The Oscar Nominations are out and for the most part, there really weren’t a whole lot of surprises. The Gay Super Bowl may very well still be an interesting night if some of the front-runners get shut out. Here is the official list from Oscar.com of the nominees. Let the Oscar pools begin!

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year
“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Achievement in art direction
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in cinematography
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature
“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
A Magic Hour Films Production Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions)
An Oceanic Preservation Society Production Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures)
A Robert Kenner Films Production Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
A Kovno Communications Production Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home”
A Mr. Mudd Production Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence”
An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution)
An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year
“Ajami”(Kino International)
An Inosan Production Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Haddock Films Production Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow”
A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production Peru
“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production France
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany

Achievement in makeup
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner
Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best motion picture of the year
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
An Alcon Entertainment Production Nominees to be determined
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing)
A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
A Voltage Pictures Production Nominees to be determined
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up” (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Best animated short film
“French Roast”
A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films)
A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”
A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit)
An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations)
An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park

Best live action short film
“The Door” (Network Ireland Television)
An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute)
A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi”
A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” (Premium Films)
A Druid Films Production Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants”
A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter
Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

I like horror movies as much as the next guy (well, okay….there was that long period in the 80s where I was terrified of them, but after The Exorcist, I was convinced it all REALLY happened…), but most are good for a rental, at best. This looks GOOD, so this one is actually one I think I’d pay to see in the theater.

Grandma climbs the WALL, y’all!

Glitter in the Air

I aspire to introduce people to new music, new artists, etc.. Pink is by no means a new artist, but I think that sometimes the brash Pink eclipses the artist Pink. This song is just beautiful, made even better by the video. Enjoy.

Jack and I struggle to get up out of bed on an average day, but on a day after driving for hours, lots of food, alcohol, and entertainment, we really were not feeling the sunrise in Austin. We did manage to get up showered and changed to meet Phreddy, Jed, Walt, and the boys at the Reinhardt Compound to go to breakfast. Next visit, Phreddy and Jed will have to give us a tour of the compound proper, but we figured that as guests, we shouldn’t impose (plus, we were already holding breakfast up and racing to get to food). Can I just say that Adrian and Nathan are a hoot? Mini versions of Jed and Phreddy, all full of energy and entertainment. The Daddies are doing them right. AND they are all about the cars and the comic book heroes! Loves it!

We hit Ayala’s? for breakfast and know now that migas are the bomb!!!!! We got a chance to talk a little bit more with Phreddy today, since it’s hard to talk in a huge crowd, but our more intimate setting allowed for more conversation. Next time, we’ll actually get to spend some time with Jed, who had his hands full keeping up with the tagteam of Adrian and a fidgety Nathan. You can just see the love in his eyes for the boys and he gets to play Momma Bear alot. Lots of good food consumed, we said our goodbyes, but not before photos were taken and hugs exchanged. Back to Dallas, by way of a few shopping stops, for us!

Again, thanks to our hosts Phreddy and Diane for sharing Austin and their guests with us. Now…where did I put my Soul Glow?!?

This weekend Jack and I travelled to Austin to meet with podcasting giants Walt and Holly, with Austin tourguides and otherwise fabulous folks Tasty Diane and Phreddy and his family. We arrived in time to go with the group to the Salt Lick barbeque restaurant. It’s a remote little restaurant WAYYYYYYYY OUT in the boonies! Cute waiters, okay barbeque, but great company! Chatted up Holly, Diane and Walt who is now one of my goto boyfriends in the event that anything ever happens to Jack. (Don’t worry Phreddy…you and Jed are on the list because who wouldn’t want to be adopted by two hot bear daddies?) Jack and I were surprised when Melanie from the DQYDJ podcast arrived with friends to join the party. What cracks me up is Melanie still doesn’t realize that we are practically neighbors. We didn’t get to talk much, but that’s okay…we’ll be Twitter buddies soon enough.

Left the Salt Lick (some of us fuller than others) and headed out to Diane’s apartment before heading to the Music Man. Diane is truly tasty, as proven by her culinary skills. She had 2 types of chocolate ice cream, both with Nutella and a Pomegranate granita that was heavenly. It TOTALLY helped beat the unGodly heat of Austin. Then what did we do? We went to sit outside in the heat to watch The Music Man. Holly might never forgive Texas for outdoor summer theater. The performance was good, the musical not so much. Heat + hunger + hard ground + boredom = leave at intermission.

Jack and I followed Diane and Holly over the ravine and through the woods back to her apartment and off to get Holly something with substance. P. Terry’s burger joint was just what the doctor ordered. While I am a TOTAL fan of Diane, I do quibble with her choice of fries and that may be the first quiz on the website: who french fries are the best. I firmly believe that McDonald’s fries are laced with crack cocaine and so good that they should be considered a staple. Diane disagrees with the addendum that the P. Terry fries are like comparing apples and oranges to McDonald fries. We chitter chatted awhile and then went our seperate ways so that we could wash the sweat of the day off our bodies.

A great day was had by all. (Okay, Holly may take issue with a chunk of the day, but it was through no fault of the hosts.)

Thanks to Phreddy and Diane for showing us a great time in Austin!