Five Forked Feast!

I went to a dinner/lecture with the TCJS (Tohoku Canada-Japan Society) and a charming wee lass named Aya Takada spoke about the art scene in Canada/Japan. She runs an art gallery in Shiogama called Birdo flugas and I'll check it out the next time I'm in the neighbourhood.

She highlighted a gallery in Vancouver dubbed The Artist-Run Gallery and the Georges Rousse Gallery who has ties with a Gallery in Miyagi.

You'll have to do your own clicking around for I didn't get any photos of the artwork.*

 As for the meal, WOW! The place setting had more utensils than I myself own. Five freaking forks!

When I was Santa at the Royal Park Hotel, I drooled over the meals served and now I had a chance to sample one myself!

First up was some fancy fillet with crab and  a maple syrup twist.

 Next on the menu was ravioli stuffed with Atlantic Crab! Yum.

A mid-meal dessert was some kind of Granity (?), a sort of Sherbet-shaved ice deal.

The appetizer was an Atlantic Salmon with the tiniest tomatoes and rose petals!

Then the main course was Canadian Beef and Pork with chickpeas, kidney beans and gravy!

 For the ultimate dessert, a mini-chocolate brownie with blueberries and this maple-syrup induced "hair!"

 Warning what follows is not very appetizing so beware! You have been warned!!








*I did though leaf through a book of Marcel Dzama's work and though that picture is pretty cool, these two pics caught my eye.

I warned you!

Mmmm. Pi!

I expected the title of this post to be "Argooooos!" and I was going to wax eloquently about Affleck's movie, Argo and Toronto's football team, Argonauts, winning the 100th Grey Cup last November.



But I'm going to give "Life of Pi" the honour of blogpost title. Congrats to Ang Lee who made all the other directors Angry (see what I did there?)

Though I didn't get to see the broadcast, I couldn't avoid reading the tweets and twitters and updates so there were no surprises for me. I will say that there was a Canadian connection in almost every win!

Without further ado, let me remind you of my predictions way back here and I'll tally my score. As per other years, I give myself 2 points for my desired movie, 1 point for the predicted Academy movie and 3 points for doubly nailing it.

(ASIDE: Japanese TV won't show the damn ceremony but it is devoting 3 hours to the Red Carpet Walk beforehand. Gawd, is it awful! Who are these goofballs?)

Okay, here we go! In reverse order from my post. Starting with Best Visual Effects, when I wrote the post, I hadn't seen Pi yet, so my choice may have differed. I chose Avengers, Academy chose Prometheus and I was wrong on both counts. The Avengers may not have won, but they did get to present it to the Life of Pi winners! Zero points!

Next up, Best Sound Mixing. I chose Skyfall, I assumed they'd choose Les Miz and I was correct! 1 Point!

Best Sound Editing: I chose Skyfall, I assumed they'd choose Django. In a surprising move, Skyfall tied with Zero Dark Thirty but I'll still scam 2 points for it.

Best Live Film Short: I had NO idea, so I chose Death of a Shadow, they'd choose Buzkashi Boys and something called Curfew won. Zero!

Best Animated Short: I put all my eggs in the basket for Maggie Simpson but that was before I found out that Seth would be host. No way, his Family Guy competition would win! Paperman won. Good for Disney, bad for Simpsons! Zero!



Best Production Design: I chose The Hobbit on behalf of myself and the Academy and was wrong for it went to Lincoln. Zero!

Best Original Song: I assumed it'd go to Les Miz though I chose Skyfall. It won! 2 points! Way to go Adele!

Best Original Score: I went Skyfall and they'd go Lincoln. Once again I'm not disappointed by Pi winning. but Zero!

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: (Since when was Hairstyling added to this category? Wrong again. I guess making Anne Hathaway look good while crying and singing trumps Hitchcock and Hobbits! Zero!

Best Foreign Film: You can't get much more foreign than a Canadian movie but War Witch was too French. But wait, Amour was in French as well and it won! Ah well, it scores me a Point. (No big surprise that it won considering that it was up for Best Pic as well.)

Best Film Editing: Points go to me for Argo though I thought that Zero Dark Thirty would win something. 2 Points!

Best Documentary Short: I landed another 2 Points for choosing Inocente over Open Heart. I'll take the points where I can.

Best Documentary Feature: Neither Plague Survivors nor Invisible Wars won this one. It went to Searching for Sugar Man. (Huh?) Zero!

Best Costume Design: I wanted the Japanese woman, Eiko Ishioka, to win for Mirror Mirror though I assumed it'd go to Les Miz. Wrong again...Anna Karenina. Zero! Sad to say that Ms. Ishioka passed away in Jan. 2012. At least she'd won a previous Oscar for Bram Stoker's Dracula!

Best Cinematography: I said Skyfall before I'd seen Pi and I wish I had chosen it for it took the big prize. I do get a Point for it though.

Best Original Screenplay: I assumed it'd go to Quentin for Django Unchained and I wasn't disappointed! Nailed it for 3 points!

Best Adapted Screenplay: I said Argo; they'd say Lincoln. I nailed it for 2 points! By the way, there are some storyboards by Jack Kirby that may have been used for the original movie. Whether or not they were used, they certainly are cool!

Best Animated Film: My love for Frankenweenie was left unrewarded but the Pixar Academy Award did go to Brave so I still get a Point.

Best Supporting Actress: My hope for a Musical to win came through for Anne Hathaway sobbed her way into an Award (She also wins for best Nips.) Too bad Aunt May/Gidget/Flying Nun/ Mrs. Lincoln, Sally Field didn't win. 2 Points.

Best Actress: On a fluke, I thought they'd choose Jennifer Lawrence and I was right. I chose Quvenzhané Wallis on a whim--nope. I get 1 Point though!

Best Supporting Actor: I enjoyed him as QT's Nazi, and he won in 2010 so I chose Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained. I thought that Alan Arkin might get a nod (he is getting on in years), but nope. Still 2 Points!

Best Actor: I would have liked to have seen Wolverine Hugh Jackman win it but I'm not surprised that Daniel Day Lewis was Linked in Lincoln. Gets me a Point.

Best Director: I assumed it'd go to Spielberg and I hadn't seen Life of Pi, otherwise I would have chosen it (I think I deserve 1/2 point). I went out on a limb with Beasts Of The Southern Wild - Benh Zeitlin. Couldn't be further off, but I would have scored big at Vegas.

Best Picture:  I'm not disappointed that Argo won (I still get a Point) but it would have been cool to see Django win. Worst part of Argo from what I can see is that it played fast and loose with the facts, glossing over the Canadian aspect and giving the credit to the CIA. Kudos to Jimmy Carter for coming clean!



My tally is 1+1+2+1+2+1+2+3+1+2+2+1+2+2+1=25/69 Not my worst score, but not very good either!

As the week rolls on, I may have more to say about the Oscars as I see a few more speeches and clips from the broadcast. I would like to see the Boobies song!

Yay: Ang Lee!

Let's All Go To the Lobby.

I've been in low-content mode all week due to a head cold. I managed to step out last night to the cinema and viewed Zero Dark Thirty. A fun little romantic comedy it wasn't. If it wins a few Oscars tomorrow, I won't be surprised.

In the lobby, I saw something I'd never seen before, "Lobby Cards!" They're really promoting the new OZ flick but unfortunately they had run out of the little flyers. I hope these Cards will be for sale later. Sorry for the flashy picture, we're not supposed to take photos, but I'm a rebel.

While I was in the lobby, I made a few friends...

And an enemy...

I made a new friend last week and I have a date with her tomorrow night so I'm heading to bed early.
Wish me luck!!

Onigashima, Onegaishimasu!

A few years back, I enlightened the masses about the story of Momotaro, the boy who was birthed from a peach and went on to conquer the Onis on Onigashima (Ogre Island.)
I'm revisiting the tale because it is featured in the Grade 6 textbook. It is a TERRIBLE rendition of the story but the kiddies seem to enjoy it. I heard 8 different renditions of the legend recounted by groups of 4 or 5. Every quartet/quintet said pretty much the same thing, "We are strong. We are brave. Hey dog, monkey and bird, let's fight the Oni. We are good friends." I told you the story they had to build from is lame! What I really like though is their artwork...

Here is the traditional story for you (or click the link above):



This is the only one that varied from the original tale. They added an environmental bent to it.

Now this is just odd! Can you identify the language? I suspect Dutch.

Hey, this version has English subtitles to help you out:

Some may find this interesting, I don't.

I rather like the artwork on this one. Too bad it isn't better animated.

I kind of like the Oni depicted as Question Marks!

Another odd mashup.

Saving the best for last, I really like these Oni.

This video is one of Japan's first animated features from 1945. Enjoy!