Sunday, February 27, 2011

83rd Academy Awards Recap - from RSG!



What a night in Hollywood, as the Academy Awards ended a few hours ago. "Inception" and "The King's Speech" both took home four awards each. These two movies were the big winners of the night. "The Social Network" took home three awards, including a special award for Aaron Sorkin & another one for Trent Reznor. Melissa Leo and Christian Bale won the best supporting actress/actor awards. Both awards were the only ones which "The Fighter" won. Anne Hathaway and James Franco did a great job as the hosts of the awards show. They were funny, and their opening parody of the top ten best picture movies was hilarious. It included Morgan Freeman, and Alec Baldwin as well. Kirk Douglas presented the award for The Best Supporting Actress. His time on the stage was interesting. He was funny, and it was a struggle for him (considering his old age of 94). Nonetheless, Douglas was good in presenting the award to Melissa Leo.

Lastly, Natalie Portman and Colin Firth took home the Best Actress/Actor awards tonight. Natalie gave a great speech, and Colin showed off his good speaking skills also. All in all, it was another fun night in Hollywood. RSG wishes he was at the Hollywood After parties (like Vanity Fair's party, and other star studded events). Someday, it may happen. :)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Four countries in the midst of revolution


Since the middle of January, there are four countries in the midst of protests, violence, and other problems that have led to new regimes of power. The four countries in this case are Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Algeria. Tunisia is dealing with the Jasmine revolution (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/tunisia/index.html) as their authoritarian president, Mr. Ben Ali, was ousted. Hosni Mubarak resigned in Egypt after more than three decades in power, after the public protested vehemently for a change in the country. Young protesters have been protesting in Sana, the capital of Yemen. Finally, the US has called for Algerian security to curb the protests in this country.

Furthermore, these revolutions may be the right answer for these countries. But, what does it mean to the USA and the rest of the world? For starters, Africa and the Middle East are gaining more recognition and people are watching the news constantly. Some of these countries have a major resource, oil, which is quite valuable to the rest of the world. Lastly, there could be a new country in this world on July 9, 2011. South Sudan applied for an independence referendum, and it could separate from Sudan, to be its own nation. If this country does become independent, it could further change the geography of Africa and enhance its vast resources.