The above photo was taken at the casa de madre. It is a photo of one of the first snows one winter, with all that fluffy white stuff covering up the golf course she lives on.
This is not a particularly large amount of snow, for Michigan standards. A few inches at best, and we're used to that. In fact, I'm pretty sure we've already had over 27 inches or so this winter alone. Because, you know, it's Michigan.Whelp, tomorrow evening and into Wednesday afternoon, weather reports are spouting off obscene numbers. At first, it was 10 inches. Oh my, everyone said, 10 inches, wow. Then it became 12 inches.Goodness, everyone said, that's an awful lot of snow. I'd hate to have to do all the shoveling in the driveway.Then, in the latest report, it was stated that the metro Detroit/Ann Arbor area could get as much as 17 inches of snow. OHHHHH MYYYY GOOODDDDD, everyone said, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!I recently started following Pure Michigan on Twitter, because, well, I live in Michigan... and I like the outdoors... and I liked Tim Allen's Pure Michigan campaign commercial even more. But all day they've been talking about the snowpocolypse... and news sources (mine included) are actually asking people if they've taken the time to fill up their gas tanks, charge their cell phones, and stock up on bread and mustard (you know, the staples)... and friends and family are worried about being buried alive in white, fluffy stuff. Usually when we get winter storm advisories, I scoff. Because this is Michigan. It snows. Michigan does not discriminate against the months of fall and spring, either. It will snow occasionally during those months. I also scoff because it never, NEVER snows as much as the dear old weather man predicts. In this particular case, I only have one reason to be worried for people. Usually when it snows a lot throughout the day it doesn't matter because salt trucks and snow plows are constantly making the rounds. Sure the back roads can get tough and you might have to drive 30 mph in a 50-mph zone, but it's totally manageable. The difference between that and this is that a lot of this snowfall is going to take place during the night... so it will have time to pile up. I'm sure plows will be out late at night and uber early in the morning, but keep in mind that our road commission cut back on snow plows this year. That means it takes longer for the plows to reach all major roads, plus fewer people working during the late shift, and they hardly ever touch the "non major" ones. That's a real problem, especially when there aren't any cars on the roads to sort of even things out. So, if 17 inches of snow is what we actually end up getting between sundown on Tuesday and nooner on Wednesdays, then, yeah, it's A LOT...Luckily for me, Wednesdays are my day off. So I'm not really at any danger of missing something terribly important. I will likely do what I do on every Wednesday, which is get up at 9 a.m., drink my coffee, eat a biscotti, stay in my pajamas, read a book, and have a Netflix marathon. That means the worst-case scenario for me is losing power, because it would mean A) no Netflix, and B) emergency bonfires in the kitchen to keep my cats from freezing to death. Here's hoping I don't have to break out the kitchen matches.Cheers.
So I've decided to do the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share thing. I've considered it before, but since it's something I've never tried I'm a little intimidated. For example, how do I know which CSA to choose? What if there is bad weather and I don't get the produce I'm expecting from my lump sum check? What types of produce would I care about receiving the most? What if I get all these vegetables that are unrecognizable and I don't know how to cook them? Right now my biggest waffle is whether or not I want to choose a produce-only CSA, or another type. There's this place called Old Pine Farm that does humane meat farm shares, which will end up including beef, bison, pork, lamb, chicken and emu. Yes, bison and emu, which were both recently added to the healthy red meats list by the American Heart Association. I sort of feel like a meat CSA is the right way to go for Chris and I because we eat a lot of meat and it's the most expensive thing at grocery stores, so this could end up being a way to save the most money for super awesome meat. But I also buy a lot of produce, and I like the idea of cooking with just seasonal vegetables straight from a local farm. The question is, which one? Organic or conventional agriculture? Meat and potatoes farm, or a farm that focuses on greens? TOO MANY QUESTIONS!! I recently heard about this lady in Ann Arbor who sort of knows everything about local farms and farmers markets, and she has this CSA booklet thingy for the Ann Arbor area to help match people with the right one. I'm going to give it a read and see if I feel enlightened. If that doesn't help, I'll probably fork over the $25 to meet with her and ask some questions. The last thing I want to do is continue to not get involved in CSA programs just because it's new and intimidating. Stay tuned... and if you're interested in a CSA in the A2 area, you might want to take a look at her guide as well... http://thefarmersmarketer.com/farmers-marketers-csa-guide/.
So I've decided to do the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share thing. I've considered it before, but since it's something I've never tried I'm a little intimidated. For example, how do I know which CSA to choose? What if there is bad weather and I don't get the produce I'm expecting from my lump sum check? What types of produce would I care about receiving the most? What if I get all these vegetables that are unrecognizable and I don't know how to cook them? Right now my biggest waffle is whether or not I want to choose a produce-only CSA, or another type. There's this place called Old Pine Farm that does humane meat farm shares, which will end up including beef, bison, pork, lamb, chicken and emu. Yes, bison and emu, which were both recently added to the healthy red meats list by the American Heart Association. I sort of feel like a meat CSA is the right way to go for Chris and I because we eat a lot of meat and it's the most expensive thing at grocery stores, so this could end up being a way to save the most money for super awesome meat. But I also buy a lot of produce, and I like the idea of cooking with just seasonal vegetables straight from a local farm. The question is, which one? Organic or conventional agriculture? Meat and potatoes farm, or a farm that focuses on greens? TOO MANY QUESTIONS!! I recently heard about this lady in Ann Arbor who sort of knows everything about local farms and farmers markets, and she has this CSA booklet thingy for the Ann Arbor area to help match people with the right one. I'm going to give it a read and see if I feel enlightened. If that doesn't help, I'll probably fork over the $25 to meet with her and ask some questions. The last thing I want to do is continue to not get involved in CSA programs just because it's new and intimidating. Stay tuned... and if you're interested in a CSA in the A2 area, you might want to take a look at her guide as well... http://thefarmersmarketer.com/farmers-marketers-csa-guide/.
So I've decided to do the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share thing. I've considered it before, but since it's something I've never tried I'm a little intimidated. For example, how do I know which CSA to choose? What if there is bad weather and I don't get the produce I'm expecting from my lump sum check? What types of produce would I care about receiving the most? What if I get all these vegetables that are unrecognizable and I don't know how to cook them? Right now my biggest waffle is whether or not I want to choose a produce-only CSA, or another type. There's this place called Old Pine Farm that does humane meat farm shares, which will end up including beef, bison, pork, lamb, chicken and emu. Yes, bison and emu, which were both recently added to the healthy red meats list by the American Heart Association. I sort of feel like a meat CSA is the right way to go for Chris and I because we eat a lot of meat and it's the most expensive thing at grocery stores, so this could end up being a way to save the most money for super awesome meat. But I also buy a lot of produce, and I like the idea of cooking with just seasonal vegetables straight from a local farm. The question is, which one? Organic or conventional agriculture? Meat and potatoes farm, or a farm that focuses on greens? TOO MANY QUESTIONS!! I recently heard about this lady in Ann Arbor who sort of knows everything about local farms and farmers markets, and she has this CSA booklet thingy for the Ann Arbor area to help match people with the right one. I'm going to give it a read and see if I feel enlightened. If that doesn't help, I'll probably fork over the $25 to meet with her and ask some questions. The last thing I want to do is continue to not get involved in CSA programs just because it's new and intimidating. Stay tuned... and if you're interested in a CSA in the A2 area, you might want to take a look at her guide as well... http://thefarmersmarketer.com/farmers-marketers-csa-guide/.
Final award being presented by Michael Douglas because the guy had cancer and is still going strong, very bravely and with a wonderful attitude and sense of humor. He makes a great joke after his standing ovation... "there's gotta be a better way to get a standing ovation." As always, his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones looks beautiful.
Nominees for Best Motion Picture Drama are Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The King's Speech, The Social Network.
And the winner is... Social Network. Sigh.... well, this means I have to see it, because I never go into the Oscars without having seen the Best Picture nominees. UGH! I'm sure I'll be pleasantly surprised... maybe....
Alicia Keys presents the clip for Black Swan. Another great one. Creepy and beautiful. I hope Natalie Portman wins for acting this.
Halle Berry presenting nominees for actor in a motion picture comedy or musical. Johnny Depp is nominated twice, once for Alice in Wonderland and for The Tourist... so he'll either win by odds or lose twice. Others are Kevin Spacey, Paul Giamatti and Jake Gyllenhaal. Not the strongest of categories. Giamatti wins and gives a funny speech because he is a funny man, and he's not drinking any freaking Merlot!!! His film was Barney's Version, which I believe is on the film festival circuit right now.
Side note: Barney's Version is the movie that caused Rachelle LeFevre to lose her Twilight role as Victoria. She overbooked and wouldn't be finished with Barney's Version in time to do Eclipse rehearsals... aka Summit (which has money now) gave it to Ron Howard's redheaded daughter, Bryce Howard. I think, based on ratings and the quality of material, LeFevre is the one laughing now.
The Inception supporting dude is here to present the clip for Inception, which still awes and amuses me.
Jeff Bridges (last year's best actor in a film drama) presenting award for Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. Nominees are Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman, and Michelle Williams. Globe goes to Natalie Portman for Black Swan, which is awesome... because she played a real ballet dancer, lesbian and psychopath ALL IN ONE MOVIE. Her speech is excellent. Not only does she talk about getting knocked up by her choreographer, but she refers to her costar as Mila "sweet lilps" Kunis......
Tim Allen and Tom Hanks presenting for best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, AKA the weakest category of the night... not for lack of choices. They just *really* don't like Jonah Hill (Cyrus, Get Him to the Greek), high school comedies (Easy A) or too much gaymance (I love you, phillip morris... Kids Are All Right took up the gay token bid) Nominees are Alice and Wonderland, Burlesque, The Kids Are All Right, Red, The Tourist. Kids Are All Right wins. The highlight of that award was the awesomeness of having both Tim Allen and Tom Hanks on stage, reminding everyone that Gervais is blowing this big time.
Sandra Bullock presenting award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. Nominees are Jesse Eisenberg, Colin Firth, James Franco, Mark Wahlberg and Ryan Gosling. Colin Firth wins for The King's Speech. I guess I'm a little surprised because I was considering the momentum of Social Network. I'm delightfully surprised, especially considering he had to speak in a stutter throughout the film. You try it. His speech was cute. Again, I'm biased. He'll always be my Darcy.
Matt Damon presenting the honor being given to Robert DeNiro. Standing ovation obviously because the man has been in like 70 movies... a lot of them as Italian gangsters.
You know, I was going to shrug this portion off and not really talk about it, but DeNiro is really throwing some zingers out there about foreigners, Hollywood promoters, Megan Fox, and all the terrible movies which WEREN'T included in the career reel. He gives a great little speech about "his children" (aka his films), which is worth YouTube'ing at a later date.
Megan Fox is presenting a clip for The Tourist. She looks gorgeous as always, as does Angelina Jolie.
Annette Benning takes the stage again to present Best Director. Again with the award order. Why is this award being given away before television and comedies are taken care of? What IS THIS?! Nominees are Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David Fincher (The Social Network), Tom Hooper (the King's Speech), Christopher Nolan (Inception), and David O. Russell (The Fighter). Winner is David Fincher for Social Network. Ok, look, I can cough up the screenwriting win for the Social Network to the fact that they DID manage to turn a story about a network into an intriguing film. But director too? I don't like how this is going... because it's getting dangerously close to winning the whole caboodle. I really thought either Darren Aronofsky or Christopher Nolan had it in the bag. Social Network is trying really, really hard to change my mind.
Jimmy Fallon and January Jones presenting Best Television Series Comedy or Musical. Nominees are 30 Rock, the Big Bang Theory, the Big C, Glee, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie. Winner is... Glee, for the second straight year. Lea Michele will probably cry, as she tends to do. I hope they at least mix it up on the acceptance speech. We've beat the bullying topic to death, no pun intended. WOW and they are really trying to fit EVERYONE on the stage... THIS is exactly why categories like this (aka best film or tv series) should be saved for last. So the winners can give the long drawn-out speech they're hoping for and still take the time to fit 35 people on stage, including the bit characters like the jewish gossip blogger from Glee.
Zac Efron has a weird new haircut. Presenting the clip for The Kids Are All Right.
Gervais introduces Tina Fey and Steve Carrell. Gervais gets his jab in at Steve Carrell for taking over The Office in the US, putting his UK version out, and then turning into Gervais's cash cow. Hilarious presentation speech for the nominees of Best Screenplay where Carrell pretty much plays his character from the Office. Nominees are Kings Speech, Social Network, Inception, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right. Social Network wins, and Christopher Nolan (who spent over a decade on Inception) is ROBBED.
Chris Hamsworth and Chris Evans (both hotties) are presenting nominees for Supporting Actress in Series, Mini Series or TV Movie. Nominees are Jane Lynch, Kelly McDonald, Julia Stiles, Sophia Vergara and Hope Davis. Jane Lynch wins for role as Sue Sylvester in Glee. She gives the PERFECT acceptance speech. Short, funny, appreciative.
Olivia Wilde and Robert Pattinson are presenting Best Foreign Language Film. Her dress is CRAZY! I didn't think this was possible, but she actually outshines him because her dress could LITERALLY swallow him whole. Also they don't say much... one short sentence each and that's it? That's all? Bad casting on the presenters. What a waste of the RPattz. Did I spell that right? Nominees are Biutiful (mexico), The Concert (France), The Edge (Russia), I Am Love (Italy), In a Better World (Denmark). The winner goes to Denmark and the director who is "very, very happy." She can't help but tell us how very, very happy she is...
Helen Mirren is up on stage and looks gorgeous, as always. She's 100 years old and looks sexier than I do. She presents a clip from The King's Speech, which I saw recently and thought it was FANTASTIC. It might just win. It took home the Critics Choice Award.
Up next is another pretty big one: Actress in a Comedy Television series. Nominees are stacked with Toni Collette, Edie Falco, Tina Fey, Laura Linney, and Lea Michele. I said earlier I hope Laura Linney wins for The Big C... and the winner is... LAURA LINNEY. Wait, oh she's not there. Vannessa Williams and Blair Underwood accept her award on her behalf. Well that was about as anticlimactic as it gets.
Jane Fonda? In shoulder pads? On a dress? She is presenting a clip for Burlesque.
Best actor in a tv series, comedy or musical is up. Nominees are Alec Baldwin, Matthew Morrison, Jim Carsons, Jim Parsons, Thomas Jane. Jim Carsons from The Big Bang Theory wins. why, Why, WHY won't you HONOR ALEC BALDWIN. He rose from the pits of nothingness!! Oh well.. snub away... but just know, Hollywood Foreign Press, that his contract is up for 30Rock. If he doesn't resign I'm blaming you.
Jeremy Irons presenting. His hair looks long. His voice is freaking AWESOME. holy crap I'd forgotten, and I now must sift through my movie collection and rematch everything he is in. He is presenting for Supporting Actress in a Film Drama. Nominees are Mila Kunis, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, Helena Bonham Carter, and Jacki Weaver. Melissa Leo wins for The Fighter. Very well deserved.
Friggin Justin Bieber with his stupid Bieber hair is presenting with the awesome chick from True Grit. They're presenters for best animated film. If Toy Story 3 doesn't win I might stop watching... maybe. Nominees are Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist, Tangled and Toy Story 3. Come on, Toy Story... come onnnnnnnnnnnnn.... YESSSSSSS! And Toy Story 3 takes the win. You can't touch this!!! You can't touch the Disney Pixar machine.
Side note: I just got a glimpse of some tables... and someone thought it was a good idea to sit Robert Pattinson at Helen Mirren's table. I'm sure they'll have LOADS to talk about.
Gervais has removed an article of clothing. He's moved on to wine and is now insulting previous alcoholic Robert Downey Jr. Downey is presenting for best Actress in a Film Comedy. He basically tells all five female nominees he wants to bang them... and will willingly do so in order to determine who has done the "best work," which is AWESOME. No one is funnier than Downey. It definitely takes great character and sense of humor to get through the crap that dude has been through. Nominees are Annette Benning, Anne Hathoway, Angelina Jolie, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone. Winner is Annette Benning for The Kids Are All Right. Annette's hair looks schizo. Her dress is gorgeous, but she looks like she stuck her finger in a light socket. She gives a nice little comment about her indie experiences, and also manages to fit in time to thank "Mark Ruffolo our wonderful sperm donor."
During the commercial break, there are some silly shots of Gervais promoting the Globes and saying "It's live! What can they do?" Are you regretting your decision now, Hollywood Foreign Press? There is also the typical Local 4 News commercial about how there is chaos, murder and conspiracy in Detroit. No, YOU THINK?
Sylvester Stallone presents the clip for The Fighter, nominated for Best Motion Picture Drama. Pretty obvious why they picked Stallone. Side note, this movie was awesome. If Black Swan doesn't win, I hope this does.
Geoffrey Rush and Tilda Swinton on stage to present Actor in a Mini Series or Television Movie. Nominees are Idris Elba (a gorgeous, gorgeous man), Ian McShane, Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Edgar Ramirez. Al Pacino wins for You Don't Know Jack. He looks both drunk and drugged, but he's freaking AL PACINO.
Rush and Swinton back for Actress in Mini Series or Television Movie. Nominees are Hayley Atwell, Claire Danes, Judi Dench, Romola Garai and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Claire Danes wins for Temple Grandin, so she'd better not forget to thank her husband this time. She looks gorgeous in a Calvin Klein Collection hot pink dress. I really like her. She's in list mode on the thank-you's...
Michelle Pfeiffer presents Alice in Wonderland... not sure why her, but... it's nominated for Best Motion Picture Comedy. A clip ensues...
Gervais is back.... and is freely taking stabs at the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Burke... who isn't nearly as old as Gervais eluded to and probably doesn't need help on the toilet. But don't worry, Burke holds Gervais' balls when it comes to having films admitted for consideration... not that Gervais ever has movies worth considering at the Globes.
Burke gives a boring speech that people who aren't in the business wouldn't understand.
Milla Jovavich and Kevin Bacon take the stage to present Actor in a Television Series Drama. Nominees are Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Jon Hamm (Mad Men, aka the hottest man on earth), and Hugh Laurie (House). Steve Buscemi wins. He is one creepy looking dude, no matter how you cut it. I mean he could be a serial killer and I wouldn't be at all shocked.
TV SERIES DRAMA: Big category. Nominees are Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, The Good Wife, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead. Golden Globe goes to Boardwalk Empire. I guess I'm a little surprised by the order of these awards. Why the junk are we giving away TV Series Drama right now? We're only a few commercials in... they could have easily saved this category for the end. They must REALLY be banking on the star power of presenters rather than the excitement of the awards... and with that frame of mind I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if Best Foreign Language Film was last because it's being presented by Robert Pattinson. I said his name... cue screaming girls (yes I'm one of them, but maybe not has admirably as usual considering Jon Hamm is in the room..)
After the commercial break, Andrew Garfield from Social Network stumbles his way through an introduction to The Social Network. His performance as a presenter is not inspiring me to let my guard down and see his movie. I have refused up until this point, because I hate Zuckerberg and the privacy-destroying horse he rode in on. Chris things he'll convince me otherwise, but I'm not convinced. After all, I hate the main character... and the movie is about how the awful main character invents Facebook, screws over his friends, and becomes an even bigger jerkoff. Yeah, sounds like fun. I'm sure it's great filmmaking and a fantastic/interesting movie, but I just.... can't.
Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Lopez present Original Song, and Baldwin continues to impress me with his lollipops and gumdrops. Nominees are Burlesque, Country Strong, Tangled, Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Burlesque for a second number. Burlesque wins for the Cher knockoff because everyone loves a comeback. See, Gervais? People do want to see Cher in concert after 1975.
Now up is Best Original Score, which is an interesting one this year because a bunch of the movies originally nominated were disqualified because they used too much unoriginal music, including Black Swan and The Fighter. I guess I understand the rule. It's something like 70 or 80 % of what's used has to be completely original, and of course Black Swan revolves around Swan Lake, but still it takes a lot of work to make a score work with a complicated classic. Either way, The Social Network wins. Other nominees were The King's Speech, Alice in Wonderland, 127 Hours, and Inception.
Yessss... Gervais is already drinking and insulting every possible actor with a target on their back. Splendid.
YEEESSSS! A Mel Gibson joke in the opening segment!!!! I called it. Also some pretty uncomfortable jokes about Hugh Hefner's marriage (omg he's dry heaving on stage... you can't make this stuff up), Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes seemingly fake marriage, and how crappy the comedy nominations are (I'm talking to you, Tourist). He's getting a lot of boo's already. He wasn't joking when he said he'd make sure he was never offered the host job again.
Scarlett Johansson presents supporting actor drama for film. Her dress is awesome. Her hair is not. She looks like Bridget Jones in that scene where she loses her scarf in the convertible. Windswept! Nominations are Christian Bale, Michael Douglas, Andrew Garfield, Jeremy Renner, and Geoffrey Rush. Christian Bale wins, and might already be drunk based on how long he rambles on, but accepts graciously... which is a welcome change considering his general hatred of both the press and Hollywood. He also got the cue music, which surprises me because I would be scared of him if I were the program directors.
Now up is supporting actress in a drama for television. Presented by LL Cool J and some chick whose name I can never remember. Katey Sagal wins for Sons of Anarchy, and she's pretty stoked because let's be honest... the only thing she's really been known for so far is her role as Peggy Bundy on Married With Children. No way she was ever going to win something for that show--not that it wasn't great but, you know, it's not exactly the king of show loved by the Hollywood Foreign Press, youknowwhatimean?? She looks really nice in some sort of shiny orange number. She got the music really soon. I think Christian Bale used it up already.
Best mini-series or TV movie is up next, presented by Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore. Nominees are Pillars of the Earth, Temple Grandin, The Pacific, You Don't Know Jack, and Carlos. Carlos wins. Did I just see Tom Hanks swearing that his baby, The Pacific, didn't win? Maybe. I sure hope this is short because, well, no one has heard of these movie makers or this movie/series. Not that what they're saying doesn't matter... it just doesn't matter because we don't know them.
Bruce Willis presenting the clip for RED, which is nominated for Best Motion Picture Comedy. Meh.
The Country Strong teenyboppers (Leighton Meester and Gabe whatshisbutt from Troy/Country Strong/Tron Legacy) are presenting Supporting Actor in TV Series, Mini Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Nominees are Chris Noth (Good Wife) ....... and some other guys because HOLY CRAP Chris Colfer wins for Glee. Gives the assumed speech about bullying. He was just as surprised as the rest of us.
So tomorrow (Sunday) is the Golden Globes. Oooo, aaaah.
In the past I have liveblogged this event for friends, work, fashion, etc... I think it's time to revive that tradition. There's just something about the Globes that guarantees a good time. It isn't like the Oscars where people think they have to be serious, or the music awards where celebs tend to be more diva-ish. It might also have to do with the fact that A) someone nearly always ends up drunk, B) someone deserving generally always wins who is then snubbed come Oscar time, and C) the outfits are WAY more out there. So check back in with Pass Fail Meter on Sunday for a rockin' good time, some laughs, some cocktails, and (hopefully) some award show surprises.Oh, and Ricky Gervais has been asked back, which even he says is a crazy idea... because clearly he wasn't disgusting and offensive enough the first time. Who knows if we can expect him to mock Mel Gibson again... probably so considering Mel is on a promotional tour for his new movie "The Beaver." Yeah, no joke possibilities there........ It started with this at the 2010 Golden Globes:Then this followed at the 2010 Emmys: Amazing.For this year's awards, the categories that are stockpiled with good nominations are motion picture drama and supporting actress. Those that are lacking include pretty much any of the motion picture comedy or musical categories... which is really disappointing because this is the one venue where film comedy gets some credit. Here are this year's nominations:
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Halle Berry – Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
James Franco – 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg – The Fighter
Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Annette Benning – The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway – Love And Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie – The Tourist
Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone – Easy A
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Johnny Depp – Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp – The Tourist
Paul Giamatti – Barney’s Version
Jake Gyllenhaal – Love And Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey – Casino Jack
Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams – The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis – Black Swan
Melissa Leo – The Fighter
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom
Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale – The Fighter
Michael Douglas – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network
Jeremy Renner – The Town
Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech
Best Animated Feature Film
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3
Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful (Mexico, Spain)
The Concert (France)
The Edge (Russia)
I Am Love (Italy)
In A Better World (Denmark)
Best Director – Motion Picture
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
David Fincher – The Social Network
Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan – Inception
David O. Russell – The Fighter
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
Christopher Nolan – Inception
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler – The King’s Speech
Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat – The King’s Speech
Danny Elfman – Alice in Wonderland
A. R. Rahman – 127 Hours
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Social Network
Hans Zimmer – Inception
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Bound To You” – Burlesque /Music By: Samuel Dixon /Lyrics By: Christina Aguilera and Sia Furler
“Coming Home” – Country Strong/ Music & Lyrics By: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges
“I See The Light” – Tangled/ Music By: Alan Menken/ Lyrics By: Glenn Slater
“There’s A Place For Us” – Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader/ Music & Lyrics By: Hillary Lindsey, Carrie Underwood and David Hodges
Best Television Series – Drama
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Dexter (SHOWTIME)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Mad Men (AMC)
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife (CBS)
Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men (AMC)
Piper Perabo – Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal – Sons Of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer (TNT)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall – Dexter (SHOWTIME)
Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC)
Hugh Laurie – House (FOX)
Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
30 Rock (NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
The Big C (Showtime)
Glee (FOX)
Modern Family (ABC)
Nurse Jackie (SHOWTIME)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Toni Collette – United States Of Tara (SHOWTIME)
Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie (SHOWTIME)
Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
Laura Linney – The Big C (Showtime)
Lea Michele – Glee (FOX)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell – The Office (NBC)
Thomas Jane – Hung (HBO)
Matthew Morrison – Glee (FOX)
Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Carlos (Sundance C)
The Pacific (HBO)
Pillars Of The Earth (STARZ)
Temple Grandin (HBO)
You Don’t Know Jack (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hayley Atwell – Pillars Of The Earth (STARZ)
Claire Danes – Temple Grandin (HBO)
Judi Dench – Return To Cranford
Romola Garai – Emma
Jennifer Love Hewitt – The Client List
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Idris Elba – Luther
Ian McShane – Pillars Of The Earth (STARZ)
Al Pacino – You Don’t Know Jack (HBO)
Dennis Quaid – The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez – Carlos (Sundance C)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hope Davis – The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch – Glee (FOX)
Kelly MacDonald – Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Julia Stiles – Dexter (SHOWTIME)
Sofia Vergara – Modern Family (ABC)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Something disgusting happened to me at the gym recently. I almost couldn't bare to share the story, but I hope that in divulging this information no one will follow in my path of sanitary destruction.So I go to the gym. I work out. I sweat. What happens when we sweat? We want to wipe it away!So like any logical human being with a T-shirt too drenched to suffice, I go looking for a towel. As I approach the front desk, there is a woman at the front in business attire who appears to be a recruiter for the gym. She smiles at me with her blank grin and I ask her very politely where I can find a towel. Her answer was simple, to the point, polite. I liked her. She pointed to a collection of towels directly in front of her in a container at the front desk. I think to myself, "sure! perfect! I figured I'd find clean towels at the front desk." Also, as a side note, I'm well aware of the fact that my not knowing the location of towels is pretty indicative that I'm not utilizing my gym membership enough.Back to the towel, I am loving it. I am living my own little Herbal Essences commercial except sans shower and with towel. "yes, Yes, YES! This towel feels SO GOOD! Begone, sweat!" Then some woman who is also sweaty stops me."You know that's a dirty towel"Excuse me?"That's the dirty towel hamper."Oh, right.Yeah, screw that girl. In the meantime, the trainer who was WATCHING THE WHOLE THING tries desperately to hide his snicker while he walks around the partition and hands me a clean towel... which, by the way, were located UNDER the desk and out of reach. So this recruiter's idea of helping me get a towel was essentially pointing like a monkey in their general direction with various grunts of "ooo-oooo's" and "aaah-aaah's." My trial membership is almost up. I'll be working out in the freezing cold from now on until I can find a place where the shame of this won't follow me.Moral of the story? Smell your towels first, and never trust a recruiter with a smile.
Lunch today was portobello mushrooms, but not just ANY portobello mushrooms...
Actually, they were pretty much "any" because I just grabbed a few plastic wrapped caps and called it a day. But they were cooked and loved into awesomeness, which in my opinion is quite difficult to do because, A) I don't like cooked mushrooms all that much, and B) I ran out of olive oil mid-soiree. I'm not sure why I have an aversion to certain types of mushrooms--only cooked. I will eat button mushrooms raw like apples. Just give me a bushel and some ranch. It's the rubbery consistency.But for some reason I do OK with portobellos... most likely because it is the goliath of toadstool fungi, so much so that you can hardly recognize it for what it is until it's too late. I like two portobello recipes, including a caprese salad spinoff and the ones I made today, which were basically stuffed with cannellini beans, feta cheese, and breadcrumbs. Good stuff. Also relatively healthy... albeit there is a bit more fat than you'd expect, but there is also good protein and fiber. It's one of those Everyday Food concoctions. Side not: I live and die by my Everyday Food subscription because, well, I eat food... everyday... and it will feed me with delicious (healthy!) recipes... everyday.It also gives me a week's worth of planned meals complete with shopping list and sometimes I get lazy. I used the Everyday Food recipe photo instead of the one that I took because mine somehow turned out orange tinted. There was bad, bad lighting in my cave and light must have refracted off of Venus and my plastic ZooPal utensils. Side note, side note: I am not a professional. Goodness, if that wasn't obvious by now then clearly you're not a professional either. I don't even really know if I'd go so far as to say I'm a foodie because when it really comes down to it I just love to eat and cook. I'm not hyper obsessed with techniques and new tools and stuff. Just give me some herbs, meat and a sack of potatoes and I will be like "wooo! I'm like Martha! Look at my roast!" So I rely on other people's recipes, just like a lot of the rest of the working world. I don't care for recipe books that like to use lots, and lots, and lots, and lots of ingredients. (I'm talking to you, Cooking Light) Everyday Food, on the other hand, generally sticks to the 6-10 ingredient range, and those ingredients tend to revolve around a core of 15ish ingredients that I've learned to always keep on hand. They don't make me buy a 24-ounce bottle of special super duper awesome sauce if I'm only going to use a teaspoon and I'll only use it once. So far my experiments have taught me to always stockpile: Chicken stock S&P Olive oil Red wine vinegar Balsamic vinegar Citrus (lemons, limes, oranges) Garlic Ginger Onions Spinach Rice Scallions Jalapenos Dijon mustard Thyme Cilantro Fish sauce PotatoesSome lemon zest, S&P, and garlic will go a long way...Until next time, cheers! It's the weekend, so let's get crunk!
So I didn't stop cooking (or eating) during my absence the last few weeks. In fact I was taking a few photographs here and there of my FOOD throughout... I just didn't have time to write about it. I also took a week off during the holiday season in order to purge myself of newsroom stress, and then took another long weekend around the New Year in order to cozie up in a condo outside Traverse City. Both were fantastic. Between those awesome getaways I continued to watch my lunchtime meals and did not purchase any so-so sandwiches or greasy takeout. On the contrary, I made things like tangy and sweet salads, chickpea curry, Costa Rica turkey chili, herbed zucchini soup, rice cake sandwiches, Nicoise salad, roasted beet and edamame salad, panko-crusted fish sticks with homemade tartar, etc., etc. The salad in the photo was one of my own creations (and photographs). It was really simple and consisted of nothing more than arugula with feta, dried cranberries, and almonds. The dressing was red wine vinegar and oil. I ate it with Carr's rosemary crackers topped with a fig spread and Brie. The chickpea curry photo is from Everyday Food, which is where the recipe I used comes from. I serve mine over white rice, just like I do with my chili. The herbed zucchini soup was an Eating Well recipe (and photo), but I spruced it up quite a bit. I tend to like a lot of seasoning, so I was generous with the dill, salt, pepper and cheese. Obviously the biggest difficulty so far has been planning ahead. My work schedule is a little weird because reporters don't work 9-5 on Mondays through Fridays, plus I don't work the same hours every week. Wednesdays (today!) are my "day off," which is more or less code for "I'll do a bunch of social media and web work today from home in my PJs." I tend to do my grocery shopping on Sundays, so tomorrow's meal plan is to either make another Nicoise salad or make kitchen sink soup. Or I could have a saving grace in leftovers from tonight's tilapia and roasted vegetables--but not likely. Before I close I do need to confess to an edible mistake from yesterday. After eating my rice cake PB&J with carrots, I realized I was still hungry and my snack foods didn't sound appealing. My coworker offered me a package of chicken flavored ramen noodles, which I'm aware are disgusting nutritionally but taste pretty damn awesome. I reluctantly agreed and she served up a steaming cup of ramen. The thing you have to understand about me and ramen is that I ate a LOT of it in college, like more other teenagers in my vicinity. I ate healthy meals too, but there was something about ramen that I craved during those late-night study sessions. Well, into about my junior year, my body decided it would stop digesting ramen noodles. The smell, sight and thought of them was too much to bear. So yesterday when my friend asked me if I wanted to eat one of her packets, I figured enough time had passed. I was wrong.The experience went something like this:Stephane: Here are your noodles! They smell delicious!Me: Why, thank you Stephane. I don't know what could possibly go wrong, because these noodles look and smell like a delicacy! I begin eating...Me: Oh, dearest Stephane, they taste even better than they look.The rate of eating increases at a rate directly proportional to number of years I've been waiting to scarf them down. I finish the noodles and sit there staring at the broth. Not five minutes has passed before I notice something has gone terribly wrong. Me: Oh god.Stephane: What? What is it?Me: Oh. God.Stephane: What's wrong?Me: OH GOD. THE RAMEN.For the rest of the day I was writhing in pain and agony. Passerby could hear traces of my sorrow and defeat as the ramen continued to refuse to digest. Stephane: It must have been your PB&J rice cakes.Me: Have you ever seen rice cakes do this to a person? It's not the freaking rice cakes. It's those fat-filled noodles.The moral of the story is that I am still incapable of properly processing fatty foods, particularly ramen, without feeling disgusting. It is both a blessing and a curse. Needless to say, my dedication to this healthy brown bag project has been WHOLEHEARTEDLY renewed.
