Harry Potter Experiment of 2009

This girl:

is going to attempt something that this guy:deems physically impossible. Maybe he's right, maybe she will fail. But there's only one way to find out.

Sometime, in the near future, Jesse Kay Betts will attempt to read all 7 immense Harry Potter books in 24 hours. Stay tuned.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Justin and I just watched Woody Allen's new movie "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" last night. I don't know if anyone knows a lot about it or if anyone is planning on seeing it. We figured there might be a good chance some of our family would see it since it is rated PG-13 and Penelope Cruz is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Justin and I were not big fans of the movie itself, but that's not really what I wanted to say about it. I just wanted to warn everyone before they see it that I think it probably should have been rated R. I don't remember there being any language and there is very very little violence. However, the entire plot, and almost all the characters, represent very immoral behaviors. Adultery, bisexuality, and 3-ways are predominate themes in the plot.

I just didn't want anyone to see this movie expecting something totally different, and be disappointed, like we were.

Snow Day

It has been snowing non-stop for hours! It's crazy! I've never seen so much snow in my whole life. Now, this morning, my uncle Kleston plowed our driveway for us. These pictures were taken about 5 hours later. Oh, and the snow was still coming down steadily.

This is a ruler. The snow is at about 11 inches.
This is Keshia's car. The snow is almost covering the tires!
This is when I was trying to get in the car. When I opened the door, it pushed some snow out of the way. As you can see, it's as high as the door.

Wrensssssss

Here is a link to the page where you can download the rough version of the song that the wrens recorded last monday. I think it's fantastic and can't wait to hear a final version of it.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/148719-new-music-the-wrens-new-song-mp3

100 tunes yeah

Coming soon is my 100 favorite songs of all time. I emailed this list to bryan last year sometime but i have decided to do something differently so the list is going to be completely different. So stay tuned to see the awesomeness. This re-editing of my list is inspired by nic's musical quest. Thank you nic. And get on with it....please.

The Academy Awards Ballot

As Justin passionately stated before, the Academy Awards nominations came out today. It was my brilliant sister, Kelsey, who gave me a great idea. Those of you who can't come to our Academy Awards party, but still want to participate in the contest, you can. So, decide who you think will win all the categories below, and email (heapofloser@yahoo.com) it to me before the winners are announced, and if you guess the most right, you win the prize. And if you would also like to include who you think SHOULD win, even though you don't think they will, just for fun, that's cool too. (Oh, and, no going to prediction websites and reading expert opinion on who the winners will be because, hey, doesn't that just feel like cheating?? But, it's cool if you want to read about the movie if you don't know what it is.) And don't stress too much, no one knows what sound mixing is :) And if you want to know who to beat, I am the defending champion.
Academy Award Power Ranking:
1. Jesse
LAST. everyone else.

Oh, and before I list the ballot, on a personal note I would just like to say that it is a TRAVESTY that Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" was totally overlooked, especially for best original screenplay and best actor. Shame on you, academy. To the ballot!

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Richard Jenkins -- THE VISITOR
Frank Langella -- FROST/NIXON
Sean Penn -- MILK
Brad Pitt -- THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Mickey Rourke --THE WRESTLER

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin -- MILK
Robert Downey Jr. -- TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Doubt
Heath Ledger --THE DARK KNIGHT
Michael Shannon -- REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Anne Hathaway -- RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie -- CHANGELING
Melissa Leo -- FROZEN RIVER
Meryl Streep -- DOUBT
Kate Winslet -- THE READER

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams -- DOUBT
Penelope Cruz -- VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Viola Davis -- DOUBT
Taraji P. Henson -- THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Marisa Tomei -- THE WRESTLER

Best Animated Feature Film

BOLT
KUNG FU PANDA
WALL-E

Best Art Direction

CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Best Cinematography

CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Costume Design

AUSTRALIA
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DUCHESS
MILK
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Best Directing

David Fincher -- THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Ron Howard -- FROST/NIXON
Gus Van Sant -- MILK
Stephen Daldry -- THE READER
Danny Boyle -- SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Documentary Feature

THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
THE GARDEN
MAN ON WIRE
TROUBLE THE WATER

Best Documentary Short

THE CONSCIENCE OF NHEM EN
THE FINAL INCH
SMILE PINKI
THE WITNESS - FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306

Best Film Editing

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST/NIKON
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Foreign Language Film

THE BAADER MEINOF COMPLEX
THE CLASS
DEPARTURES
REVANCHE
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

Best Makeup

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

Best Music (Score)

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
DEFIANCE
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E

Best Music (Song)

Down to Earth -- WALL-E
Jai Ho -- SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
O Saya -- SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Short Film (Animated)

LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES
LAVATORY - LOVESTORY
OKTAPODI
PRESTO
THIS WAY UP

Best Short Film (Live Action)

AUF DER STRECKE (ON THE LINE)
MANON ON THE ASPHALT
NEW BOY
THE PIG
SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)

Best Sound Editing

THE DARK KNIGHT
IRON MAN
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

Best Sound Mixing

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

Best Visual Effects

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
IRON MAN

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
DOUBT
FROST/NIKON
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

FROZEN RIVER
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
IN BRUGES
MILK
WALL-E

Best Picture

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Acacemy Mucking Up for 82 years

Wow. The academy has totally messed it up again. They even contradict themselves this year with their nominations. The nominations came out this morning and once again they proved that all you have to do to get nominated for best picture is make a political or holocaustal movie. The curious case of benjamin button rightfully leads the pack with 13 nominations. As i have said before it is the best movie of the year and deserves every last one of those. However, the second best movie of the year manages to not get nominated for best picture. Why? Because it is a 'super hero' movie and that is the only explanation. Seriously. And somehow Christopher Nolan (Batman director) didn't get nominated for best director. For me, these are the two biggest hollywood screw ups in a long long time. Let me explain. The Dark Knight got nominated for seven technical awards (not counting the acting awards here), yes i said SEVEN. So obviously the academy felt that it is a really well made film in all aspects of filmmaking. Oh yeah and everybody thought it was a good highly entertaining movie on top of that. Now Milk, which got a best picture nomination over The Dark Knight was nominated for three technical awards. Yes, i said THREE. Then Frost/Nixon and the Reader both only scored two technical nominations. Say it with me now. Yes, i said TWO. But what do all three of these movies have in common? They are all political or holocaustal. How on earth is something nominated for that many technical awards not even get nominated for best picture? Obviously it was more well made in five other categories. I am too angry to accurately articulate what i am thinking but i think you get the point. What a sham.