I believe you have my stapler...

Swingline has made a stapler that any person would fight over if taken/lost. This cool stapler uses staples that have RFID (radio frequency identification) tags added onto them. The idea is to use them on very important documents so that when they are misplaced you can find them again. Too bad Milton in Office Space didn't have one of these bad boys, he would have been able to find his stapler much more easily. Personally, I would probably end up stapling people for fun and letting my dog ingest a few so I can found out how long her bowel movement cycle takes. This was found on Popular Science's website along with several other future office devices including: see-through monitors, rollable electronic displays and much more. Check out the slideshow portion with all the devices here.

Good attitude vs bad attitude

I just read a couple interesting snippets on iMDB's news section today:

Martin Scorsese says that he is GLAD that it took him so long to win an academy award; he has been nominated 6 times for directing and 2 for something else. He just won his first Oscar for The Departed. (the rest from iMDB) He explains, "I've just been used to not winning. It's about getting the pictures made. But when you win something, you appreciate it." After making The Aviator, Scorsese says he decided, "To just relax and make the best film we can." He adds, "Good thing I didn't get (the Oscar) before, because maybe it would have changed the kind of movies I would have made. I don't know if I was strong enough. I'm glad it's taken this long. It's been worth it."

On the other hand, Eddie Murphy stormed out of the Oscar's with his girlfriend when Alan Arkin won the Best Supporting Actor Award and he didn't. I guess that Golden Globe he won just wasn't enough for him. I had originally predicted he would win the award for his performance in Dreamgirls, I'm glad I was wrong with that attitude.

Click here to read some more interesting stories about how the Alan Arkin didn't want his 10-year old co-star Abigail to win (i agree with him after reading), Ellen crying over her fans response to her hosting the awards and how George Clooney makes everyone take a picture with his Oscar.

Oscar Predictions

So here are my predictions for what I think and what I want to win an oscar. Films in green I want to win, films in blue I think will win and films in red I have not seen...yet. If there are numerous movies I have not seen in a category, I won't make any predictions. This year I ended up only seeing 7 complete categories....which makes me said, because last year I saw 11.

Update: I have added a gold asterisk next to the winning film for each category and also updated in green and blue my predictions for films I did not see but guessed after viewing the clips during the ceremony.

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio-Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling-Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole-Venus
Will Smith-The Pursuit Of Happyness
*Forest Whitaker-The Last King Of Scotland


Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

*Alan ArkinAlan Arkin-Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley-Little Children
Djimon Hounsou-Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy-Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg-The Departed


Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Penelope Cruz-Volver
Judi Dench-Notes On A Scandal
*Helen Mirren-The Queen
Meryl Streep-The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet-Little Children


Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Adriana Barraza-Babel
Cate Blanchett-Notes On A Scandal
Abigail Breslin-Little Miss Sunshine
*Jennifer Hudson-Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi-Babel


Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Cars
*Happy Feet
Monster House
(this one deserves an explanation: cars, although excellent, i thought was pixars worst movie so far. happy feet i got bored with nearing the end and monster house my sister saw and said she liked a lot more than cars.)

Achievement in Art Direction

Dreamgirls
The Good Shepherd
*Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Prestige


Achievement in Cinematography

The Black Dahlia
Children Of Men
The Illusionist
*Pan's Labyrinth
The Prestige


Achievement in Costume Design

Curse Of The Golden Flower
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
*Marie Antoinette
The Queen


Achievement in Directing

Babel
*The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
The Queen
United 93
(I remember reading somewhere that Scorsese was blacklisted and he gets snuffed every year he's nominated; I would love to see him win, but I don't think it will happen.)
update: I'm so glad I was wrong and that Marty won. It was well deserved.

Best Documentary Feature

Deliver Us From Evil
*An Inconvenient Truth
Iraq In Fragments
Jesus Camp
My Country, My Country


Best Documentary Short Subject

*The Blood Of Yingzhou District
Recycled Life
Rehearsing A Dream
Two Hands


Achievement in Film Editing

Babel
Blood Diamond
Children Of Men
*The Departed
United 93


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

After the Wedding
Days of Glory (Indigènes)
*The Lives Of Others
Pan's Labyrinth
Water


Achievement in Makeup

Apocalypto
Click
*Pan's Labyrinth


Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

*Babel
The Good German
Notes On A Scandal
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen
update: after hearing the clips of music I wanted to change my vote to Babel, but didn't. I was glad it won.


Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

*An Inconvenient Truth
Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls
Cars
Dreamgirls
(I honestly don't care what wins. Just based on stats, Dreamgirls will likely win)


Best Motion Picture of the Year

Babel
*The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen


Best Animated Short Film

*The Danish Poet
Lifted
The Little Matchgirl
Maestro
No Time For Nuts


Best Live Action Short Film

Binta And The Great Idea (binta Y La Gran Idea)
Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)
Helmer & Son
The Saviour
*West Bank Story


Achievement in Sound Editing

Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Flags Of Our Fathers
*Letters From Iwo Jima
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest


Achievement in Sound Mixing

Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
*Dreamgirls
Flags Of Our Fathers
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest


Achievement in Visual Effects

*Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Poseidon
Superman Returns


Adapted Screenplay

Borat Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
Children Of Men
*The Departed
Little Children
Notes On A Scandal


Original Screenplay

Babel
Letters From Iwo Jima
*Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen



I also feel like mentioning that (in my opinion) the three best movies of the year in no particular order are The Departed, Children of Men and Babel. I would love to have seen Children of Men nominated for Best picture and Visual Effects in addition to the other categories it was nominated. It is easily the most overlooked film of the year. Read my earlier post on it. Also, I saw The Queen and don't really understand why it was nominated for so many things. It was indeed a good film, but I don't think it should really have been nominated for more than just costuming. Oh well. I won't be upset if it wins best picture, or at least not nearly as upset when Titanic beat out LA Confidential.

update: I pretty upset that Children of Men did not win for Best Cinematography. It was by far the best in that category. Don't get me wrong, I thought Pan's Labyrinth had great cinematography too, but what Children of Men had was beyond anything else I have ever seen.

The Oscars...

..are rapidly approaching. I have less than a day to see several movies. The two primary movies I have left to see are "The Queen" and "Notes on a Scandal". I was able to print out a ballot form on the Oscars website. I think this is the first year they've offered a printable ballot; it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Be on the lookout for my predictions and after-thoughts.

Is the world ending?

this is a picture of, you guessed it, bill gates and steve jobs having dinner together. it's a picture from one of the previous "D5: All things Digital" conference. apparently at this dinner they barely talked tech at all. they mostly talked about their families and other world events. who ever would have thought that two tech enemies could be so civil? it makes me glad to know that it can happen though. this year at the tech conference they will be sharing the stage together and discussing things back and forth. i'm guessing things won't be as civil as this dinner, but they both seem to be classy billionaire dudes. the conference is may 30th.


ps. i was very busy/out of town the last couple weeks. you can expect frequent blogging again.

Haha. Brent, you lost!!

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Had a fun time at Disneyland with some of my favorite people tonight. It was also fun crushing Brent at AstroBlasters. Muahahaha. Don't worry Brent, you'll do better next time, but not better than me. ;)

Breathtaking

this is a photo taken of the galaxies 450 million light-years away from us. just imagine the intricacy and detail that God put into each one of them. now think of the fact that the universe has no end; this is a mere snapshot of a minuscule corner of this place we live. i feel very, very, very small right now.

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also, keep in mind that each one of those objects in the picture is not a star; it's a galaxy composed of trillions of stars

Ignorance

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I honestly feel this way about people sometimes.

This is today's online comic from penny-arcade (a site i frequent).

ABC's

A-animal cracker-the zebras are fun to eat first
B-bed time-people have those?
C-chicken-the orange kind
D-dagger-"sting" it's a sword to a hobbit but a dagger to me
E-elephant-the fake pink ones
F-fruit-all of them minus grapefruit
G-game in pro sports-REAL football (soccer) and hockey
H-handball game-butts up
I-indian burn-fun to give not to get
J-juggling item-orange chicken, then i catch them in my mouth
K-king kong-i can take him.
L-lame excuse to use-"sorry, i'm having bladder problems. i can't leave the house for more than 15 minutes"
M-movie-too many
N-national park-yosemite any time of the year
O-orange chicken-from the magic dragon in anaheim
P-poker game-hold'em
Q-question to freak out new people i meet-what would you do if i told you i wasn't wearing any underwear?
R-recycle-yes, i do.
S-speaker brand-my monitor's are krk v8's
T-tea or coffee-depends on the mood. tea if i'm relaxing, coffee if i feel i need the caffeine
U-umbrella or poncho-umbrella and a skateboard on a windy day
V-very best cartoon ever made-ducktales. yes, it is one word; not two.
W-way to eat orange chicken-with chop sticks. is there any other way.
X-xerox-a cool company whose name has become a verb
Y-yvette-who? i don't know her.
Z-zipline-i find them kind of boring unless i'm 100+ feet in the air

I was tagged by Julie.
I tag Sara along with Lisa and Riley if they ever read this.
Remember that you have to make up your own ABC categories too!!

Cure for cancer is found but won't happen

A drug known as dichloroacetate (DCA) has been found to cure the majority of different types of cancers. This is great news. The drug is currently being used to fight a rare metabolic disorder and is apparently easy and cheap to manufacture. This is all great, right? WRONG. Apparently since the drug is already patented for the use of metabolic disorders it is almost impossible for a pharmaceutical company to patent it as a cancer drug. So this means that no pharmaceutical company out there will pay to research the drugs effectiveness to fight cancer because they can't patent it and make their quick cash!! The is amazingly retarded. We finally come across a cure for cancer and it won't be put into development because someone won't be able to make boatloads of money of it. This just goes to show that there is a decline of people out there who really care and want to make a difference. I hate how money driven this country is. It's such BS.

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