matt bai has become my favorite regular read at the new york times. his piece in today’s magazine is particularly insightful…
Where’s the real racial divide?
Also, look for weekly updates in Primary Arguments. in his last post, he offers a great explanation of how closely the clinton and obama campaigns have embodied the work of their primary strategists – mark penn and david axelrod, respectively.
tottenham hotspur won the carling cup this afternoon in a 2 -1 victory over chelsea at wembley.
yes, it’s only the carling cup… but this is the first trophy i’ve ever seen tottenham win. and this creates momentum for the rest of this season as well as gives meaning to a season plagued by underperformance.
report can be found here.
made my predictions for the office’s oscar pool. here are my choices:
leading actor – daniel day-lewis (there will be blood) [shoe in]
supporting actor – javier bardem (no country for old men)
leading actress – julie christie (away from her)
supporting actress – cate blanchett (i’m not there)
animated feature – ratatouille [with persepolis also nominated, this might have been my hardest choice to make]
art direction – atonement
cinematography – there will be blood [it’ll be a crime if this doesn’t get this]
costume design – sweeney todd
directing – cohen brothers [no country for old men]
feature documentary – taxi to the dark side
short documentary – la corona
film editing – no country for old men
foreign language film – katyn
make up – pirates of the caribbean
original score – atonement
original song – “falling slowly” (once)
best picture – there will be blood
best animated short film – i met the walrus
best live action short film – le mozart des pickpockets
sound editing – no country for old men
sound mixing – no country for old men
visual effects – pirates of the caribbean
adapted screenplay – atonement
original screenplay – michael clayton
forgot to mention i picked up tickets for radiohead’s may 11th show at the nissan pavilion…
and since we’re on the subject… radiohead will be headlining two consecutive nights at the recently announced all points west festival in jersey this summer.
i am very very excited about this.
the national archives are showing all the oscar nominations for best documentary leading up to sunday night’s acadamy awards. tonight’s showing – taxi to the dark side. director alex gibney, the man who brought you enron: the smartest men in the room, takes the audience on a harrowing look at the military policies towards prisoner incarceration and torture from afghanistan and iraq to guantanamo.
stunning, enlightening, and often sickening… this is a must see. it’s also my pick to win best documentary on sunday night.
i saw bon iver at the rock and roll hotel tonight… simply stunning. third time i’ve been at a concert in dc being presented by npr’s all songs considered (the other two being okkervil river and the national).
listen to the show here.
johnxavier 