars. Yawn. The only time this part of the show could've been cool was when Eminem was nominated (and won!). But they were too scared to invite him, so his was the only nominated song that night that was not performed. The Academy are a bunch of sissies.
Another random retrospective, this time with Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Commercials. Time check: 3.03am CET. Only ProSieben trailers this time. Looks like no one wants to book advertising time at 3am on a Monday morning. Weird.
The Rock (they call him Dwayne Johnson here, because the Oscars are serious and professional, you know) presents Achievement in Special Visual Effects. The Oscar goes to The Golden Compass. 4 guys and they just want to say "THANK YOOUUU!". I was hoping it would end there, but no, they have a list. No funny and no French accent. But also no orchestra interruption, so I guess they did something right.
Cate Blanchett presents Achievement in Art Direction. The Oscar goes to Sweeney Todd - The Deamon Barber of Fleet Street. The winners previously won for The Aviator. They're Italian. And shy. And have accents. I think I'll accept Italian accents alongside the French ones. And again, orchestra interruption.
A retrospective. This time about the Best Supporting Actor - category. The presenter is last year's Best Supporting Actress winner, Jennifer Hudson. The Oscar goes to Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men. Wonder if he has an accent? He does! A Spanish one! And he's dedicating and sharing the award with tons of people and talking Spanish to his mum whom he brought as his date. Awww.
Commercials. Time-check: 3.20am CET.
And we're back. Montage of binoculars and periscopes. No, I'm not kidding. Montage of bad dreams. Jon Stewart thinks this is funny. I kinda do too.
Keri Russell presents a nominated song from a movie she was in (August Rush, I think?). We have to endure the song. Snack break!
Seriously, I don't mind the people who wrote/performed all these songs, but every year it seems the Academy nominates any original song written for a movie during the past year, with no regard to quality, because there are so few of them. That's why three songs from the same movie are nominated.
Owen Wilson presents Best Live Action Short Film. The Oscar goes to Le Mozart des Pickpockets. It's a French guy with a cute French accent. So obviously he has already scored points with me. And the Orchestra of Doom didn't even have to interrupt him!
Best Animated Short Film presented by Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie character. The Oscar goes to Peter And The Wolf. From the brief glimpses we got of the other nominees, I think I would've preferred either one of them. I just don't like puppets, sorry. The winners don't have cute accents and aren't funny. One of them's holding a puppet. Therefore, I don't like them, sorry. No orchestra, though.
Retrospective of Best Supporting Actresses. Presenter is last year's Best Supporting Actor Alan Arkin. The Oscar goes to Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton. She looks shocked. She obviously did not expect to win. First time nominee and winner. She dedicates the Oscar to her American agent who apparently looks like the Oscar statuette. She thanks a lot of other people and pokes fun at George Clooney's Batman role. Heh, that never gets old. Cate Blanchett didn't win. Hmm. Maybe for Best Leading Actress?
Our retrospective to lead into commercials is narrated by Sidney Poitier this time. Time-check: 3.41am. By the way, these retrospectives are really short. I realize, I made them sound long. They're not. Neither are the commercials, but they're frequent. This live-blogging-thing is pretty hard work, by the way. And I think we aren't even half way in...what did I get myself into here...
Jessica Alba presents the winners of the Scientific Technical Awards that she hosted a couple of weeks ago.
Josh Brolin and James McAvoy (the emphasis is on the "Mc"-part, apparently) present Best Adapted Screenplay by rattling down a lot of famous movie quotes. The Oscar goes to Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men! Apparently they've won before, for Fargo. They don't really know what to say on stage. They end up going with "Thank you very much".
Some old guy talks about the process of selecting the nominees and choosing the Oscar winners. I don't know who he his. Maybe he's the president of the Academy Awards? Thrilling.
Miley Cyrus presents the next nominated song from Enchantment. Again, we have to listen to it in its entirety. Performed by Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth (you may know her from Pushing Daisies).
Commercials. Time-check: 3.55am CET.
Dame Judi Dench and Halle Berry present - wait, no, two guys replace them and argue about who gets to be Halle. They present Best Sound Editing. The Oscar goes to The Bourne Ultimatum. By the way, I can't figure out who the two presenters are. Could be writers - they sure look nerdy enough. The winners have no cute accents and aren't funny, so they don't get points. The woman is actually shaking, so she gets sympathy points. Orchestra of Doom interrupts.
The two guys now present Best Sound Mixing. The Oscar goes to The Bourne Ultimatum again. Three guys get up on the stage. They are boring. No accents. And here comes the orchestra.
Yay, Best Leading Actress retrospective - that can only mean, this is the next category! Yay! Presenter is last year's Best Leading Actor Forest Whitaker. So, will Cate cash in on her second nomination of the night? Probably not. I'm gonna guess Julie Christie or Marion Cotillard. Ellen Page would be cool though. And the Oscar goes to ... Marion Cotillard. Aww, she's crying! And hugging Forest! She's cute, has a nice dress and has a French accent and she's really really happy. Now she's thanking life and love. Ok then.
Commercials. Time-check: 4.15am. I'm gonna take a wild guess, using my cunning skills in pattern-recognition: the commercial breaks are scheduled in 20minute-intervalls.
Colin Farrell presents the next nominated song. I can't even tell you from which movie, which just reiterates my engrossment in this category, I guess.
Jack Nicholson presents a retrospective of the last 79 Best Picture Winners and I remember how much I loved Forrest Gump and American Beauty.
Renée Zellweger presents Achievement in Film Editing. The Oscar goes to The Bourne Ultimatum. Wow, three awards already? So far it seems The Bourne Ultimatum is actually leading in number of awards, so far. Only minor ones, sure, but still. The winner is not funny and doesn't have an accent. His dad won an Oscar once, too. Good for you, no more standing in daddy's shadow!
Nicole Kidman presents the Honorary Oscar. Robert Boyle gets it this year. He's apparently been a set designer for 70 years. Cool. He's 98 now. Montage-time! And then the 98 year old guy gets helped onto the stage by Kidman and another woman. Standing ovations. He says that this is the good part of getting old and that he does not recommend the other parts. True dat, methinks. By the way, I think the Honorary Oscar recipients are the only ones who do not need fear the Orchestra of Doom. They usually take advantage of this fact, which kinda makes sense - after a 70 year career you probably have a lot of people to thank. Although, maybe you can leave out the dead people? That oughta shorten the list.
Commercials. Time-check: 4.37am. Hmm, 4.37am. Don't I remember watching Gwyneth Paltrow accept Best Leading Actress around 7am the year she won? That would mean 2.5 more hours for me...let's hope time-management has improved since.
Jennifer Garner presents Achievement in Costume Design. The Oscar goes to Elizabeth - The Golden Age. Her name's Alexandra and she thanks her family, among others.
Barbra Streisand in some kind of retrospective. This is random. And - commercials! Time-check: 2.45am CET. This year's equivalent of coin commercials seem to be the Michael Clayton trailer and promotional trailers for ProSieben programming.
George Clooney talks about the Oscars turning 80 (which according to Jon Stewart automatically makes Oscar the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination). There's a montage. Awww.
Anne Hathaway and Steve Carrell present Best Animated Feature Film. The Oscar goes to Ratatouille. Second Oscar for the guy. He's thanking his high school guidance counsellor. He was actually kind of funny. I wish more of these people we don't know were funny. He's being interrupted by the orchestra. I guess being funny doesn't leave you enough time to thank everybody.
Katherine Heigl presents Achievement in Makeup. The Oscar goes to La Vie En Rose. Cute French accent from French guy! The woman sounds British. She's being interrupted by the orchestra. I think if you're unknown and not funny, you should be required to have a cute French accent.
The first of the several nominated songs from Enchanted is performed. My favourite part of the Oscars. Yawn. The only time this part of the show could've been cool was when Eminem was nominated (and won!). But they were too scared to invite him, so his was the only nominated song that night that was not performed. The Academy are a bunch of sissies.
Another random retrospective, this time with Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Commercials. Time check: 3.03am CET. Only ProSieben trailers this time. Looks like no one wants to book advertising time at 3am on a Monday morning. Weird.
The Rock (they call him Dwayne Johnson here, because the Oscars are serious and professional, you know) presents Achievement in Special Visual Effects. The Oscar goes to The Golden Compass. 4 guys and they just want to say "THANK YOOUUU!". I was hoping it would end there, but no, they have a list. No funny and no French accent. But also no orchestra interruption, so I guess they did something right.
Cate Blanchett presents Achievement in Art Direction. The Oscar goes to Sweeney Todd - The Deamon Barber of Fleet Street. The winners previously won for The Aviator. They're Italian. And shy. And have accents. I think I'll accept Italian accents alongside the French ones. And again, orchestra interruption.
A retrospective. This time about the Best Supporting Actor - category. The presenter is last year's Best Supporting Actress winner, Jennifer Hudson. The Oscar goes to Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men. Wonder if he has an accent? He does! A Spanish one! And he's dedicating and sharing the award with tons of people and talking Spanish to his mum whom he brought as his date. Awww.
Commercials. Time-check: 3.20am CET.
And we're back. Montage of binoculars and periscopes. No, I'm not kidding. Montage of bad dreams. Jon Stewart thinks this is funny. I kinda do too.
Keri Russell presents a nominated song from a movie she was in (August Rush, I think?). We have to endure the song. Snack break!
Seriously, I don't mind the people who wrote/performed all these songs, but every year it seems the Academy nominates any original song written for a movie during the past year, with no regard to quality, because there are so few of them. That's why three songs from the same movie are nominated.
Owen Wilson presents Best Live Action Short Film. The Oscar goes to Le Mozart des Pickpockets. It's a French guy with a cute French accent. So obviously he has already scored points with me. And the Orchestra of Doom didn't even have to interrupt him!
Best Animated Short Film presented by Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie character. The Oscar goes to Peter And The Wolf. From the brief glimpses we got of the other nominees, I think I would've preferred either one of them. I just don't like puppets, sorry. The winners don't have cute accents and aren't funny. One of them's holding a puppet. Therefore, I don't like them, sorry. No orchestra, though.
Retrospective of Best Supporting Actresses. Presenter is last year's Best Supporting Actor Alan Arkin. The Oscar goes to Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton. She looks shocked. She obviously did not expect to win. First time nominee and winner. She dedicates the Oscar to her American agent who apparently looks like the Oscar statuette. She thanks a lot of other people and pokes fun at George Clooney's Batman role. Heh, that never gets old. Cate Blanchett didn't win. Hmm. Maybe for Best Leading Actress?
Our retrospective to lead into commercials is narrated by Sidney Poitier this time. Time-check: 3.41am. By the way, these retrospectives are really short. I realize, I made them sound long. They're not. Neither are the commercials, but they're frequent. This live-blogging-thing is pretty hard work, by the way. And I think we aren't even half way in...what did I get myself into here...
Jessica Alba presents the winners of the Scientific Technical Awards that she hosted a couple of weeks ago.
Josh Brolin and James McAvoy (the emphasis is on the "Mc"-part, apparently) present Best Adapted Screenplay by rattling down a lot of famous movie quotes. The Oscar goes to Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men! Apparently they've won before, for Fargo. They don't really know what to say on stage. They end up going with "Thank you very much".
Some old guy talks about the process of selecting the nominees and choosing the Oscar winners. I don't know who he his. Maybe he's the president of the Academy Awards? Thrilling.
Miley Cyrus presents the next nominated song from Enchantment. Again, we have to listen to it in its entirety. Performed by Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth (you may know her from Pushing Daisies).
Commercials. Time-check: 3.55am CET.
Dame Judi Dench and Halle Berry present - wait, no, two guys replace them and argue about who gets to be Halle. They present Best Sound Editing. The Oscar goes to The Bourne Ultimatum. By the way, I can't figure out who the two presenters are. Could be writers - they sure look nerdy enough. The winners have no cute accents and aren't funny, so they don't get points. The woman is actually shaking, so she gets sympathy points. Orchestra of Doom interrupts.
The two guys now present Best Sound Mixing. The Oscar goes to The Bourne Ultimatum again. Three guys get up on the stage. They are boring. No accents. And here comes the orchestra.
Yay, Best Leading Actress retrospective - that can only mean, this is the next category! Yay! Presenter is last year's Best Leading Actor Forest Whitaker. So, will Cate cash in on her second nomination of the night? Probably not. I'm gonna guess Julie Christie or Marion Cotillard. Ellen Page would be cool though. And the Oscar goes to ... Marion Cotillard. Aww, she's crying! And hugging Forest! She's cute, has a nice dress and has a French accent and she's really really happy. Now she's thanking life and love. Ok then.
Commercials. Time-check: 4.15am. I'm gonna take a wild guess, using my cunning skills in pattern-recognition: the commercial breaks are scheduled in 20minute-intervalls.
Colin Farrell presents the next nominated song. I can't even tell you from which movie, which just reiterates my engrossment in this category, I guess.
Jack Nicholson presents a retrospective of the last 79 Best Picture Winners and I remember how much I loved Forrest Gump and American Beauty.
Renée Zellweger presents Achievement in Film Editing. The Oscar goes to The Bourne Ultimatum. Wow, three awards already? So far it seems The Bourne Ultimatum is actually leading in number of awards, so far. Only minor ones, sure, but still. The winner is not funny and doesn't have an accent. His dad won an Oscar once, too. Good for you, no more standing in daddy's shadow!
Nicole Kidman presents the Honorary Oscar. Robert Boyle gets it this year. He's apparently been a set designer for 70 years. Cool. He's 98 now. Montage-time! And then the 98 year old guy gets helped onto the stage by Kidman and another woman. Standing ovations. He says that this is the good part of getting old and that he does not recommend the other parts. True dat, methinks. By the way, I think the Honorary Oscar recipients are the only ones who do not need fear the Orchestra of Doom. They usually take advantage of this fact, which kinda makes sense - after a 70 year career you probably have a lot of people to thank. Although, maybe you can leave out the dead people? That oughta shorten the list.
Commercials. Time-check: 4.37am. Hmm, 4.37am. Don't I remember watching Gwyneth Paltrow accept Best Leading Actress around 7am the year she won? That would mean 2.5 more hours for me...let's hope time-management has improved since.
Oscars 2008 - Live Blog Part 2: ABC Pre-Show
Fetching old host, interviewing Clooney and comparing him to Cary Grant. Clooney agrees that he was better in Michael Clayton than in Ocean's 13 - or Batman & Robin. I think he's still really embarrassed about the latter. Don't be, Georgie! Uma Thurman was in it too! And Chris O'Donnell! And the Governator!
Marion Cotillard. Pretty dress, Jean-Paul Gaultier. Talking about Edith Piaf and being on the red carpet as a Best Actress in a Leading Role nominee. Guess what? It's amazing!
John Travolta says he let Kelly wear the dress tonight. Heh. I know it's a jab at his role in Hairspray, but considering the rumors about him, this is seriously funny.
Laura Linney. Nominated for her role in The Savages. You know, it's really frustrating that every single time a majority of the Oscar nominated films aren't even in the theaters in Europe yet. I can just root for actors I like, not their performances. Same goes for their movies as a whole. Kind of a shame. The only movie I've seen this time is Juno.
Javier Bardem. Nominated for No Country For Old Men. Waves to Spain, where according to the ABC-host it's 1am. I'd like to inform you, that CET is actually 2.10am at the moment.
Miley Cyrus. Who is Hannah Montana. If you're above the age of 12, you don't need to know who she is, I think.
Hey, no coin commercials yet! What up? Commercial for Eureka. Watch it, if you get the chance, it really is a fun series.
Jennifer Garner. She liked being in Juno. No shit. I bet it compares favourably to, let's say, Elektra.Her secret receipe for looking great, by the way, is a stylist.
Helen Mirren. She talks about her dress. Don't know the designer (she said who it was but I don't know him, so there's no way I can remember who it was or how to spell his name).
Daniel Day-Lewis. He doesn't like watching his movies when they're done. What a coincidence, I don't either.
Cameron Diaz. She's excited. She is also wearing a lot of concealer. Poor woman allegedly has horrible skin. She's talking about Daniel Day-Lewis. They were in Gangs of New York together. He has a unique way of working. Who would've thought. This is so insightful.
Amy Adams. She was in Enchanted. She will sing.
A fan (and admirer, this time, not the battery-powered device). The oldest fan along the red carpet. I can't be bothered to write down her name or anything she said. Same goes for the other two fans being interviewed.
Ellen Page. She just turned 21. She celebrated with drinks. I would certainly hope she did! But don't drink and drive Ellen!
Hilary Swank. The ABC-screen informs me, that her first role was in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I'm sure she appreciates that tidbit. She's wearing Versace by the way.
I just found out, the fetching old host is Regis from Regis & Kelly. Okey dokey. He says Jon Stewart looks cool as a cucumber. How cool does a cucumber look like? Ah, life's big unanswered questions. He now looks at the first couple of rows. Hey there, Jack Nicholson! With his trademark sunglasses. I think he gets the same spot every year, nominated or not.
Marion Cotillard. Pretty dress, Jean-Paul Gaultier. Talking about Edith Piaf and being on the red carpet as a Best Actress in a Leading Role nominee. Guess what? It's amazing!
John Travolta says he let Kelly wear the dress tonight. Heh. I know it's a jab at his role in Hairspray, but considering the rumors about him, this is seriously funny.
Laura Linney. Nominated for her role in The Savages. You know, it's really frustrating that every single time a majority of the Oscar nominated films aren't even in the theaters in Europe yet. I can just root for actors I like, not their performances. Same goes for their movies as a whole. Kind of a shame. The only movie I've seen this time is Juno.
Javier Bardem. Nominated for No Country For Old Men. Waves to Spain, where according to the ABC-host it's 1am. I'd like to inform you, that CET is actually 2.10am at the moment.
Miley Cyrus. Who is Hannah Montana. If you're above the age of 12, you don't need to know who she is, I think.
Hey, no coin commercials yet! What up? Commercial for Eureka. Watch it, if you get the chance, it really is a fun series.
Jennifer Garner. She liked being in Juno. No shit. I bet it compares favourably to, let's say, Elektra.Her secret receipe for looking great, by the way, is a stylist.
Helen Mirren. She talks about her dress. Don't know the designer (she said who it was but I don't know him, so there's no way I can remember who it was or how to spell his name).
Daniel Day-Lewis. He doesn't like watching his movies when they're done. What a coincidence, I don't either.
Cameron Diaz. She's excited. She is also wearing a lot of concealer. Poor woman allegedly has horrible skin. She's talking about Daniel Day-Lewis. They were in Gangs of New York together. He has a unique way of working. Who would've thought. This is so insightful.
Amy Adams. She was in Enchanted. She will sing.
A fan (and admirer, this time, not the battery-powered device). The oldest fan along the red carpet. I can't be bothered to write down her name or anything she said. Same goes for the other two fans being interviewed.
Ellen Page. She just turned 21. She celebrated with drinks. I would certainly hope she did! But don't drink and drive Ellen!
Hilary Swank. The ABC-screen informs me, that her first role was in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I'm sure she appreciates that tidbit. She's wearing Versace by the way.
I just found out, the fetching old host is Regis from Regis & Kelly. Okey dokey. He says Jon Stewart looks cool as a cucumber. How cool does a cucumber look like? Ah, life's big unanswered questions. He now looks at the first couple of rows. Hey there, Jack Nicholson! With his trademark sunglasses. I think he gets the same spot every year, nominated or not.
Oscars 2008 - Live Blog Part 1: The Red Carpet, Pro Sieben
Ok, everyone who was going to join me for my big Oscar-viewing night is either overseas or has to work on Monday morning (crazy, I know!).
So, my trying - not - to - fall - asleep tactic will be live-blogging. Not very original, but oh well. It's 1.20am, originality is not the number one priority here.
I'm catching the telecast on ProSieben and unfortunately they've gone back to having their own correspondent at the red carpet. It's not as embarrassing as it has been in previous years, but it's still kinda cringeworthy, so I think I may skip the details. Or not. Just go with the flow with me here.
Anne Hathaway's cute, dark red dress with roses. Is it still Valentine's Day? And oh no, he's trying to interview a 13year-old nominee (Saoirse Ronan, apparently pronounced "Sasha", nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Atonement"). Poor thing. She wants to meet Daniel Day-Lewis. I don't. Dude's creepy.
Oh God, German dude's commenting on a Fox correspondant's sexy back. Literally. Dude, you don't have to fill those awkward silences when you're waiting for the next star to interview. Steve Carrell! He brought a fan (not an admirer of his work, but a battery-powered little fan). Cause it's hot in the plastic tent, which is better than rain but worse than air. All righty (plastic tent? Where?). Is Jon Stewart going to do something crazy? Steve thinks he'll improvise and that he'll shine. Also, he's a really good guy. Shocking.
George Clooney! No interview, but he's pretty. Unfortunately so is the lady on his arm. Jennifer Garner is also pretty. Ooooh, looks like there may be a Clooney-interview after all. German dude shares that they like to call him Mr. Cool (who are "they"?). And that he wants to propose to Clooney's girlfriend. Dude, remember what I tried to tell you about filling those silences? Don't.
German Dude (from now on only "GD") spots Patrick Dempsey and takes the opportunity to promote Grey's Anatomy, which incidentally airs on ProSieben.
GD tells Clooney that he's the coolest guy in Hollywood. His date looks bored. Clooney talks about his mood when hearing about the nomination (he was in Darfur) and about his state of mind while shooting several of his films. Blahblahblah. He's pretty though, maybe I should just mute the interview?
John Travolta. Go, Scientology! Thank God he and Kelly Preston don't smile as creepily as TomKat yet. They did a movie together. Must-see, I'm sure...
Patrick Dempsey. Beautiful wife. GD points out, that Dempsey lost out on Sexiest Man Alive to Clooney. Poor Dempsey is now stuck talking about Clooney and his achievements. Then he gets to talk about Enchanted. GD thinks it's "a great movie". He thinks all his interview partners' movies are "a great movie".
GD now interviews Jason Reitman, director of Juno. His dad's there, too. Apparently a director himself. Juno's great, by the way. Eventhough it's on the list of Stuff White People Like. A lot of things I like are on that list. Then again, I am indeed white. I don't know anything 'bout Mos Def though.
Helen Mirren. I really really want to look as good as her when I'm her age. She looks so much better than most of the starlets who are a third of her age.
Ruby Dee, nominated as Best Supporting Actress for American Gangster. GD points out that she's old. Thankfully, not to her. She talks about the movie. She's hard to follow. Something about the hardships of black people.
Pregnant Jessica Alba. She thinks it's hard to pronounce German names (she had to present the technical Oscars and a lot of Germans won). She says it was fun.
Alan Arkin. He's not relaxed. He thinks the red carpet is not a relaxing situation. GD says it will be fun inside, though. Alan threatens to cut the interview short and go inside, then.
Julian Schnabel. He paints and he directs. Painting is like breathing. Directing is like translating. I think he was smoking something in the limo on the way over. Can't say I blame him. Probably makes it easier to deal with GD.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. I have no idea. He is German. And he has a long name. Jessica Alba may have had a point.
Musicians. Nominated for the Enchanted songs. They think their three nominations will cancel each other out. They're probably right.
Tilda Swinton thought it was easy to play someone really mean in Michael Clayton.
So, my trying - not - to - fall - asleep tactic will be live-blogging. Not very original, but oh well. It's 1.20am, originality is not the number one priority here.
I'm catching the telecast on ProSieben and unfortunately they've gone back to having their own correspondent at the red carpet. It's not as embarrassing as it has been in previous years, but it's still kinda cringeworthy, so I think I may skip the details. Or not. Just go with the flow with me here.
Anne Hathaway's cute, dark red dress with roses. Is it still Valentine's Day? And oh no, he's trying to interview a 13year-old nominee (Saoirse Ronan, apparently pronounced "Sasha", nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Atonement"). Poor thing. She wants to meet Daniel Day-Lewis. I don't. Dude's creepy.
Oh God, German dude's commenting on a Fox correspondant's sexy back. Literally. Dude, you don't have to fill those awkward silences when you're waiting for the next star to interview. Steve Carrell! He brought a fan (not an admirer of his work, but a battery-powered little fan). Cause it's hot in the plastic tent, which is better than rain but worse than air. All righty (plastic tent? Where?). Is Jon Stewart going to do something crazy? Steve thinks he'll improvise and that he'll shine. Also, he's a really good guy. Shocking.
George Clooney! No interview, but he's pretty. Unfortunately so is the lady on his arm. Jennifer Garner is also pretty. Ooooh, looks like there may be a Clooney-interview after all. German dude shares that they like to call him Mr. Cool (who are "they"?). And that he wants to propose to Clooney's girlfriend. Dude, remember what I tried to tell you about filling those silences? Don't.
German Dude (from now on only "GD") spots Patrick Dempsey and takes the opportunity to promote Grey's Anatomy, which incidentally airs on ProSieben.
GD tells Clooney that he's the coolest guy in Hollywood. His date looks bored. Clooney talks about his mood when hearing about the nomination (he was in Darfur) and about his state of mind while shooting several of his films. Blahblahblah. He's pretty though, maybe I should just mute the interview?
John Travolta. Go, Scientology! Thank God he and Kelly Preston don't smile as creepily as TomKat yet. They did a movie together. Must-see, I'm sure...
Patrick Dempsey. Beautiful wife. GD points out, that Dempsey lost out on Sexiest Man Alive to Clooney. Poor Dempsey is now stuck talking about Clooney and his achievements. Then he gets to talk about Enchanted. GD thinks it's "a great movie". He thinks all his interview partners' movies are "a great movie".
GD now interviews Jason Reitman, director of Juno. His dad's there, too. Apparently a director himself. Juno's great, by the way. Eventhough it's on the list of Stuff White People Like. A lot of things I like are on that list. Then again, I am indeed white. I don't know anything 'bout Mos Def though.
Helen Mirren. I really really want to look as good as her when I'm her age. She looks so much better than most of the starlets who are a third of her age.
Ruby Dee, nominated as Best Supporting Actress for American Gangster. GD points out that she's old. Thankfully, not to her. She talks about the movie. She's hard to follow. Something about the hardships of black people.
Pregnant Jessica Alba. She thinks it's hard to pronounce German names (she had to present the technical Oscars and a lot of Germans won). She says it was fun.
Alan Arkin. He's not relaxed. He thinks the red carpet is not a relaxing situation. GD says it will be fun inside, though. Alan threatens to cut the interview short and go inside, then.
Julian Schnabel. He paints and he directs. Painting is like breathing. Directing is like translating. I think he was smoking something in the limo on the way over. Can't say I blame him. Probably makes it easier to deal with GD.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. I have no idea. He is German. And he has a long name. Jessica Alba may have had a point.
Musicians. Nominated for the Enchanted songs. They think their three nominations will cancel each other out. They're probably right.
Tilda Swinton thought it was easy to play someone really mean in Michael Clayton.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Potential Independent States In Europe
Dang, that's a lot. I'll let you ponder that for a while.
Click to enlarge.
(Thanks noo for the link to this map!)
So That's What All The Honking Was About
When the incessant honking on Sunday started, at first I thought it was about a wedding or a sports match or something, but yesterday's papers enlightened me about the fact, that the honking was in celebration of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia. You go girl!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Now This Is What I Call A Blue Sky
...and this is what it looked like almost all of last week! Keep it up, weather - we really get along when you're like this!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Grammar Is Important. All Right?
I recently learned from this rant about English usage, that "alright" is wrong. "All right" is the correct spelling. Who would've thunk?
Oops, I Did It Again
You'd think that after reaching the ripe old age of 24 I would have finally learned, that alcohol leads to hangovers. I'm normally a smart girl, I swear! But I somehow just don't seem able to process this little bit of trivia. Oh well, at least I can now proudly (I'm being sarcastic) say, that I've been to the Indochine in Zurich (for their Ladies' Night) and that it's pretty much frequented by the people I thought it was frequented by, but the music was better than I feared. Oh, and they charge you 4 bucks to check your coat.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Hell Just Froze Over
Roger Köppel, editor in chief and publisher of the Weltwoche, actually criticized SVP-exponent Mörgeli in the latest issue!
Don't get me wrong, I love the Weltwoche, but it is slightly biased when it comes to the SVP, especially Köppel's editorials are. So imagine my surprise, when in today's issue Köppel did not only criticize our current Bundespräsident Couchepin for (accidentally?) comparing Mörgele to Nazi-Doctor Mengele, but also deemed Mörgeli's reaction, a photo-op at the KZ Buchenwald, tasteless. I tend to agree on both counts.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Weltwoche, but it is slightly biased when it comes to the SVP, especially Köppel's editorials are. So imagine my surprise, when in today's issue Köppel did not only criticize our current Bundespräsident Couchepin for (accidentally?) comparing Mörgele to Nazi-Doctor Mengele, but also deemed Mörgeli's reaction, a photo-op at the KZ Buchenwald, tasteless. I tend to agree on both counts.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Oscars
Since the writers' strike is now officially over, this means that unlike the Golden Globes ceremony earlier this year, the Academy Awards will be held in all their glory on Sunday, February 24th, hosted by Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. As some of you know, I try to watch the telecast every year, eventhough it airs sometime between 3 and 7 AM CET and is spiked with random coin collection commercials.
As I hope to start working full-time sometime this year, this will probably be the last time I can afford to watch the Oscars live (since I don't have to go anywhere early Monday morning at the moment). So I'm looking for anyone who'd be willing to join me - it will be fun, I swear! Alcohol! Snacks! Making fun of everyone and everything that appears on screen! It will be like christmas but with lots of celebrities and excruciatingly long acceptance speeches interrupted by the Academy Award Orchestra of Doom. Oh, and I'm sure we'll get standing ovations for poor Heath Ledger during the "Geez, all these people died last year?"-montage. And if you're the gambling type, we can bet on the winners?
You will laugh! You will cry! You will occasionally doze off during the boring musical numbers!
'Nough said.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Watch This!
Since I'm boring all my friends with it, I might as well tell my lovely reader(s) (Hi Bettina!): if you ever get the chance, watch The Amazing Race! It's fun! 11 2-person teams race around the world! For a million dollars! If they suck they get eliminated (or illuminated, shoutout to noo and Simi!)! Most of the time, at least! They have to do Detours! And Roadblocks! A Roadblock is a task that only one person may perform (or made before - again, shoutout!)!
It's AMAZING, see?
It's AMAZING, see?
Good News!
Looks like the writer's strike in the States is pretty much over! If you want to know what that means for your favourite shows, you can find a good overview here.
And sorry that I haven't made good on my promise to blog more - I'm just not feeling very inspired at the moment!
Taa-taa!
And sorry that I haven't made good on my promise to blog more - I'm just not feeling very inspired at the moment!
Taa-taa!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Random
Ok, the immediate anger is gone now, so I removed the post as well. Still, it really helped to put it out there at that moment.:-)
Monday, January 21, 2008
My Poor Neglected Blog
So, being one of the many, many (at least two!) regular readers of my blog must've been a blast so far in 2008. The damn christmas tree is still the top-post and it's way past January 6th. I should be banned from the blogging world!
Now let's see if I can come up with a really random post that covers this past month but in a not boring yet still coherent way.
Go see The Darjeeling Limited if you liked The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and/or The Royal Tenenbaums. IMHO, just the soundtrack is already worth the movie ticket. Yay, I got tickets for Die Ärzte in June in Dornbirn, Austria, after I missed them in Zurich this past December! The We Will Rock You musical was pretty good but I don't care whether Zurich is German-speaking (or something resembling German, anyway), Queen-songs should never, I repeat never, not even in fragments, be translated into German. It's blasphemy!
When will I ever learn that Tequila just makes you go "I really don't want to know what I did last night" the next morning? I mean, telling everyone and their dog that you love them sooooooooooooooooooooo much can be endearing in some cases, but in others you should make sure that a) the other person wants to hear it and b) that you actually mean it. Anything else may result in a big fat awkward. The same rules apply to randomly kissing people on the mouth (not that I would ever do such a thing) and/or hugging them enthusiastically.
Teaching was a good learning experience, but it's also nice that I'm finally done this week, especially since I'm actually starting to get really motivated about starting my thesis (I know! Who would've thunk?). Unfortunately I also had to dole out a few really bad marks among the first graders which is sad, but maybe some of them do need a wake-up call? You're not in secondary school anymore, my little Dorothies!
This week seems to be "Blast From The Past"-Week as I've been contacted by random people from my past (in one case waaaaaaaaaay back in the past), in one case for a very creepy reason I will not divulge here because I'm already trying to suppress the memory. If I never hear from that creep again it will still be too soon. Seriously, what is wrong with some people?
My inner career-decision-making-pendulum is currently again swinging towards Consulting and away from legal internship / bar exam. Ask me again in April, I guess.
TK and Rachel won The Amazing Race 12. Who else cheered? Just me because none of you care? Ok then.
I really want the writers' strike in the US to be over for the sake of the writers and staff that has been let go because of the shutting down of production on most shows. But personally I wouldn't mind if it were to go on for another couple of months since I haven't had time to catch up with a lot of shows for a while and would get really stressed out if new episodes were to come out soon.
The Wildä Stiär restaurant is now officially in business, complete with new (and excellent!) cook and without obnoxious and completely useless waitress. Anyone in the vicinity (or not!) of Goldach should definitely check it out (weekly lunch menus and the À La Carte menu are now online).
As I said, this is my last week of teaching, so rest assured, from next week on posting here will become much more frequent, since thesis researching/writing is much more likely to make me search for ways to procrastinate than frantic lesson preparing! Is this a threat or a promise? you ask. You shall see, little ones, you shall see *evilsnickering*...
PS: I hereby certify that no part of this post was written under the influence of anything except fatigue. Although writing under the influence of e.g. Tequila could make for an interesting experiment, I guess. Suggestions for substance and/or methodology are welcome!
Now let's see if I can come up with a really random post that covers this past month but in a not boring yet still coherent way.
Go see The Darjeeling Limited if you liked The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and/or The Royal Tenenbaums. IMHO, just the soundtrack is already worth the movie ticket. Yay, I got tickets for Die Ärzte in June in Dornbirn, Austria, after I missed them in Zurich this past December! The We Will Rock You musical was pretty good but I don't care whether Zurich is German-speaking (or something resembling German, anyway), Queen-songs should never, I repeat never, not even in fragments, be translated into German. It's blasphemy!
When will I ever learn that Tequila just makes you go "I really don't want to know what I did last night" the next morning? I mean, telling everyone and their dog that you love them sooooooooooooooooooooo much can be endearing in some cases, but in others you should make sure that a) the other person wants to hear it and b) that you actually mean it. Anything else may result in a big fat awkward. The same rules apply to randomly kissing people on the mouth (not that I would ever do such a thing) and/or hugging them enthusiastically.
Teaching was a good learning experience, but it's also nice that I'm finally done this week, especially since I'm actually starting to get really motivated about starting my thesis (I know! Who would've thunk?). Unfortunately I also had to dole out a few really bad marks among the first graders which is sad, but maybe some of them do need a wake-up call? You're not in secondary school anymore, my little Dorothies!
This week seems to be "Blast From The Past"-Week as I've been contacted by random people from my past (in one case waaaaaaaaaay back in the past), in one case for a very creepy reason I will not divulge here because I'm already trying to suppress the memory. If I never hear from that creep again it will still be too soon. Seriously, what is wrong with some people?
My inner career-decision-making-pendulum is currently again swinging towards Consulting and away from legal internship / bar exam. Ask me again in April, I guess.
TK and Rachel won The Amazing Race 12. Who else cheered? Just me because none of you care? Ok then.
I really want the writers' strike in the US to be over for the sake of the writers and staff that has been let go because of the shutting down of production on most shows. But personally I wouldn't mind if it were to go on for another couple of months since I haven't had time to catch up with a lot of shows for a while and would get really stressed out if new episodes were to come out soon.
The Wildä Stiär restaurant is now officially in business, complete with new (and excellent!) cook and without obnoxious and completely useless waitress. Anyone in the vicinity (or not!) of Goldach should definitely check it out (weekly lunch menus and the À La Carte menu are now online).
As I said, this is my last week of teaching, so rest assured, from next week on posting here will become much more frequent, since thesis researching/writing is much more likely to make me search for ways to procrastinate than frantic lesson preparing! Is this a threat or a promise? you ask. You shall see, little ones, you shall see *evilsnickering*...
PS: I hereby certify that no part of this post was written under the influence of anything except fatigue. Although writing under the influence of e.g. Tequila could make for an interesting experiment, I guess. Suggestions for substance and/or methodology are welcome!
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