Academy Awards 2011

This year, I only updated my Swedish Blog during the Academy Awards. But I thought I’d make a short update on this blog as well. Better late than never…

Here are the winners of this year’s Academy Awards Show.

Actor in a Leading Role – Colin Firth in The King’s
Actor in a Supporting Role – Christian Bale in The Fighter
Actress in a Leading Role – Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Actress in a Supporting Role – Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Animated Feature Film – Lee Unkrich for Toy Story 3
Art Direction – Alice in Wonderland
Cinematography – Wally Pfister for Inception
Costume Design -Cooleen Atwood for Alice in Wonderland
Directing – Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech
Documentary (Feature) – Charles Ferguson & Audrey Marrs for Inside Job
Documentary (Short Subject) – Karen Goodman & Kirk Simon for Stranger No More
Film Editing – Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter for The Social Network
Foreign Language Film – In A Better World, Denmark
MakeUp – Rick Bake & Dave Elsey for The Wolfman
Music (Original Score) – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for The Social Network
Music (Original Song - “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3″
Short Film (Animated) – Shaun Tan & Andrew Ruhemann for The Lost Thing
Short Film (Live Action) – Luke Matheny for God of Love
Sound Editing – Richard King for Inception
Sound Mixing - Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo & Ed Novick for Inception
Visual Effects – Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb for Inception
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network
Writing (Original Screenplay) – David Seidler for The King’s Speech

And the most prestigious award of them all!!!
Best Picture – The King’s Speech

But the Academy Awards isn’t only about the actual awards, it’s as much about the dresses! And this year, there were 3 colors that dominated the Red Carpet; Beige/White/Silver, Dark tones and Red. A couple of Purple tones appeared as well.

Light colors were popular on the Red Carpet. (images borrowed from the internet)

Here you see Michelle Williams, Nicole Kidman, Mandy Moore, Hillary Swank, Hailee Steinfeld, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett and Oscar Winner Melissa Leo. I didn’t like Nicole Kidmans dress at all. It’s too stiff, and has a weird front that doesn’t do anything to enhance the dress or Nicole’s body. I think Mandy Moore’s dress is very nice, but best is Hillary Swanks Gucci gala dress with beautiful colors, metallic details and a beautiful feather skirt. Hailee Steinfeld is definitely dressed for her age, something not many young oscar nominees manage to do. And Halle Berry and Cate Blanchett also have quite nice dresses.

From Top Left: Reese Witherspoon, Helen Mirren, Amy Adams, Helena Bonham Carter, Busy Philipps, Sharon Stone, Sheryl Hines, Annette Bening, Marissa Tomei.

Oscar nominated Amy Adams, looks very nice in her dark, shiny dress with a short arm. Not typical what she usually wear, but very nice indeed! Dark tone are quite popular on most galas. Is that because it makes you look more slim? Who knows…

From Top Left: Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Hudson, Oscar Nominated Jennifer Lawrence, Ashlan Gorse and Penelope Cruz.

These ladies look great in red, matching the Red Carpet. However, I think Sandra Bullock in a Vera Wang dress and Jennifer Hudson’s Tangerine Orange dress look the best! Look at them! Gorgeous! Jennifer Lawrence look alright as well, although I don’t like the top half of her dress.

Natalie Portman, Milla Kunis and Scarlett Johansson rocked some purple on the Red Carpet.

And they did it well! Look at them! I think these three women, all look stunning! Mostly Milla Kunis, in a dress from Elei Saab. She makes it look effortless. Gorgeous!

We cannot forget the men! Here are some images of the men in the suits:

From Top Left: Jeremy Runner, Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Darren Aronofsky, Justin Timberlake, Josh Hutcherson, Russel Brand.

From Top Left: Geoffrey Rush & Oscar Winner Colin Firth, Oscar Winner Christian Bale and Mark Whalberg, Aaron Ralston (the real 127 hour guy) and his wife, Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves, Robert Downdey Jr. and wife Susan.

I have an absolute favorite on this year’s Academy Award. Gwyneth Paltrow. Wa-wa-woom! Stunning! Her dress looks like a waterfall, dripping off her body in silver drops.

Gwyneth Paltrow, definitely Best Dressed on the Academy Award 2011.

What is your favorite dress on this years Academy Awards?

I know the Academy Award just finished, but I just can’t wait to the Academy Awards 2012. =o)

Farewell PuPu Springs

Te Waikoropupu Springs and Farewell Spit.

We took the beautiful drive from Motueka to Collingwood to visit Farewell Spit. On the way, we stopped at Te Waikoropupu Springs (PuPu Springs). It’s a taonga (appreciated), and waahi tapu (holy) place for the Maori, both locally and nationally. According to Maori Traditions, PuPu Springs is waiora (the purest kind of water), which is a wairua (holy) and source of life. The springs have been used to cure people and as a ceremoial spot at births, deaths and for travellers, coming or going.

Beautiful Te Waikoropupu Springs on the South Island, NZ.

The water at PuPu Springs, is so clear, that you horisontally, can see 63 meters under water. A world record for fresh water. You can see the water “boiling” to the surface, almost like boiling water. Quite interesting!

Cikadas are Everywhere in New Zealand, in the summer, and their "music" is very, very loud.

Unfortunately, the water, or the algies (not sure which), have got some disease, and you are under no circumstances, to touch the water. If you do, you can spread the disease to other plants, water streams etc, around the country.

Farewell Spit and Fossil Point.

Finally, we arrived at Farewell Spit. It was low tide and you could walk far on the beach which the ocean had revealed. Shells were spread out everywhere, crabs ran in and out of their small burrows, and hundreds of black swans enjoyed the dinner table that had ben set for them. Children played in the small ponds of water, people went for long walks and we also enjoyed a walk over to Fossil Point, to stick our feet in the warm sand and feel the smoothing breeze against our skins.

A perfect day!

Abel Tasman

Golden Beaches, Clear Water, Granit Cliffs, Beautiful Walks, Kayak Tours… Abel Tasman National Park has it all.

Last time I visisted Abel Tasman, it was raining, and we never got off the Aqua Taxi to walk on the golden beaches. This time however, after a cloudy morning, we enjoyed a hot, sunny day, although a bit windy.

We took the Aqua Taxi and started off with a scenic aqua taxi drive and looked at wonderful beaches and seals swimming in the blue water. After this, we went to some beaches to drop off some passangers. We were supposed to go to Anchorage Beach and we ended up all alone with our boat captain. He promised us a good tour, since we were all alone, and he would show us some cool stuff. Then the motor stopped working. Some tour! Haha… =o) We bumped around on the rough sea (the wind had picked up and the waves got bigger) for about an hour. I got real sea sick and a migraine. Finally, the technician came and had to drag our boat to a calm bay where we could jump in to another boat while they fixed the motor.

Golden beaches, granite cliffs and clear water.

Finally we were at Anchorage Beach. After a quick lunch, we lay down on the golden beach and enjoyed the sun for about 3 hours. I also took a nice, long swim in the relatively warm water. It was wonderful!

The color of the beaches at Abel Tasman National Park, comes from the iron and granite in the rocks. As the iron rosts, the rosts is washed in to the shore, and makes the beaches, along with other sand, granite etc.

Wonderful Abel Tasman National Park. =o)

Abel Tasman National Park is New Zealand’s youngest park, established in 1942. It is named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who was the first European Explorer to spot New Zealand.

Are you going to New Zealand? Do NOT forget to visit Abel Tasman, it is a wonderful place. =o)