Friday, March 30, 2018

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Hello World! Happy 2018th Palm Sunday (March 25th) and Easter, Sunday (April 1st)

This is a repost of earlier annual posts with minor edits. Enjoy!

Hello World! Happy 2018th Palm Sunday (March 25th)  and Easter, Sunday (April 1st).  May your days be filled with love, happiness and blessings.


“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song." 
 ~~ Pope John Paul II 
sometimes called Blessed John Paul or John Paul the Great, born Karol Józef Wojtyła (Polish: [ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛf vɔjˈtɨwa]; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005), was Pope from 16 October 1978 to his death in 2005. He was the second longest-serving pope in history and, as a Pole, the first non-Italian since Pope Adrian VI, who died in 1523.


Hello World! Happy 2017th Easter America. Happy Name Day and Palm Sunday Mom.

Palm Sunday has always been a very special day for our family.

My late mom was born on Palm Sunday (March 28, 1926), which is why my grandmother named her "Palma."

 Happy Palm Sunday, happy name day and may you be dancing up in the clouds, celebrating how much you are loved and missed. 

You haven't really left us, you have just moved to a peaceful place and you are always in our thoughts and prayers.


Wonderful keepsake photo of my late mom with her mother, Grandma Elvira. 



They resembled each other so much.

They were so beautiful and similar in many ways - great cooking, baking, entertaining, etc. 


Everyone was welcome in their homes.



Another great photo of my late mom with John Tesh  #ITFYL #JohnTest  . Mom was so fond of this photo. Her smile radiates everywhere regardless of her age. In this photo she was in her late 70s. Amazing!
Photo collage of my late mom (TOP L-R, with her youngest grandchildren, Mariel & Anthony; granddaughter Mariel's lovely "get-well card; mom upstate New York holding me as an infant). (BOTTOM L-R, me & mom celebrating another bon-voyage cruise; mom in either CA or OK at a wedding; mom with her mom, Grandma Elvira.

Mom as the most beautiful bride with her handsome groom, my wonderful Dad, during their wedding day, September 5, 1948.









Sharing mom's Eulogy here to remember her life, her amazing gifts, talents, smiles  and her love. (see image to the right)

Also another way to celebrate her name day, Palm Sunday. 


Our brother presented the Eulogy at the Funeral Mass on February 28, 2012.


I strongly believe our mom is at peace knowing her children are well.


Palm Sunday always brings me fond memories with family and friends. 



On Palm Sunday 2015, I had quite a few chuckles. Much to my surprise, two wild turkeys strutted in my back yard and left quite an impression! 

Gobbling, trotting and pecking around, I had to take a video with my iPhone. Glad I did as there is never a sure-shot they will show up again in my back yard.

Enjoy the Wild Turkeys videos. Below are Take 1 and Take 2 videos.


Second video Wild Turkeys Take 2 
or visit these links for Wild Turkeys Take 1 and https://youtu.be/ev8dcSwQtE8


About Easter

Easter (Old English Ēostre; Latin: Pascha; Greek Πάσχα Paskha, the latter two derived from Hebrew: פֶּסַח‎ Pesaḥ) is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.

Easter is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

Easter is for everyone, for adults it brings back memories of childhood days filled with beautiful spring flowers and fabulous Sunday celebrations.
Easter, like Christmas, is for children. Celebrating Easter with children is truly special – from colored Easter Eggs, Chocolate Easter Bunnies to Easter Egg hunts and parades and bonnets make this day extra magical.

Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the March equinox.

Ecclesiastically, the equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March (although the astronomical equinox occurs on 20 March in most years), and the "Full Moon" is not necessarily on the astronomically correct date. The date of Easter therefore varies from 22 March to 25 April inclusive. Eastern

The precise date of Easter has at times been a matter for contention. By the later 2nd century, it was accepted that the celebration of the holiday was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition.

Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are identical or very similar.

Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church[12] and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb.

Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades.

The Easter parade is an American cultural event consisting of a festive strolling procession on Easter Sunday. The parade is somewhat of an informal and unorganized event, with or without religious significance. Persons participating in an Easter parade traditionally dress in new and fashionable clothing, particularly ladies' hats, and strive to impress others with their finery.
The Easter parade is most closely associated with Fifth Avenue in New York City, but Easter parades are held in many other cities. Starting as a spontaneous event in the 1870s, the New York parade became increasingly popular into the mid-20th century—in 1947, it was estimated to draw over a million people. Its popularity has declined significantly, drawing only 30,000 in 2008.

Many Americans follow the tradition of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving baskets of candy. The Easter Bunny is a popular legendary anthropomorphic Easter gift-giving character analogous to Santa Claus in American culture.


On Easter Monday, the President of the United States holds an annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn for young children. New York City holds an annual Easter parade on Easter Sunday.
Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide. The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans.
Eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility, and rebirth. In Christianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus: though an egg appears to be like the stone of a tomb, a bird hatches from it with life; similarly, the Easter egg, for Christians, is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will also experience eternal life.

The precise origin of the ancient custom of decorating eggs is not known, although evidently the blooming of many flowers in spring coincides with the use of the fertility symbol of eggs—and eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes.
Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red, the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed Christ (and, of the renewal of life in springtime). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long dead time of winter.

The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a fantasy character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs.

Originating among German Lutherans, the Easter Hare originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behaviour at the start of the season of Eastertide.

The Easter Bunny is sometimes depicted with clothes. In legend, the creature carries colored eggs in his basket, candy and sometimes also toys to the homes of children, and as such shows similarities to Santa Claus, as they both bring gifts to children on the night before their respective holiday. The custom was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus[2] (About Easter Eggs) in 1682[3] referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter Eggs for the children. In many church services on Easter Sunday, a live rabbit representing the Easter Bunny, is brought into the congregation, especially for the children's message.

An Easter Bonnet represents the tail-end of a tradition of wearing new clothes at Easter, in harmony with the renewal of the year and the promise of spiritual renewal and redemption.

The "Easter bonnet" was fixed in popular culture by Irving Berlin, whose frame of reference was the Easter parade in New York City, a festive walkabout that made its way down Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick's Cathedral:



"In your Easter bonnet
with all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade."
by Irving Berlin

At the depths of the Great Depression a new hat at Easter, or a refurbished old one, was a simple luxury. 

Will you be celebrating Easter? Showing off your Easter bonnet or attending an Easter Day Parade?

















RESOURCES: 
 ♦ The 29th Annual Easter Bonnet Competion by the Theatre Development Fund, takes place on April 20th and April 21st at Minskoff Theatre, more info at https://www.tdf.org/shows/9214/The-29th-Annual-Easter-Bonnet-Competition (last year The 28th Annual Easter Bonnet Competition by Broadway Cares http://broadwaycares.org/easterbonnet2014)
♦ Easter Day Parade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_parade
♦ Easter Sunday on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Sunday
♦ Easter 2015 from Calendar 365 http://www.calendar-365.com/holidays/easter.html‎
♦ Easter Egg Hunts http://www.easteregghuntsandevents.org/
 ♦ Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival in New York City http://gonyc.about.com/cs/holidays/a/easter.htm
 ♦ Easter Parade – Fred Astaire and Judy Garland on YouTube

This post is an updated repost from previous annual Easter posts. Please visit this blog frequently and share this with your social media. Follow me @gbdaly Thanks.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

#LoveTwitter - Twitter almost a teen; Reaches the BIG 012 on March 21st: Happy Tweet-Day to you (March 21, 2018) - Twitter thanks everyone for making history!

Happy Tweet Day Twitter! Below are screen captures of tweets taken from Twitter's big 010. Will update with Happy 12th tweet picks soon.

Below is the original article all about Twitter and the Ripple Effect from September 22, 2009. Enjoy and happy tweeting!!

Did you know that the year 2017 marked the year Twitter would become major news and social? Also, the year when message size doubled to 280 characters for all languages (TechCrunch, 11/7/2017) except Japanese, Korean and Chinese languages. As of 216, Twitter had more than 319 million monthly active users (USA Today, 10/26/2017). During our 2016 U.S. presidential election, Twitter became the largest source of breaking news with a record-breaking 40 million election-related tweets sent by 10 p.m. (The New York Times, 11/8/2016).




See Twitter's 10th Birthday video thanking everyone.

TWITTER LOVES EVERYONE! Happy 10th B-Day Twitter #LoveTwitter

Twitter thanks everyone on it's 10th birthday for making history! Twitter has a very thoughtful and symbolic video celebrating 10th birthday.


Still no definitive business model nor any $ profits yet Twitter continues to spread wings, ripple effects and much intrigue!

Why can't politicians be like Twitter?

Wishing TWITTER many more twitterers, tweets and TweetDays!


According to Stan Schroeder, writer of Mashable, Twitter's B-Day is today -- last year I was wrong, I thought it was March 22nd, but it's indeed March 21st -- the first day co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted his very first tweet.

Here is Schroeder's article from Twitter's 6th (back in 2012), Happy 6th Birthday, Twitter! 


Twitter hasn't changed much with the exception of it's double size character limit, from 140 to 280, and itsphenomenal growth which is currently at 320 million users (February 2016), a usage increase of over 11% vs. last year and +60% increase in the amount of tweets per day.

Last year Twitter recently reported they have 288 million active monthly users and 500 million tweets per day https://about.twitter.com/company.

This year, according to DMR stats, Twitter sees 100 million users log in each day and as of February 10, 2016 there are 320 million people using twitterand 1.3 billion registered Twitter users.

Surprisingly, less than 1/4th are U.S. (23% or 62 million), and over 3/4ths of these users (77% or 209 million) are outside the U.S. According to many resources including Mashable and SocialMedia, Twitter had about 200 million accounts a year ago (2014), and averaged 400M tweets per day. While this statistic may be debatable since others including Mashable indicate that Twitter has over 500 million, Twitter itself has reported that as of February 2013, they have 200 million users. Not surprisingly, 80% of Twitter active users (400 million) are mobile.

Below is the original blog post written back on September 22, 2009 all about Twitter: Everything's the same except for the updated photo and of course the character-limit is now 280.

Twitter, a micro-blog with a 140-character-limit blurb known as a “tweet” having potential to create a chain of social media networking events that can lead to exponentially larger alterations of social media networking instances. Twittering appears to have maximized the power of connecting. In less than 4 years, it is  estimated that there are over 250 million twitter accounts worldwide.

But if you think that Twitter and the bird’s far reaching effect is enough to make your media campaign a success, try spreading your wings and flying. You just might find yourself in a nose-dive!

Of course, everyone is twittering, with hopes of creating shifts in perspectives that will lead to greater connections, better businesses and stronger communities.

It’s been said that a sea gull’s simple flap of a wing can change weather, and so too a simple tweet can create ripple effects in the customers, employees, friends, colleagues and even those people and entities that you have never known and now suddenly have become your followers.

Why then are there still no analytics for measuring effectiveness, or tried and true processes and marketing solutions from this bird?

Although Twitter’s wide massive appeal has grown so quickly in such a brief time, it is still considered new. Twitter became available to the public in 2006 but really gained momentum in April 2007. According to Wikipedia “The tipping point for Twitter's popularity was the 2007 South by Southwest, SXSW, festival. During the event usage went from 20,000 tweets per day to 60,000.” This all occurring after the Web 2.0 buzz of 2006, which arose 2 years after the first Web 2.0 Oreilly Conference, October 5 – 7, 2004, at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco, CA.

Today, there are many factors that contribute to the success of a social networking marketing campaign and Twitter is just one of the many digital integrated marketing tools. Besides having experience, skill and passion about what you are communicating, successful social media marketing requires a well thought out, detailed, marketing plan and timeline. Even with all this, there are still no guarantees; What works for one company or person  may not be as effective for another.

While there are no magic bullets that will guarantee the overall success of your campaign, below you will find a listing of some helpful tips to guide you through the process of integrating twittering into your corporate digital marketing programs:

1. Create momentum with effective communications and set up kick-off meetings well in advance of your deliverables

2. Optimal participation is key. Schedule regular (weekly or bi-weekly) meetings (virtual or in person) and involve as many employees/departments in your organization.

3. Ensure that your meeting handouts include guidelines for branding specs, e.g., having company logo included on all tweets, regardless of whether a company is using different blog/tweet names for different products,/themes, etc., appropriate tone, buzzwords, keywords, etc.

4. If your social marketing media campaign calls for multiple bloggers and twitterers, make sure your respective tweet names match respective tweet blogs; This information should all be mapped out (e.g., spreadsheet) and incorporated into your digital marketing plan alongside all of the other marketing tools you will be integrating

5. Use common sense and discuss best practice to ensure employee tweeters know their leaps and bounds when contributing to avoid compromising your blogs/tweets integrity and reputation

6. Tie in tweets with your company’s blogs – an example is how Martha Stewart’s tips, ideas, etc., from her blog into tweets – again, not necessarily coming from someone from her company, but created such a brand following that followers as well as employees include her ideas in their blogs

7. Understand and learn of the importance of following potential customers, existing customers, vendors, suppliers, etc.

8. Incorporate short and simple auto-respond tweets for new followers – assuring real-time reply in the event no one is able to respond immediately; Although the majority of folks recommend not using auto-responds, my suggestion is to test the waters but keep auto-responds short, thanking them for connecting and sharing relevant information.  If you feel auto-responding is working against you, simply remove it. At least you can say you gave it a try.

9. Understand the importance of hashtags and other application enhancements and use them carefully. E.g., including hashtags in your tweets, e.g., #followfriday; and applications, Tweet Meme, etc. There are pros and cons to hashtags - some folks feel the short 140-character blurbs get distorted from the #hashtag symbol while others are embracing it. So far, I haven't been incorporating hashtags into my tweets. I plan on giving #hashtags a try soon.

10. If you are interested in following please feel free to follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gbdaly

"Twitter reaches the BIG ### today! Happy Tweet-Day to you!" is part of the "evergreen marketing insighter" series by Gloria Buono-Daly This blog is updated every year on Twitter's birthday and was originally written by Gloria Buono Daly (c) 2009.

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Happy 282nd Saint Patrick's Day! Try My Irish Soda Bread Easy 1-2-3 Recipe

This is a repost from previous Happy Saint Patrick's Day posts with minor updates except for 
My favorite Irish soda bread, as posted every year. Enjoy!

"A best friend is like a four leaf clover : hard to find and lucky to have!" 
 ~~ Anonymous Irish Quote
Slàinte  (pronounced: slawncha, like "lawn-chair" but with an "s" in front of it, is how one would say Cheers in Irish Gaelic)  


Happy 282nd Saint Pat's Day America! 
This year it's Friday, March 17th! With many being bit by the leprechaun earlier in time for the many parades through the country beginning today. 
  • The 4-leaf clover ~ each leaf has it's own meaning according to Irish Folk-Lore ~ Faith, Hope, Love and Luck. A person who finds one will meet a future lover on the same day the 4-leaf clover is found :). The 3 or 4 leaf clover brings good luck and protects against evil.  

The oldest and largest of the St. Paddy’s Day parades in the Western Hemisphere, dating back to 1762 -- New York City's St. Paddy's Day Parade -- and this year marks NYCs 227th St. Patrick's Day Parade! NYC's Saint Patrick's Day Parade can be viewed on 5th Avenue between 44th Street and 79th Street. If you are not in NYC, you can watch the parade at this website beginning at 11:00am on March 17th.
4 Leaf Clover photo courtesy of Wikipedia, (Trifolium repens), May 22, 2013; Photographer, Joe Papp. This photo file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  
( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en 

Like many households on Saint Patrick's Day, in the center of our breakfast table you will find tasty, Irish, soda bread to celebrate the luck and charm of the Irish. I baked this easy Irish soda bread earlier today and just had to share my easy recipe by posting on my blogs. The great thing about this is the prep time was slightly less than 5 minutes and it baked in an hour.
INGREDIENTS:
► Flour 3 1/2 cups
► Sugar 3/4 to 1 cup (or try sugarfree alternatives; e.g., splenda or equal)
► Baking powder 1 tablespoon
► Eggs 2 medium size
► Milk 1 cup
► Melted butter - 1 stick
OPTIONAL:
► Raisins 1 cup
► Caraway seeds 2 tablespoons
► Be imaginative. I used Flax Seeds


Step 1 : Soda Bread Dough (3 min) 
► Prepare oven at 375°; In large bowl combine dry ingredients
► Flour
► Sugar
► Baking Powder
► Optional ingredients - I added 1/2 teaspoon Flax seeds
► Add remaining ingredients - Milk, Eggs, Melted Butter 


Step 2 : Knead Dough (2 min) 
► Knead dough and divide the dough into 2 round loaves
► Sprinkle flour if dough is too moist and sticky
► Using a cake knife, mark the top of each dough loaf with an X 

Step 3 : Place loaves in 375° oven (60 min) 
► Wait at least 10 minutes before slicing 

Total time - 1 Hour and 5 Minutes 

 
 
“Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.” 
--Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Irish author and satirist.


Additional resources: 
♦ Saint Patrick's Day parade schedules: Where and when, Washington Times
♦ New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade
♦ Saint Patrick's Day Parade NYCgo.com
♦ Saint Patrick's Day Parade New Orleans 



This is a re-posting from previous year postings on allthingsdigitalmarketing blog.  

Please visit this blog frequently and share this with your social media. Thanks. 

Gloria Buono-Daly

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Happy 107th International Women's Day World! #PRESSFORPROGRESS #IWD2018 What's Press For Progress Action? Here's mine.

This blog posting is an updated/revised version of articles posted in prior years. Enjoy!


https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Theme
#PRESSFORPROGRESS   What's your  #PRESSFORPROGRESS action? Although we are still 200 years away from gender parity, this past year has been a whirlwind of advocacy and progress for women advocating for reporting sexual abuse, regardless of how famous or powerful the attacker is.

Misconduct and harassment come in many different sizes and shapes. It's not just just about sexual harassment by men but by women as well.  The year 2017 marked awareness, advocacy for movements, momentum, progress and #IWD2018's theme of the year is for all to #PressForProgress !

Finally progress is momentous and significant. Women are becoming stronger all thanks to embracing and supporting each other. Sisterhood, brotherhood, are alive and well. Gone are the days of women being punished for reporting bad behavior, subterfuge, misconduct or harassment. However we still need to press for  progress more and continue moving forward.  #MeToo and #TimesUp  movements came about after various harassment and misconduct accusations by the top entertainment and media icons including Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Kevin Spacey, Russell Simmons, Dustin Hoffman, James Toback, Tavis Smiley, as well as liberal Democrat politician Al Franken ...  The list of attackers of men by women, men by men and also women by women, appears to never end. -  #HarveyWeinstein, #KevinSpacey, #RussellSimons, #DustinHoffman, #JamesToback, #MattLauer, #TavisSmiley, #AlFranken ... Many victims, thus far over 200 from Harvey Weinstein alone and how can we forget about disgraced Bill Cosby - many women came forward yet many more remained silent. ?  

But what about the female or male co-worker at an organization who has been working hard, complying with the company standards of behavior and code of conduct only to be constantly bullied, abused and harassed by a female/male co-worker who feels threatened by his/her business ethics or skill set?  

What's your #PressForProgress? My actionl is to continually speak up when something is wrong,  and be supportive to other women who are being harmed and/or harassed. I want to keep on "pressing" to be the best I can be in everything I do, to exercise leadership actions in my life (i.e., personal, at work, communications including my blog posts, etc.) and to always respect and celebrate differences for the good of all people and of course for our goal of increasing Gender Parity even though we are 200 years away. Also press progress by encouraging others to #PRESSFORPROGRESS


Equally important is for women at work. If a new employee at an organization however small or however large, is being harassed by another women who believes she is above the company policy and standards of behavior/code of conduct because of her 30 or so years of tenure, and constantly harms/harasses, belittles, you or others, etc.,  report it! Regardless of the consequences. Victims have rights and must be protected from employees who behave like goons and street gangsters inside the profit or non-profit organization.

WHAT'S YOUR ACTION FOR IWD2018?  #WhatsYourAction    Please share your #PRESSFORPROGRESS at this link   #IWD2018 

One of my favorite quotes by women:  

“If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to forment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”    ~~ Abigail Adams,  U.S. First Lady, 1776 (née Smith; November 22 [O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife of John Adams, the first Vice President, and second President, of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President.


Did you know that March 8, 2018 marks the 107th anniversary of International Women's Day?  Well now you do!  :) 

As soon as Google doodle is posted, if it's IWD2018 related, I will update here.

Google's #IWD2017 doodle to commemorate International Women's Day 2017 conveys the many bold actions by our leading women of the world. 

With  the #IWD2018 theme, PressForProgress #PressForProgress, Google's doodle for this year is charming and filled with various themes and #HerStory about various professional women all over the world! 

This post will be a good bookmark as it will add all doodle images dedicated to International Women's Day event, March 8th. We have them listed as far back as 2011 which marked IWDs 100th anniversary (scroll below if interested in viewing commemorative 100th IWD doodle).


Below please find the doodle from #IWD2017. The theme was "Be Bold For Action." The doodle depicted a collage of various women all over the world who soared leaps and bounds in medicine, sports, academia, aviation, and sciences to adventure, arts, entertainment, activism, and technology. 

A collage of 8 photos in the #IWD2017 Google Doodle below commemorate #IWD2017:

Opening image of Google's doodle for #IWD2017 which celebrated 13 inspirational women









Google has celebrated 2016 International Women's Day IWD2016 with a lovely "gender-parity" global themed doodle #OneDayIWill.
The video shows women all around the world sharing their goals and aspirations with words in their native language beginning with "One Day I Will ..."

From becoming scientists to speaking to Pope Francis, their actions and words are inspirational.




In 2015, Google celebrated with the inspiring and engaging doodle below for IWD2015:









Google posted a very charming doodle to celebrate IWD's 103rd  IWD2014 ).









IWD2013's 102nd doogle








IWD2012's 101st doogle

IWD2011s 100th IWD anniversary marked the very first IWD Google doodle celebration!









Below are sections taken from the 2017 IWD2017 blog post.

Happy 106th Anniversary to 
International Women's Day!   #IWD2017  Also, did you know that March is Women's History Month?

International Women's Day (IWD), originally coined International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8th every year.

The UN theme for International Women’s Day 2016 is "Pledge for Parity." #PledgeforParity.

Worldwide, women continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and political achievement.

The theme in 2016 was
118 Years to Gender Parity?    In 2014, The World Economic Forum predicted it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Unfortunately, one year later, 2015, they estimated an even slower progress and the gender gap wouldn't close entirely until nearly 4 decades later, 2133.

Be it helping women and girls achieve ambitions, advocating for gender-balanced leadership, respecting differences, or rooting for workplace bias, International Women's Day wants everyone - men and women -to take concrete steps to help achieve gender parity more quickly. 
Women's equality has made positive gains but the world is still unequal.

International Women's Day celebrates the social, political and economic achievements of women while focusing world attention on areas requiring further action."

In many countries, International Women's Day is an occasion to honor and praise women for their accomplishments.

Join International Women’s Day on Facebook at facebook/internationalwomensday and for breaking news follow #womensday.

International Women's Day is an annual day observed in many nations around the world on March 8 each year. (Jumping Woman photo above by kongsky / freedigitalphotos.net)



President Barack Obama proclaimed March 2011 to be "Women's History Month", calling Americans to mark IWD by reflecting on "the extraordinary accomplishments of women" in shaping the country's history.


Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the "100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls through International Exchanges", on the eve of IWD.



Photo above left taken by U.S.Army Photographer: Spc Tobey White, is of U.S. Army Lt. Col. Pam Moody, 319th ADT, and resident of Indianapolis, Ind. Here she hands out pencils to Afghan women at the International Women's Day gathering held in Khowst City, Khowst Province, Afghanistan, March 8, 2011.

Every year events take place on March 8th to commemorate the anniversary of International Women's Day. In 2011, IWD's 100th anniversary, 100 countries participated in events.
Kudos to all women for all we do!

EXPLORE and submit your IWD event or web posting at the International Women's Day activity page. And enjoy learning about what others are doing to celebrate IWD 2017.

Visit INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2017 NEWS for more information.

Do you have a theme of your own to celebrate International Women's Day? IF so, share it on the International Women's Day website.

Resources for Women’s History Month: 
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/03/08/international-womens-day-inequality-in-charts
Make your #PledgeForParity sponsor
http://womenshistorymonth.gov/
http://www.nwhp.org/whm/index.php
 http://www.nwhp.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_History_Month
http://www.infoplease.com/womens-history-month/
http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history-month
 http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/whm/

Sunday, March 4, 2018

I got 18 out 24 correct ... My picks ... Oscar 2018 The 2018 Oscars     ♦  ♦  ♦    Who do you think will be the winners? The Shape of Water received most at 13 nominations.  Here are my picks. What are yours?  #2018Oscars #AcademyAwards #TheShapeOfWater #LadyBird #ThreeBillboards  #Dunkirk #ThePost #Phantom Thread, #GetOut, #CallMebyYourName, #DarkestHour

The 2018 Oscars     ♦  ♦  ♦    Who do you think will be the winners? The Shape of Water received most at 13 nominations.  Here are my picks. What are yours?  #2018Oscars #AcademyAwards #TheShapeOfWater #LadyBird #ThreeBillboards  #Dunkirk #ThePost #Phantom Thread, #GetOut, #CallMebyYourName, #DarkestHour


Big Oscars momentum!
"Hosting the Oscars was a highlight of my career …. If you think we screwed up the ending this year, wait until you see what we have planned for the 90th anniversary show!  — Jimmy Kimmel  (@jimmykimmel), TV host, producer, writer, comedian, voice actor; December 5, 2016,On hosting The 90th Academy Awards (2018 Oscars) 
Photo of Jimmy Kimmel smiling from Wikipedia by photographer Andrea George created September 4,2012 during a ceremony for Ellen DeGeneres, receive star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Video below of Jimmy Kimmel catches 2016 Oscar host, Chris Rock after the 2016 Oscars. 


Excerpts fromChris Rock's opening Monologue hosting the 77th (2005) Oscar Academy Awards.  "...So ...Great night tonight. We have 4 black nominees...Kinda like the deaf Oscar jam tonight ... You know why I love the Oscars. Cause the Oscars are the only awards show where the people nominated don't really perform...There's no acting at the Oscars ...The only acting you see at the Oscars are when people act like they're not mad when they lost...Like I remember one year when Halle Berry won the Oscar Nicole Kidman was smiling so wide she shoulda' won an Emmy at the Oscars for her great performance ...See at least they make white movies for people to enjoy ... real movies with plots ...with actors not rappers ... with real names like "Catch Me If You Can," "Saving Private Ryan," ... black people movies don't have real names ... you get names like "Barbershop," that's not a name that's just a location ... "Barbershop," "Cookout," "CarWash," ... they've been making the same movies for 40 years. That's right you know laundromat is coming soon. And after that check-cashing place."   ~~ Chris Rock (Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III) actor, comedian, voice artist, director, writer, and producer, excerpts from him while hosting the 2005 Oscar Awards (77th).
“It will be a night that ends with a lot of drunk, disappointed people.”   ~~ Chris Rock,

Actor, comedian, on hosting Oscar 2016
(Image left is screen shot of Oscar.com homepage)

The 90th Academy Award (Oscar) 25-category nominations were announced live on January 23rd.  Academy president John Bailey opened the event and introduced Tiffany Haddish of "Girls Trip" and Andy Serkis of "Lord of the Rings." In line with the spirit of women, each category started off with clips of actresses including Salma Hayek, Michelle Yeoh, Rebel Wilson, etc.  Haddish and Serkis announced the nominees for the 25 Oscar categories from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Californna. Haddish madded that she was going to put watching "Dunkirk" on her to-do-list.  

The 90th Oscars® LIVE OSCAR SUNDAY ( #90OSCAR) will be broadcast live from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre with Host, Jimmy Kimmel, on Sunday, March 4th at 7 p.m. EST on ABC Television Network, and will be televised in more than 225 countries.

Here is a listing of key Academy Announcements for the 90th Academy Awards (or copy/paste this link http://www.oscars.org/news/academy-announces-key-dates-89th-oscars).

Films with the most nominations are  “The Shape of Water” (13 nominations, 13 categories including  Picture, Directing, Actress in a Leading Role, and a slew of technical and visual awards) with no other films coming close.  "Dunkirk," a far  second with eight nods — largely in technical categories, but also Best Picture and Directing and " Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"  with seven nominations (including Best Picture, Original Screenplay, and Actress in a Leading Role). 

As everyone expected, Meryl Streep received her  historic 21st nomination for her role as Kay Graham in The Post.

Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live will host his 2nd consecutive Academy Award Oscars® @AcademyAwardHD @Oscars_Live @AwardsOscarsTV #Oscars2018. Kimmel is no stranger to the #Oscars® as he has hosted his annual Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars specials for years prior to hosting.

WHO DO YOU THINK THE WINNERS WILL BE?  CAST YOUR VOTE ON OSCARCHALLENGE #OfficialOscarsChallenge

All of the movies this year are spectacular and they are all winners. Here's a summary of films with multi-nominations (by movie) and I’ll be updating this with my picks and also the winners during Oscar Night.

Not surprising, The Shape of Water has the most Oscar nominations  at 13 ~ in the league with LaLa Land at 14 Oscars last year, Titanic, which received 11 Oscars in 1997  and All About Eve with 6 Oscars in 1951.  Gone With the Wind had 13 nominations and won 8 Oscars in 1940.
♦ Call Me by Your Name  – Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnin, Emilie Georges, Marco Morabito (4 nominations - Picture, Actor, Music Original Song, Writing Adapted Screenplay; could win 1)  
♦ Darkest Hour   Tim Bevan (5th nom), Eric Fellner (6th), Lisa Bruce (2nd), Anthony McCarten (3rd nom), Douglas Urbanski (1st)) (6 nominations - Picture, Actor, Cinematography, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production; could win  3)
♦ Dunkirk  Emma Thomas (2nd), Christopher Nolan (5th) ( 8 nominations - Picture, Directing, Film Editing, Music Original Score, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing; could win 3)  
♦ Get Out   Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum (2nd), Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele (3rd) (4 nominations - Picture, Actor, Directing, Writing Original Screenplay; could win 1)
♦ Lady Bird   Scott Rudin (9th), Eli Bush and Evelyn O'Neill   (5 nominations -  Picture, Actress, Actress Supporting, Directing, Writing Original Screenplay; could win  2)
♦ Phantom Thread   JoAnne Sellar (2nd), Paul Thomas Anderson (8th), Megan Ellison (4th), Daniel Lupi (2nd)  (6 nominations - Picture, Actor, Actress Supporting, Costime Design, Directing, Music Original Score; could win at least 2)
♦ The Post   Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg (17th,  Kristie Macosko Krieger (2nd)   (2 nominations - don't believe it will win)
♦ The Shape of Water  Guillermo del Toro (4th) and J. Miles Dale  (13 nominations - could win at least 9) (Picture, Actor Supporting, Actress, Actress Supporting, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Music Original Score, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Writing Original Screenplay)
♦ Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri   Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh (4th)  (7 nominations - Picture, Actor Supporting, Actor Supporting, Actress, Film Editing, Music Original Score, Writing Original Screenplay; could win at least 3)

As in 2017, 2014 and 2013, there are 9 nominees for best picture 2018 (2016 and 2015  had 8). Meryl Streep is nominated for the 21st time and there are diverse nominations across many categories.  

The Oscars are voted on by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More information on the voting process is available at the Academy's website (oscar.go.com).

More Oscar nomination coverage is at the Official Annual Academy Awards -- Oscar.com and visit the “Oscar Nominee” section of the Website. My picks are in the category headers below. Oscar.com is also interactive and has a "My Picks" section at http://oscar.go.com/mypicks.   

#2018Oscars #CallMeByYourName #DarkestHour #Dunkirk #GetOut #LadyBird #Phantom Thread #ThePost #TheShapeOfWater #ThreeBillboardsOutsideEbbing,Missouri
I've also included links to more information about the films and noted if any nominees have had previous Oscar nominations/wins in the listings below:


Picture:   My pick, The Shape of Water    WINNER:"The Shape of Water" My Pick Right :)
♦ Call Me by Your Name  Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnin, Emilie Georges, Marco Morabito 
♦ Darkest Hour   Tim Bevan (5th nom), Eric Fellner (6th), Lisa Bruce (2nd), Anthony McCarten (3rd nom), Douglas Urbanski (1st)) 
♦ Dunkirk – Emma Thomas (2nd), Christopher Nolan (5th) 
♦ Get Out  Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum (2nd), Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele (3rd)
♦ Lady Bird  Scott Rudin (9th), Eli Bush and Evelyn O'Neill  
♦ Phantom Thread   JoAnne Sellar (2nd), Paul Thomas Anderson (8th), Megan Ellison (4th), Daniel Lupi (2nd) 
♦ The Post   Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg (17th,  Kristie Macosko Krieger (2nd) 
♦ The Shape of Water  Guillermo del Toro (4th) and J. Miles Dale
♦ Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri   Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh (4th) 

Actor in a Leading Role:  My pick,  Gary Oldman . WINNER:"Gary Oldman" My Pick Right :)
♦ Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name (2nd Academy Award nomination)
♦ Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread (6th Academy Award nomination, 3 wins)
♦ Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out (2nd Academy Award nomination)  
♦ Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour (2nd Academy Award nomination)  
♦ Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. (9th Academy Award nomination, 2 wins)

Actress in a Leading Role:  My pick, Frances McDormand WINNER:"Frances McDormand" My Pick Right :)
♦ Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water (2nd nomination)
♦ Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (5th nomination)
♦ Margot Robbie, I, Tonya (3rd Academy Award nomination, 1 Oscar win)
♦ Saorise Ronan, Lady Bird (3rd Academy Award nomination)
♦ Meryl Streep, The Post (21st Oscar nomination, 3 wins)

Actor in a Supporting Role:  My pick,  Sam RockwellWINNER:"Sam Rockwell" my pick right
♦ William Dafoe, The Florida Project (3rd nomination)
♦ Woodie Harrelson, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (3rd nomination)
♦ Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water   (2nd nomination)
♦ Christopher Plummer, All The Money in the World (3rd nomination, 1 win)
♦ Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri  

Actress in a Supporting Role: My pick, Allison Janney. WINNER:"Allison Janney" my pick right
♦ Mary J. Blige, Mudbound (2nd nomination)
♦ Allison Janney, I,Tonya 
♦ Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread  
♦ Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
♦ Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water (3rd nomination, 1 win)

Animated Feature Film:   My pick,  CocoWINNER:"Coco" Got it right
♦ The Boss Baby, Tom McGrath, Ramsey Naito
♦ The Breadwinner, Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo
♦ Coco, Lee Unkrich (3rd, 1 win), Darla K. Anderson (2nd)
♦ Ferdinand, MCarlos Saldanha (2nd)
♦ Loving Vincent, Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman (2nd, 1 win) and Ivan Mactaggart

Cinematography:  My pick,  The Shape of Water WINNER:"Blade Runner 2014" Got this wrong
♦ Blade Runner 2049, Roger A. Deakins (14th nomination,) 
♦ Darkest Hour, Bruno Delbonnel (5th nomination)
♦ Dunkirk, Hoyte van Hoytema 
♦ Mudbound, Rachel Morrison 
♦ The Shape of Water, Dan Laustsen 

Costume Design:  My pick, Phantom ThreadWINNER:"Phantom Thread" got this right
♦ Beauty and the Beast,  Jacqueline Durran (6th nomination, includes  Beauty + Darkest Hour, 1 win)
♦ Darkest Hour, Jacqueline Durran (6th nomination, includes  Beauty + Darkest Hour, 1 win)
♦ Phantom Thread, Mark Bridges (3rd nomination, 1 win)
♦ The Shape of Water, Luis Sequeira
♦ Victoria & Abdul, Consolata Boyle (3rd nomination)

Directing:   My pick, Guilermo del Toro. WINNER:"Guilermo del Toro" My Pick Right :)
♦ Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk  (5th nomination includes  this year Picture nom)
♦ Jordan Peele, Jordan Peele (3rd Academy Award nomination includes 2018 Picture an Original Screenplay )
♦ Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (2nd nomination includes for  2018 Original screenplay)
♦ Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread  (8th nomination includes 2018 Picture)
♦ Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water (4th nomination includes 2018 Picture, Original Screenplay)
  
Documentary Feature:  My pick, Faces Places.  WINNER:"ICARUS"  got this one wrong
♦ Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Steve James (2nd), Mark Mitten, Julie Graham (2nd)
♦ Faces Places,  Agnès Varda, JR, Rosalie Varda
♦ Icarus, Byran Fogel, Dan Cogan
♦ Last Men in Aleppo, Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed, Søren Steen Jespersen
♦ Strong Island,  Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes

Documentary Short Subject: My pick, Edith and Eddie WINNER:"Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405"  I got this wrong 
♦ Edith+Eddie,  Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright
♦ Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405, Frank Stiefel
♦ Heroin(e)Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon
♦ Knife Skills, Thomas Lennon (4th nomination, 1 win)
♦ Traffic Stop Kate Davis and David Heilbroner  

Film Editing:   My pick, DunkirkWINNER:"Dunkirk" I got this Right
♦ Baby Driver, Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos
♦ Dunkirk, Lee Smith (3rd Academy Award nomination) 
♦ I,Tonya, Tatiana S. Riegel
♦ The Shape of Water, Sidney Wolinsky (2nd Academy Award nomination, 1 Oscar win) 
♦ Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, Jon Gregory

Foreign Language Film: My pick, A Fantastic WomanWINNER:"A Fantastic Winner" Got Right
♦ A Fantastic Woman, Chile; Directed by Sebastián Leliot(2nd nomination for Chile)
♦ The InsultLebanon; Directed by Ziad Doueiri 
♦ LovelessRussia; Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev (3 nomination for Russia, 1 win) 
♦ On Body and SoulHungary; Directed by  Ildikó Enyedi (10th nomination for Hungary, 2 wins)
♦ The Square, Sweden; Directed by  Ruben Östlund (16th nominations for Sweden, 3 Oscar wins)

Makeup and Hairstyling:  My pick, Darkest Hour. WINNER:"Darkest Hour" got this right
♦ Darkest Hour,  Kazuhiro Tsuji (3rd nomination), David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick 
♦ Victoria & Abdul, Daniel Phillips, Lou Sheppard
♦ Wonder, Arjen Tuiten

Music (Original Score):   My pick, The Shape of WaterWINNER:"The Shape of Water " My Pick Right :)
♦ Dunkirk, Hans Zimmer (11th nomination, 1 win)
♦ Phantom Thread, Jonny Greenwood 
♦ The Shape of Water, Alexandre Desplat (9th nomination, 1 win)
♦ Star Wars: The last Jedi, John Williams (51st nomination, 5 wins)
♦ Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, Carter Burwell (2nd nomination)

Music (Original Song):  My pick, "This Is Me" WINNER:"Remember Me" Got this wrong
♦ “Mighty River” Mudbound  - Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige (2nd nomination includes 2018 Actress Supporting), Raphael Saadiq, Taura Stinson
♦ “Mystery of Love” Call Me by Your Name, Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens
♦ “Remember Me” Coco Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez (2nd), Robert Lopez (2nd)
♦ “Stand Up For Something” Marshall, Music by Diane Warren (9th); Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn (2nd) and Diane Warren (9th)
♦ “This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman, Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek (3rd, 1 win, Justin Paul (2nd, 1 win)

Production Design:   My pick, The Shape of WaterWINNER:"The Shape of Water" Got it Right
♦ Beauty and the Beast, Sarah Greenwood (Production Design) (6th nomination includes 2018 Production Design; Katie Spencer (Set Decoration)  (6th nomination includes 2018 Production Design;  
♦ Blade Runner 2049,  Dennis Gassner (Production Design) (6th, 1 win); Alessandra Querzola (Set Decoration)
♦ Darkest Hour, Sarah Greenwood (Production Design) (6th nomination includes 2018 Production Design; Katie Spencer (Set Decoration)  (6th nomination includes 2018 Production Design;  
♦ Dunkirk,  Nathan Crowley (Production Design) (4th) ; Gary Fettis (Set Decoration) (4th) 
♦ The Shape of Water,   Paul Denham Austerberry (Production Design); Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin (Set Decoration)

Short Film (Animated):   My pick, LouWINNER:"Dear Basketball" Got it Wrong
♦  Dear Basketball,  Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant  
♦ Garden Party,  Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
♦ Lou,   Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
♦ Negative Space,   Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
♦ Revolting Rhymes,  Jakob Schuh (2nd) and Jan Lachauer (2nd)

Live Action Short Subject:   My pick, The Silent ChildWINNER:"The Silent Film"  I got this right
♦ DeKalb ElementeryReed Van Dyk
♦ The Eleven O'Clock,   Derin Seale, Josh Lawson
♦ My Nephew Emmett Kevin Wilson, Jr.
♦ The Silent Child,   Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton
♦ Watu Wote/All of Us,   Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen

Sound Editing:   My pick, The Shape of Water. WINNER:"Dunkirk" I got this wrong
♦ Baby DriverJulian Slater (2nd nomination, includes 2018 Sound Mixing)
♦ Blade Runner 2049 Mark Mangini (5th, 1 win), Theo Green
♦ Dunkirk Richard King (6th, 2 wins) , Alex Gibson
♦ The Shape of Water,   Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira 
♦ Star Wars: The Last JediMatthew Wood (4th), Ren Klyce (7th includes 2018 Sound Mixing)

Sound Mixing:  My pick,  DunkirkWINNER:"Dunkirk" I got this one right
♦ Baby DriverJulian Slater (2nd nomination, includes 2018 Sound Editing),  Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis
♦ Blade Runner 2049 Ron Bartlett (2nd), Doug Hemphill (9th, 1 win), Mac Ruth (3rd)
♦ Dunkirk Mark Weingarten (4th), Gregg Landaker (9th, 3 wins), Gary A. Rizzo (5th, 1 win) 
♦ The Shape of Water,   Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira 
♦ Star Wars: The Last JediDavid Parker (9th, 3 wins), Michael Semanick (11th, 2 wins), Ren Klyce (7th includes 2018 Sound Editing) Stuart Wilson (5th)

Visual Effects: My pick, War for the Planet of the Apes.WINNER:"Blade Runner" Got this wrong
♦ Blade Runner 2049, John Nelson (4th, 1 win), Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover (3rd)
♦ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Christopher Townsend (2nd), Guy Williams (3rd), Jonathan Fawkner (2nd), Dan Sudick (8th)
♦ Kong: Skull Island, Stephen Rosenbaum (3rd, 2 wins), Jeff White (2nd), Scott Benza (3rd), Mike Meinardus
♦ Star Wars: The Last Jedi Ben Morris (2nd, 1 win), Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan (3rd, 1 win), Chris Corbould (4th, 1 win)
♦ War for the Planet of the Apes,  Joe Letteri (10th, 4 wins), Daniel Barrett (3rd), Dan Lemmon (4th, 1 win), Joel Whist

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):  My pick, Call Me by Your NameWINNER:"Call Me by Your Name" My Pick Right :)
♦ Call Me by Your Name, James Ivory (4th nomination)
♦ The Disaster ArtistScott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber  
♦ Logan, Scott Frank  (2nd), James Mangold, Michael Green; Story by James Mangold
♦ Molly's Game, Aaron Sorkin (3rd nomination, 1 win)
♦ Mudbound, Virgil Williams, Dee Rees

Writing (Original Screenplay):  My pick, Get Out.  WINNER:"Get Out"  My Pick Right :)
♦ The Big Sick,  Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
♦ Get Out, Jordan Peele (3rd nomination, includes 2018 Picture)
♦ Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig (2nd nomination, includes 2018 Directing)
♦ The Shape of Water,  Guillermo del Toro (4th includes 2018 Picture), Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro
♦ Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh (4th nomination includes 2018 Picture)


My previous scores have been averaging about 85% right on Oscar.com. Wonder what my score will be this time.  Whatever my score this year, I'll share it on Facebook and this blog. 


Any photos are courtesy of Wikimedia unless otherwise noted. All other photos will be credited as required.
2017 Oscar resources:
2016  Oscar resources:
2016 Oscar predictions: Variety
♦ 2015 Oscar nominations: Complete list; ‘Selma’ snubbed; ‘Birdman’ and ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ lead with nine  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/01/15/2015-oscar-nominations-complete-coverage/
Oscar 2014 resources:
♦ 2014 Oscar nominations: ‘Gravity,’ and ‘Hustle’ lead with 10 nominations including best picture, Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscar-nominations-2014-main,0,500124.story#axzz2qZqycltO
♦  Oscar nominations 2017, The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2017/01/24/oscar-nominations-2017-live-full-list/
♦ Oscar predictions 2017, Awards Circuit http://www.awardscircuit.com/oscar-predictions/best-cinematography/
♦ 89th Academy Awards, Wikipedia.org


♦ 2016 Oscar nominations, Oscar.com
Oscar 2015 resources:

♦   Oscars 2015: 'Boyhood,' 'Birdman' Score Big Nominations  http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/oscars-2015-boyhood-birdman-score-big-nominations-20150115
♦  Oscars 2015: Nominations preview and predictions http://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscar-2015-nomination-predictions-who-will-be-in-the-running/
♦  Oscars 2015: 'Birdman,' 'Budapest' top nominations  http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-oscars-nominations-20150115-story.html
♦  Academy Awards nominations 2015: our predictions http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/jan/15/oscar-nominations-2015-our-predictions

♦ Oscar.com 2014 nominations, http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/86/nomineesByPicture.html
♦ Who’s gonna get picked ? Predicting the 2014 Oscar nominations http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/showbiz/movies/2014-oscar-predictions-nominations/
♦ Meet the 2014 Oscar Nominees, RottenTomatoes http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/showbiz/movies/2014-oscar-predictions-nominations/



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