vineri, 26 februarie 2010

Long live the king ;)

I almost forgot how beautiful Biathlon is...
Right now I'm on the edge of my seat watching Ole Einer Bjorndalen and his Norway team at the Vancouver Olympics.
Will he win or not?
I almost can't watch it...
When I was little I was a fan of alpine skiing but 8 years ago I discovered biathlon and Ole and since then I have been hooked ;)
Update:
He won!!! He won his 6th gold medal and his 11th medal at an Olympic Game!!!
He absolutely rocks!!!

Lasagne al forno

Well considering that my birthday is tomorrow I already started cooking ;)
And because not all the guest can come tomorrow I decided to bake a lasagne for tonight...
Here is the receipe:

4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 onions, chopped, 450 g minced beef, 225 g minced pork, 340 g fresh tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped, or a 400 g can chopped tomatoes, 3 garlic cloves, crushed, 1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano, 1 heaped teaspoon dried basil, 150-300 ml chicken or beef stock (optional), salt and freshly ground pepper, lasagne made from Fresh Egg Pasta dough, or 225 g dried lasagne, 900 ml milk, 1 bay leaf, 85 g butter, 85 g plain flour, a pinch of grated nutmeg, 450 g mozzarella, grated, 85 g Parmesan, freshly grated

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and sweat them until soft and translucent. Add the minced meats and fry until crumbly, stirring to break up lumps. Add the tomatoes to the pan with the garlic and herbs and let them soften. If they do not make enough liquid to cook the meat in, gradually add a little stock, but always a bit less than you think you might need - you can add more later if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Cook gently for about 1 hour, stirring from time to time.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F, gas mark 4.
Cook the lasagne in a large pan of boiling salted water until almost al dente. Remove, dip into a mixture of water and oil, and leave to drain on a damp cloth.
Put the milk in a small saucepan with the bay leaf and infuse over a gentle heat for a few minutes; discard the bay leaf. Make a bechamel sauce with the butter, flour and warmed milk. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
When everything is ready, assemble the lasagne in a buttered wide gratin dish or casserole: put a layer of about one-third of the meat sauce on the bottom, then add a layer of one-third of the bechamel, a layer of half the mozzarella and half the Parmesan, and a layer of half the lasagne. Add more meat sauce, more bechamel and the rest of the lasagne. Then make layers of the remaining meat sauce and bechamel, and finish with the rest of the grated cheeses.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until browned on top.

marți, 2 februarie 2010

And the nominees are...

Today the Oscar nominees were announced.
Can't wait till 7th of March to see who will win: James Cameron or his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow. If she wins she will be the first female to win the best director.
On a personal note, I hope that Granny O'Grimm will win in the short animated films category :D
Here are the nominees:
Actor in a Leading Role:
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”
Actor in a Supporting Role:
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
Actress in a Leading Role:
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
Actress in a Supporting Role:
Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Animated Feature Film:
“Coraline” Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
“Up” Pete Docter
Art Direction:
“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Cinematography:
“Avatar” Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger
Costume Design:
“Bright Star” Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell
Directing:
“Avatar” James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
Documentary (Feature):
“Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa
Documentary (Short Subject):
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
Film Editing:
“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz
Foreign Language Film:
“Ajami” Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
“Un Prophète” France
“The White Ribbon” Germany
Makeup:
“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow“
The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Music (Original Score):
“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
“Up” Michael Giacchino
Music (Original Song):
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Best Picture:
“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Short Film (Animated):
“French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park
Short Film (Live Action):
“The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
Sound Editing:
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Sound Mixing:
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Visual Effects:
“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
“District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Writing (Original Screenplay):
“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

luni, 1 februarie 2010

David Garrett

While in Munich I discovered an amazing violinist - David Garrett.
Born in 1981, he signed at the age of 14, as the youngest soloist ever, an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft.
He entered the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest-ever account of The Flight of the Bumble-Bee, a note-perfect live performance delivered in 66 seconds on BBC's Blue Peter show.
He is famous in Germany and around the world, I hope I will see him live one day, because his shows are electric, as you can see below...