Rambling Oscar thoughts

Oscar, Oscar! What is it with this particular awards ceremony that so enthrals us each year? Makes even less sense for me to be obsessed with it, considering I'm a continent and an ocean away, haven't been able to see the ceremony live in years, and until a few years ago it was impossible for me to see all the candidates before the actual ceremony! I don't know... perhaps it's a residual from my childhood/adolescence when I did live in that hemisphere and enjoyed the show a few times with my family... Perhaps it's just another aspect of my obsession with the movies in general! Anyhow, it's always a lot of fun to try and guess who will take home the little gold man, and then to complain and grumble about how someone else was "robbed" each year! :p

I'm not equipped to really judge some categories (or don't have time this year to look into them in detail), and I haven't seen all the films... and so can only "judge" some. I managed to see all the BP nominees except Amour, couldn't find time to make it to the cinema this weekend! *sigh* I'd rather catch it later in French anyway (for some reason dubbing annoys me even more when the original language was French! :p ). In any case, based on those I have seen, 2012 was a really good year for the movies! Lots of really great stuff to choose from, and I'm glad the decision doesn't rest on my shoulders, in most of these categories I truly wouldn't know how to decide!!!

Drop a line in the comments and tell me how your predictions compare to mine (mine have an asterisk), or stop by again "the day after" to rejoice or bemoan the winners/losers! ;o)

Now, without further ado here are my thoughts on some of the contestants for this year's Oscars!  

My First Geocaching Adventure!

For over a year now I've been following Kim's geocaching tales on her blog Snug Harbor Bay and thinking that it looked like a really fun activity to take up (the things Kim will do for a cache... crazy!)! Only problem: it requires the use of a GPS device and I didn't have one, nor was I going to invest in one just to try this out... Then I found out that smartphones have GPS capability and there's actually a Geocaching app that will guide you on your treasure hunt! But my poor 5 year-old Ericsson was definitely no smartphone... *sigh* So I waited, and continued reading Kim's stories, and waited... until last Christmas I finally got a new phone (the phone is dead, long live the iphone! What on earth did we do before cellphones? I don't remember!)!!! I gave myself some time to become familiar with my new phone, then created an account at geocaching.com (of course my name there is CrazyCris, what else would it be?!), downloaded the app and got ready to go Geocaching! I had to wait a couple of weekends for decent weather (what is it with this crazy wind we've been having for the past month?! weird!!!), but two weeks ago on Saturday I finally did it!!! I headed out to my favourite Alicante playground, the Cabo de las Huertas (a.k.a. "my" beach, of Alicante's various beach areas it's closest to home). Inspiration struck, so instead of narrating my adventure with photos... I'm going video! I hope you enjoy it! ;o)

Well, how'd you like it? A bit long perhaps... but I couldn't reduce the 20' I had filmed to less than 9' and still tell the story I wanted, believe me I tried! Definitely a lot of fun, and I can't wait to go out again and look for another cache! For starters I have to find a good cache to put this geocoin in so it can make its way "home" to Germany!

Oh! And guess what?! I was invited to tell the tale of this adventure over at cachecrazy.com (Thank you Bloodhounded!)! Go check out my post there and see what crazy adventures other geocachers have been having! ;o)

Very cool design work by Bloodhounded! :o)

Now remember... if this blog suddenly goes Geocaching crazy... it's all KIM's fault!!! ;o)

Movies, movies and more movies!

Woah! Turns out I've seen quite a few movies in the past couple of weeks! Blame Oscar season... so many promising movies out all at once (after months of only so-so fare), I'm afraid I'm binging! No sign of it stopping either, still got a few more to see before the "big" night! :p

Random Ramblings

• I've gotten quite a few new visitors to the blog (WELCOME!!!)... all coming over for a visit from Snug Harbor Bay because my friend Kim wrote a lovely post about me yesterday!!! Fabulous surprise! (I thought you were just going to show off the hat and scarf Kim!) One of the things I like best about blogging is all the fabulous people I've been able to "meet" through our respective blog posts and comments. It's opened the world up for me and allowed me to make new friends in a fun way! I liken it to having pen pals back in the day (I tried once or twice, never stuck), except 100 times better! I hope some day to get to meet some of my "virtual" friends in the "real" world soon (Kim -> Spain + Italy for when???), but in the meantime it's wonderful hanging out with you guys online! :o)

• For the past 36h the news has been all abuzz about the Pope's "retirement" (15' section in the news today at lunch!!!). I don't have an opinion either way, but I do seem to remember about 10 years ago people asking why Pope John Paul II didn't retire and hearing it said that popes couldn't retire! Guess they got it wrong... just 'cause no one's done it in 800 years doesn't mean it can't be done! Still, it's weird to think of a Pope retiring! But he sure looks feeble in the news images... can't be an easy "job".

• Speaking of random news items, it turns out the Brits like to bury their Kings in car parks! lol! That was all over the news last week, did you guys hear about it? Talk about an archaeological treasure hunt... and find! Richard III remains "Crookback Dick" in my mind, not thanks to Shakespeare, but because of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Black Arrow"! That was my first intro to the King (and the War of the Roses). Fascinating (and bloody!) period of British history... Now I'm wondering: what kind of State Funeral will the British Crown give its newly found monarch? An Anglican service doesn't seem right considering he was Catholic... but I have trouble imagining the head of the Church of England presiding over a Catholic funeral service... Anyhow there's a really interesting post about the dig itself over on The History Girls, very good read!

• I've tallied up quite a few movies these past couple of weeks (damn Oscar season!), have to prep a post on them... I'm only missing Amour to wrap up the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, will try to catch that this weekend. But I'm wondering whether or not to give The Master and Flight a go to get a look at their Oscar-nominated performances... neither movie really caught my attention, but I like to see as many of the major contenders as possible before the big night... Speaking of the Oscars, how ridiculous is it that Ben Affleck wasn't even nominated for Best Director considering he's winning just about every other "best director" award out there this season? He just got the BAFTA on Sunday! (bravo!)

• *sigh* I was really hoping I'd be able to make a grand announcement about spending 6 months this summer working in Iceland... but I didn't get the job. Major bummer! Sticking with the English classes for a while longer (and every week hoping none of my students cancels on me). When is this stupid global crisis going to end and there be more opportunities for people with a biology/environmental background? Anybody know of a decent environmental education or conservation position out there? I love my students but I'm tired of teaching English!

When a Christmas plant GROWS!

This one's for DJan! I told you I'd show you what a poinsettia looks like when it's BIG!!!
This one is growing in the garden next to the house of one of my students and I love seeing it whenever I go to teach a class! 😎