Oscar Forecast 2008

Two years ago, I got 6 out of 8, last year 7 of 8. Let's hope I get them all this year.

Just in case any of you are new to this, it's not always the best film or performance that wins. Sometimes, it's the best campaign—think presidential elections—that gets the gold. And no, I have neither seen nor do I need to see any of the nominated films to make these predictions. For more information on my Oscar obsession, see "Notes on the Oscar Nominations."

Best Picture
No Country for Old Men

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

Best Actress
Ellen Page (Juno)

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

Best Director
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Best Adapted Screenplay
No Country for Old Men

Best Original Screenplay
Juno

For the Record: Print Crossing Cultures

Print Crossing Cultures
A Graduate Student Colloquium at the University of Toronto

Keynote Speaker: Natalie Zemon Davis, Princeton University and the University of Toronto

Saturday, February 9, 2008
Alumni Hall, Victoria College, University of Toronto
91 Charles Street West, Toronto, ON


Schedule:


10:30-noon: Panel 1: Translating Works and Worlds

Vernon R. Totanes: Colonialism, Nationalism and the First Books Printed in the Philippines

Bronwen Masemann: "A good observation in the Jesuit": Reading and Translating Charlevoix's *Histoire et Description Générale de la Nouvelle France* in the British Atlantic, 1745-6

Margaret Carlyle: Women Printing Across Chemical Cultures: d'Arconville's Translation of Shaw's *Chemical Lectures*


2:00-3:30: Panel 2: Transnational Print

Kyle Wyatt: "Rejoicing in this unpronounceable name": Constructing Peter Jones's Authorial Identity

Nadine Fladd: Expatriate Border-Crossing: Mavis Gallant and *The New Yorker*

Ania Dymarz: Myth-making and Translating: An Anecdotal and Critical Reading of Cultural Crossings in the Myths Series


4:00-5:00: Keynote Address, Natalie Zemon Davis: Books and Printed Papers in a Multilingual Plantation Society: the Case of Colonial Suriname


5:00-6:00: Closing Reception


Event sponsored by the Toronto Centre for the Book, the University of Toronto Collaborative Program in Book History and Print Culture, and the Office of the Principal, Victoria College

Photos from Toronto to San Francisco to Manila

I left Toronto on August 2, a few days after my relatives (three aunts and one uncle on my father's side, plus their children) threw me an advance birthday party. I arrived in San Francisco on the same day, where another uncle picked me up. The next day, my friend Eric took me to Napa Valley for the only tourist-y thing I did on this trip—and I don't even drink alcohol!

Ate Vivian and Kuya Joey, my cousins, treated me to dinner with their families on separate days. It was a good experience because my last visit to San Francisco was almost ten years ago, when my nephew was too young to know who I was, and my two nieces had yet to be born.

Ralph and Mark, my former high school classmates, also took me out for a picnic with their wives and other friends. That was not all, however, that I did before I left for Manila on August 7. Unfortunately, it did not occur to me to take more pictures. It's a good thing that I was able to take a few when I met Rene and Che, my classmates in college, the day after I arrived.

In case you're wondering, yes, I gained weight during my six days in San Francisco. I suppose this is proof that when two or three Filipinos are gathered together... food will be served =)

Fearless Oscar Forecast 2007

This is a tradition I started via email a few years ago. Last year, I put it on Filipino Librarian, and got 6 out of 8 right. For more information on my Oscar obsession, see "Notes on the Oscar Nominations."

Best Picture
The Departed

Best Actor
Peter O'Toole (Venus)

Best Actress
Helen Mirren (The Queen)

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

Best Director
Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Departed

Best Original Screenplay
Little Miss Sunshine

Winter in Orillia, ON

I've been to North America before, but never during winter, not even fall. I was more fearful than excited about winter, and snow was just one more thing I needed to deal with. Nothing to blog about. Except when I got to play in the snow.

Through the International Student Centre, I was able to join the free, annual International Student Weekend hosted by the very generous and accommodating Rotary Club of Orillia, which is about two hours north of Toronto, and has had the most snow this year in the province of Ontario. I also enjoyed interacting with other international students, including those from continents I've only ever dreamed of visiting =)

My first photos in heavy snow...


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On the snow mobile...



Snow tubing...