Over the weekend I bought a new pot for my office plant and today I got the plant nicely situated in its new home and then low and behold a bug climbed in through the window and volunteered to be the first bug eaten by the Venus fly trap. What a great way to start off the week!
In honor of Flag Day 2017, here is a photo of the greatest flag ever.
After the show I walked back to the orca tank and to my surprise there was an orca that appeared to be sleeping. I talked with the Sea World trainer and she informed me that this particular orca seemed to enjoy sleeping while the others would swim around and learn from each other. The trainer also told me that orca’s can sleep while they are swimming. They do that by shutting down 1/2 of their brain. Even though this orca looks like it shut down 100% of it’s brain, it was pretty amazing to hear.
When I was in Las Vegas, Nevada I came across this restaurant. I saw the name and had to laugh because “chin chin” in Japanese means penis. I can’t say that I want to eat here. Who knows what they might serve? Yikes!
The Valley of Fire is located outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. It has spectacular views because the surrounding mountains are brown, but the Valley of Fire has a reddish tint to it. It must be because there is more iron in the dirt there. It is quite a site to see and in case you can’t make it there, here are some photos.
Here is a view of Hollywood from near the observatory.
This is a view of the Hollywood sign from the observatory. As you can see it’s a pretty neat angle to see the iconic Hollywood sign from.
Tonight I watched the Presidential address to congress and I have to admit that it was one of his better speeches. He didn’t seem to spew much of the rhetoric we heard on the campaign trail, but rather seemed to focus on what it would take to make America great again. One of my favorite lines was, “My job is not to represent the world, but to represent the people of the United States of America.” Some of the key issues he brought up was enforcing laws and supporting law enforcement officials. He brought up getting rid of Obama care and instead of government forcing people to purchase a government plan, they lower insurance costs so people can choose their own health care plans. A couple other key points are to create fair trade with other countries and lowering taxes on businesses. He also talked about getting rid of illegal immigrants with criminal records and keeping out immigrants that come from countries where proper vetting doesn’t take place in order to protect the safety of the American people. He also talked about America working with foreign countries to promote peace and prosperity throughout the world. He said the problems America is faced with are problems that we can solve and now is the time to dream big and bold for the success of the country.
This speech was about an hour long and from what I saw it was well received by the Republican party, but the Democratic party sat the majority of the time. There were several key points where everybody stood and clapped, but most of the time it was only the Republicans doing most of the clapping. I felt this speech was well delivered. It set a good tone and a good message to rebuild the infrastructure in the United States, bring back and encourage business growth, and ensure the safety of the American people. These are not bad values and they are not bad things to strive for. I look forward to seeing what accomplishments he is able to complete.
Hollywood should learn how to get real gold. Here is a kit to get them started.
【作品賞】 「ムーンライト」
【監督賞】 デイミアン・チャゼル「ラ・ラ・ランド」
【主演男優賞】 ケイシー・アフレック「マンチェスター・バイ・ザ・シー」
【主演女優賞】 エマ・ストーン「ラ・ラ・ランド」
【助演男優賞】 マハーシャラ・アリ「ムーンライト」
【助演女優賞】 ヴィオラ・デイヴィス「フェンシズ」
【長編アニメ映画賞】 「ズートピア」
【短編アニメ映画賞】 「ひな鳥の冒険」
【脚本賞】 ケネス・ロナーガン「マンチェスター・バイ・ザ・シー」
【脚色賞】 バリー・ジェンキンズ、タレル・アルヴィン・マクレイニー「ムーンライト」
【撮影賞】 リヌス・サンドグレン「ラ・ラ・ランド」
【美術賞】 デヴィット・ワスコ、サンディ・レイノルズ・ワスコ「ラ・ラ・ランド」
【音響編集賞】 「メッセージ」
【録音賞】 「ハクソー・リッジ」
【編集賞】 ジョン・ギルバード「ハクソー・リッジ」
【視覚効果賞】 「ジャングル・ブック」
【歌曲賞】 City of Stars 「ラ・ラ・ランド」
【作曲賞】 ジャスティン・ハーウィッツ「ラ・ラ・ランド」
【衣装デザイン賞】 コリーン・アトウッド「ファンタスティック・ビーストと魔法使いの旅」
【メイク・ヘアスタイリング賞】 「スーサイド・スクワッド」
【外国語映画賞】 インド「セールスマン」
【短編実写映画賞】 「シング」
【長編ドキュメンタリー賞】 「O.J:メイド・イン・アメリカ」
【短編ドキュメンタリー賞】 「ホワイト・ヘルメット -シリアの民間防衛隊-」
惜しくも作品賞を逃した最多１４部門でノミネートされていた「ラ・ラ・ランド」ですが、
監督賞、主演女優賞、撮影賞、美術賞、作曲賞、歌曲賞と６部門で授賞しました。
作品賞は「ムーンライト」
でもその前に一波乱。
最初「ラ・ラ・ランド」が呼ばれ関係者一同がステージに上がり「ありがとう」スピーチをしている最中に
何やら後ろがザワザワ怪しい雰囲気に。
「これは間違いだ。「ムーンライト！君達がベスト作品賞だ。これはジョークじゃない」
とオスカーベスト作品賞が書いてある封筒を掲げて発表。
バックステージで封筒の渡し間違いがあったそうだ。
長い歴史の中で１度もなかった前代未聞のミス！
なんだか落ち着かないままで、2017年のアカデミー賞授賞式は幕を閉じました。
