Got around to seeing many of the nominated films this year.
For Best Picture I can confidently predict that Argo will win. I liked some of the other nominees more (Beasts,Django, Les Mis) but Argo is a lock.
Best Actress is a tough one. Odds are on Jennifer Lawrence but I'm hoping Emmanuelle Riva wins.
Best Actor for Daniel Day Lewis
If Supporting Actress doesn't go to Anne Hathaway I'll eat my remote.
Supporting Actor is a tossup with my money on Alan Arkin
Best Director I'm thinking Ang Lee.
Best Adapted Screenplay - Lincoln?
Best Original Screenplay will probably go to ZDT but I really hope Moonrise Kingdom wins.
Best Animated Film I pick Wreck It Ralph (sadly haven't seen any nominees)
Best Foreign Feature to Amour (should never have been also nominated in Best Picture category)
Best Visual Effects to Life of Pi
Best Production Design Les Miserables
Best Cinematography to Deakins for Skyfall
Best Costume Design "Snow White and the Huntsman"(?)
Best Makeup - Hobbit
Best Documentary - Searching for Sugarman
Best Film Editing - Argo
Best Score - Thomas Newman for Skyfall
Best Song - Skyfall
Best Sound Editing - ZDT
Best Sound Mixing - Les Miserables
And for the shorts I pick Fresh Guacomole, Asad, and Inocente.
Finally wanting to let the land line go.Why do I hold on to it?Anybody out there regret cutting it? #commentfishing
— Nigel Stewart (@nigelstewart) December 29, 2012
Can't believe I got this out on the actual day of the solstice. It's one of the rare moments in my life where I started something and finished it.
Just go to my solstice mix tape directory @ http://nigelstewart.org/music/Solstice to get the latest .zip (filename NWSM_2012.zip) of 19 DRM free 192kbps mp3s I'm sharing in good faith with friends and family.
As a super extra added bonus this holiday season I am releasing a mix tape from this past Spring Equinox 2012 which is available in my Equinox directory @ http://nigelstewart.org/music/Equinox as a .zip (filename NSEM_2012.zip)
I was just too lazy to release it back in March. I also neglected to make mixes for the summer and fall of this past year due to some serious lollygagging around :)
All the mixes you'll find in those directories should fit onto a normal 80 minute / 700 MB audio CD.
Enjoy your post Mayan apocalyptic life! Be good!
Hooper lived to 18 years and 10 months.
He's been our friend and pal since first moving to Los Angeles so our sadness will remain for a long time coming.
For the sake of posterity these are his nicknames we came up with over the years:
Chooper
Choop Choop
Choopy
Chupper
Chup Chup
Chuppaquidick
Hoopty Hoop
Hupper
Pupper
Heeby
Nebbish
Nebber
Bleej
Bleejum
Noblesse Noblige
Nebber Kanebbish
Noblomo
Noblo
Bleejeekins
Bleejer
Kins
Hoopeeze
Ermagerd Herper
The Old Man
Gubbish
Gubber
I don't remember when I first heard about "Infinite Jest," the David Foster Wallace masterpiece published by Little, Brown in 1996. I am a long time Harper's subscriber so I remember some of his non-fiction reporting pieces there ("Rabbit, Ressurected" and "Ticket to the Fair.")
Found a used 2006 paperback edition of IJ (with the Eggers intro) in my local used bookstore soon before his death in 2008. When the Infinite Summer project caught my eye I tried the course but only made it through day 17 before submitting to summer travel in Belgium and France. I brought it with me but never cracked it.
This past Spring I picked up the non-fiction collection of his essays "Consider the Lobster." It blew me away. This fall's publication by Viking of D.T. Max's new biography came at a perfect time for me to revisit the work of DFW since I seriously want to make it through all of IJ once or twice to find its rewards. Upon reading "Every Love Story Is A Ghost Story" I found myself lost in my own romantic ideals of what a great fiction writer's life is like. Reality hits hard in the story of his life and early death at 46. I couldn't put it down and I am eagerly delving back into IJ this very evening.
Can't wait to read every work of his that has been published. A great primer is DFW's commencement speech to Kenyon College to the class of 2005.
My new must do's that follow this reading:
Need to see "The Wire."
Need to read more Franzen, DeLillo, Dostoevsky, and Vollmann.
Need to see Lars Von Trier's "The Kingdom."
So here's my general election prediction:
Obama 50.9% of popular vote
Romney 48.3% of popular vote
Electoral College: 350 Obama, 183 Romney, Paul 5

h/t to Nate Silver's Five Thirty Eight on the NYT's website.
A daily check for me during this high political season.
Day 6 - Friday, May 11. Lompoc to Carpinteria. (Strava map) Had a great breakfast at the Embassy Suites. Left at 9:00 am ish. The ride through the Lompoc Valley past Jalama was gorgeous. I was worried about the climb up to 1000' before the 101 tunnel but it turned out to be not so bad. Met some cyclists who I've seen on the road alongside me at the Gaviota rest stop. Had a tail wind to El Capitan State Beach and I caught a break there while catching up with my parents who both communicated to me how proud they were. I was feeling great as I got back on the highway but as soon as I got up there I got my first flat of the ride. Changed it out very quickly and soon I was back on the road finding my way into Santa Barbara. Got a little lost but eventually made it to Steams Wharf where I ate my packed Subway lunch that I bought way back in Lompoc since there are no services between there and SB. I can't believe at one point I thought I could make it to Ventura by the end of the day. The road was longer than I thought and I didn't make Carpinteria until almost 5 pm where Colin had us set up for the night. CB's friend Evita came up from Ventura to visit with us and we had a wonderful dinner at Sly's Steak House on Linden Avenue. What an incredible meal. We had cocktails, (me - Belvedere martini, Colin - a Corpse Reviver # 2, Evita - a Sazerac) abalone, dragon kale, ripini, osso bucco, linguini ala vongara, sand dabs, a steamed choke, and a creme brûlée. Wow. Colin picked up the tab which was very kind and generous. I've raised 9K and I'm hoping on my last day to somehow get to 10K. Highlight: Making the Lompoc pass and thinking nothing of it - my last major climb of the trip! Lowpoint: Noticing after 58K that I had my bib shorts inside out. Doh!
The fundraising page is @ http://crowdrise.com/smileride




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