Thursday, February 28, 2013

World's Greatest Drag Race

My brother shared this video with me the other day. Eleven of the fastest driver's cars in the world assembled in one place for a drag race like no other. I have to say that I didn't expect the result. Of course, I know very little about cars so maybe automobile experts would have very easily predicted the outcome. Check it out:


video uploaded in youtube by MotorTrend

Oh and there's a part 2!

Monday, February 25, 2013

And the Oscar goes to...

A lot of people we expected to win as well as a couple of surprises. Lots of love for Ben Affleck tonight as Argo lives up to its frontrunner status by claiming the Best Picture trophy. This despite the fact that Affleck himself wasn't nominated in the Best Director category. That award went to Ang Lee for his film The Life of Pi. He was a surprise winner over Steven Spielberg who was expected to win for his work on Lincoln.

That said, Lincoln did take home a couple of awards. There hasn't been anyone to upend Daniel Day-Lewis in the major award-giving bodies, and that continued tonight as Daniel becomes the only man to win three Best Actor trophies (Jack Nicholson has three but that includes a supporting actor trophy and Walter Brennan won for supporting actor three times; the overall acting record is of course held by Katharine Hepburn with four wins). Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway also continued their winning ways. The Supporting Actor category was the only acting category where all nominees had already won an Oscar in the past, but Christoph Waltz from Django Unchained who took home the Oscar.

The biggest surprise of the evening though even caught the presenter off-guard. As Mark Wahlberg opened the envelope to read the winner for Best Sound Editing, he announced that there was a tie between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. There have been a few ties in the past, but the most memorable one so far was in 1969 when Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn were both hailed Best Actress for their performances in Funny Girl and The Lion in Winter.

I'm really happy that Brave won Best Animated Film. I was actually okay with either Brave or Wreck-It-Ralph winning but there was some talk before the awards season that ParaNorman might be the one to beat. It's also cool that Adele won the Oscar for Best Song for Skyfall, which she co-wrote with Paul Epworth. Pretty cool that she's won 9 Grammys and now an Oscar as well. And while she wasn't nominated this year, it was great to see Meryl Streep hand the trophy for Best Actor to Daniel Day-Lewis.

Congratulations to all the artists who took home the Oscar and hope we get to see more amazing films and performances this year.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Angela Miller on "American Idol"

This is my favorite performance on American Idol Season 12 so far, and one of my favorites in recent history. Angela Miller gets a well-deserved standing ovation from all four judges after she performs her original song "You set me free".


video uploaded in youtube by americanidol

I officially have my first goose bumps of the season. It's amazing how much soul and emotion she has when singing this song, especially considering she is still a "kid" at 18 years old. And this is probably one of the few originals performed on American Idol that I really love. I'd buy this song if it were being sold right now.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Nadal is back. Sort of.

After being sidelined for 7 months, Rafa Nadal finally makes his comeback in the South American clay circuit. Last week, he got to the finals in Chile in both singles and doubles. Unfortunately, it is clear that he is nowhere near his best - which is expected given the length of his absence - as he lost both finals. Not spectacular, but still pretty solid considering the circumstances

This week, he's through to the semifinals in Brazil. He isn't playing a lot of top-ranked players which is the best approach to help him find his form again. Hopefully, he gets back to full form before April. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Rafa can be back to his winning ways by the time the French Open comes along.

*****

ETA:  Yes!! Rafa wins in Brazil! While he struggled in the semis, he seemed to be back in form against David Nalbandian, whom he routed in straight sets. This marks Nadal's 51st title. Way to go, Rafa!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Pope steps down

It's Ash Wednesday today, a very important day for Catholics and many Christian denominations as it marks the beginning of Lent. So it's very interesting that arguably the biggest piece of news that hit the world this week has a significant impact to the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI has resigned, citing advanced age. He will remain the Pope until the end of the month before stepping down, almost 8 years after he took on the role of Sovereign of the Vatican City and leader of the Catholic Church back in April 19, 2005.

photo courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk

This is the first time that the Pope has resigned since 1415, and it makes me wonder what happens to him after. Does he return to being a cardinal in the Vatican? Will he be part of the papal conclave that will elect the new Pope? Whatever happens, I admire Pope Benedict XVI for his tremendous courage in making such a huge decision and I wish him all the best in his post-Papal life.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

10 bets you will always win

In theory, I shouldn't be sharing this since I won't be able to win these bets anymore if other people know about them LOL.


video uploaded in youtube by user Quirkology

Some of these are quite obvious or relatively well-known already and a couple are quite inane but I really love the bet about the standing egg and the one with the coin, card, tube of paper, and glass. I would also have never guessed the one about the pint glass circumference!