Just another day…dit-ta-dee

Well just another day of bs here in la-la land. I finally realized why it’s always sunny in Los Angeles/California – it keeps the suicide rates down.  If we had the rain and gloom like most other cities around the world – they’d be bodies all over.  The rejection factor is so high in this city, I can’t explain it.  I don’t know how (I) people here do it.  Any “normal” individual, after being told “NO” or “Nope – you’re not what we’re looking for…” (or whatever reason they drum up) so many time would just give up.  Are we such a mass of sick individuals that keep on putting ourselves into these predicaments?   Now granted, I’m not looking for the “perfect” opportunity – but ANYTHING at this point would be great.  It’s not that I’ve lived in excess of what was given to me when I was doing better – I’m just asking for another chance to prove I can (and am still) capable of doing a great job.    We’ve already finished one-twelfth of the year and time continues to march along – so I guess tomorrow will be another day of  chasing the dream, and hopefully I can catch a little piece of the rainbow…..

with thanks to Sir Paul –

“As She Posts Another Letter To The Sound Of Five,
People Gather ‘Round Her
And She Finds It Hard To Stay Alive,

It’s Just Another Day. Du Du Du Du Du
It’s Just Another Day. Du Du Du Du Du
It’s Just Another Day.”

Cheers!

Quickie web server

Ever need a quick and dirty web server running on your machine?  Well if you have Python loaded – here’s what you do.

A Quick Python (test) WebServer

When I need to serve up a few files for friends or try out some CGIs, XML-RPC, etc. I generally just fire up the PythonCard webserver sample. However, I find the following single line at a command prompt to be quite appealing for an instant web server.

    python -c "import SimpleHTTPServer;SimpleHTTPServer.test()"

It works on any OS where you have Python installed and since you can cd (change directory) to the dir you want to serve files from before running the command you don’t have to mess with config files or moving files before serving them up. If you alias the command or make a batch file you won’t have to remember the whole line. Here’s an example run on my Mac.

admins-macbook-pro-2:Applications admin$ python -c "import SimpleHTTPServer;SimpleHTTPServer.test()"
Serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 8000 ...
practivate.adobe.com - - [02/Feb/2010 17:49:05] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 -

82nd Oscar’s

This mornings early (5:30am PST) announcements offered some surprises, and few expectations for this years Oscar season.  The big names (Cameron, Jackson, Clooney, Freeman, Damon, Streep, Bullock, etc.) will offer up possible excitement come show time.

But can the goliath of Avatar be brought down by then minions of a david, in the form of “The Hurt Locker”, who’s director received the nod from the DGA?  I for one will be running out for my copy of the Variety.

Well here’s the list:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

• Avatar (2009): James Cameron, Jon Landau
• The Blind Side (2009): Nominees to be determined
• District 9 (2009): Peter Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham
• An Education (2009): Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey
• The Hurt Locker (2008): Nominees to be determined
• Inglourious Basterds (2009): Lawrence Bender
• Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
• A Serious Man (2009): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
• Up (2009): Jonas Rivera
• Up in the Air (2009/I): Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)
• George Clooney for Up in the Air (2009/I)
• Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)
• Morgan Freeman for Invictus (2009)
• Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker (2008)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
• Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)
• Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)
• Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
• Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon for Invictus (2009)
• Woody Harrelson for The Messenger (2009/I)
• Christopher Plummer for The Last Station (2009)
• Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)
• Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz for Nine (2009)
• Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air (2009/I)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart (2009)
• Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air (2009/I)
• Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

Best Achievement in Directing

• Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
• James Cameron for Avatar (2009)
• Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
• Jason Reitman for Up in the Air (2009/I)
• Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

• The Hurt Locker (2008): Mark Boal
• Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino
• The Messenger (2009/I): Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman
• A Serious Man (2009): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
• Up (2009): Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Thomas McCarthy

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

• District 9 (2009): Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
• An Education (2009): Nick Hornby
• In the Loop (2009): Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009): Geoffrey Fletcher
• Up in the Air (2009/I): Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Best Achievement in Cinematography

• Avatar (2009): Mauro Fiore
• Das weisse Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009): Christian Berger
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009): Bruno Delbonnel
• The Hurt Locker (2008): Barry Ackroyd
• Inglourious Basterds (2009): Robert Richardson

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

• Coraline (2009): Henry Selick
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): Wes Anderson
• The Princess and the Frog (2009): John Musker, Ron Clements
• The Secret of Kells (2009): Tomm Moore
• Up (2009): Pete Docter

FULL LISTING HERE – http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2010/oscars

Can Fergie keep the ship headed on course?

Will he be holding the cup again?

In this tumultuous season, will Furgie be successful in ’10 or will the mega-bankroll of Chelsea quash his (and lot’s of world-wide supporters) dreams? Things have been looking up for the boys these past several weeks. Has Sir Alex, got the ship steered on the correct course for another wonderful end to the season? Seems the boy wonder (Rooney) is continuing his fabulous season. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, as the season winds down. Trailing by a couple of points makes every match more critical then the last.

Upcoming matches could prove to be the test of this teams moral fiber. With two up coming matches against Villa (EPL and Carling Cup) this could prove to be the challenge for the month. Visits wit AC Milan for the UEFA cup could also provide a treat for fans around the world.

So with the weather changing over and the doldrums of winter slowly creeping away, spring and the cup(s) look to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.

http://www.manutd.com/

Oscar Best Picture Announced – Who’s Do You Think Will Win?

82nd Annual Oscar Nominee’s –