COO of The Corp

Jack got the job as the COO of "The Corp."

Students of Georgetown, Inc., commonly known as "The Corp" is a 501(c)3 non-profit public charitable organization at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is the largest entirely student-run 501(c)3 non-profit corporation in the world, with seven subsidiary companies generating annual revenues in excess of $5 million. Only undergraduate students of Georgetown University work as employees or sit as members of the Corp's Board of Directors, distinguishing business operations at the Corp from other student-run companies such as Harvard Student Agencies, which allows non-students and alumni to serve as board members.

Celebrating My Birthday

Sharon and I finished the day celebrating my birthday at Mas Taco Bar in Arden Town. After a guacamole and chips appetizer, we tried Butternut Squash [braised swiss chard, peptic salsa verde], Baja Fish [blackened salmon, mango salsa, tapatio aioli, cabbage, jalapeno], Banh Mi Shrimp [pickled vegetables, jalapeños, cilantro, Asian bbq sauce, laughing bun] and Fried Oyster [tapatio aioli, cabbage, cilantro, onions] tacos.

Presents included cologne and a subscription to Sirius radio for my new car.

With Jack and Drew

The Favourite

Continuing our quest to get a jump on seeing all of the potential Oscar Best Picture nominees, Sharon and I went to see The Favourite at the Roseville Century 14 and XD. I am not sure that I had ever been to this theater before.

The American Film Institute selected the movie as one of the top 10 films of 2018. It received five Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. It won Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for Olivia Colman.

The story examines the relationship between two cousins vying to be the court favorites of Queen Anne in the early 18th century. It stars Olivia Colman as Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Emma Stone as Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham and Rachel Weisz as Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.

When Sharon walked out of the Green Book last weekend, we both thought "that was a good movie." Neither of us felt that way walking out of The Favorite. Sharon gave it a 6.5 on a scale of 10, while I gave it a 6. There are strong performances by Colman, Weisz and Stone, but the movie was slow in parts and had a very unsatisfying ending. While I think it will receive a number of Oscar nominations, I don't believe that it will win Best Picture, Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress.

2019 Kings versus Hornets

Larkin and I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Charlotte Hornets NBA game. Trailing at half-time by the score of 59 to 57, the Kings made a nice run at the end of the third quarter to lead by six points. They held on in the fourth quarter to win by the score of 104 to 97.

Borden Bogdanovic was the leading scorer for the Kings. He had 22 points on 9 for 17 from the field, 4 for 7 from three and 0 for 0 from the free throw line. De'Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield each added 21 points.

Kemba Walker was the leader scorer for the Hornets. He had 31 points on 11 for 24 from the field, 3 for 12 from three and 6 for 8 from the free throw line. Tony Parker is on the Hornets this season, but was given the night off.

The Kings are a fun team to watch this year. The Kings now have 4 wins and 2 losses in games that I have seen in person during the 2018-2019 season.

Larkin and I had dinner at Tequila Museo Mayahuel before the game. Sharon and I had dinner there in 2016. I was amazed at how many people were on K Street before and after the game. Putting the arena downtown is one of the best things that has happened in Sacramento!

Master of the Senate by Robert Caro

My book for December was Master of the Senate by Robert Caro. For Christmas in 2017, Drew gave me The Passage of Power, the fourth book in Caro's planned five book biography of Lyndon Johnson. I decided to buy the first book and start at the beginning. I finished the first volume [The Path to Power] in March and the second volume [Means of Ascent] in May. This is the third volume. This book fits into my long term project to read books about all of the presidents.

The book was released on April 23, 2002. It won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, the 2002 National Book Award for Nonfiction, the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography, and the 2002 D.B. Hardeman Prize.

In this third volume, Master of the Senate, Caro chronicles Johnson's rapid ascent in United States Congress, including his tenure as Senate majority leader. Like the first two books, Caro does a deep dive into supporting parts of the story to provide context. For example, the first 100 plus pages of the book examine the history of the Senate! Other tangential areas that the author covers deeply include Richard Russel, Leland Olds and the Federal Power Commission, Hells Canyon and the civil rights struggles of the 1950s.

With Johnson's eyes on running for President, the books does a particularly deep dive into his battle to pass a landmark civil rights bill through Congress without it tearing apart his party. Even in the 1950s, the attitude of the southern bloc of the Democratic party towards civil rights was mired in the early 19th century... Although its scope was limited, the ensuing Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first such legislation since the Reconstruction era.

I appreciated the book. At more than 1,100 pages, it is a load. It don't recommend it as a stand alone book. You need to start with volume one of Caro's biography of Johnson.

A footnote. I have always prided myself on finishing at least one book a month. This marks the second time in more than twenty-five years that I have fallen short of that goal. In the fall of 2016 when I started a new job and was more than a little off my feed, it took me four months to work my way through Hamilton. Due to the length of the book and some craziness at work in November, it took me three months to work my way through Master of the Senate.

Celebrating Tom's Birthday

Eric, Ashley, Tom, Sharon and I went to Il Fornaio for dinner to celebrate Tom's birthday. We had an appetizer and entrees off of the January Friuli Venezia Giulia regional menu. Friuli Venezia Giulia is a northeast Italian region bordering Austria, Slovenia and the Adriatic Sea.

We split Spiedini con Polenta e Funghi [roasted assortment of chicken, beef tenderloin, sausage & applewood-smoked bacon a top soft polenta with sautéed mixed] as an appetizer. Ashley and I both had Risotto Miramare [carnaroli rice with shrimp, calamari, crab, peas & tomatoes]. Sharon had Ravioli d’anitra Agli Asparagus [housemade ravioli filled with roast duck, prosciutto & Piave Vecchio cheese topped with asparagus cream sauce, radicchio & Grana Padano]. Tom had Galla Filetto di Bronzino all Greca [grilled fillet of seabags with black & green olives, capers, tomatoes & Trebbiano wine; served with mashed potatoes & sautéed organic spinach]. Eric had Gamberoni all Buhara [prawns sautéed with paprika, garlic, brandy, capers, marinara & cream; served with spaghetti tossed with sliced garlic, extra-virgin olive oil & Italian peperoncino]

Sharon and Tom had the wine flight. It included: Pinot Grigio, “Il Yamato”, Scarbolo, 2017; Ribolla Galla, Buzzinelli, Collio; Sauvignon Blanc, Vie di Romans, 2015, and, Pinot Nero, Hermann ‘Red Angel’, 2014.

We finished the night with presents and cake at Tom's house.

Drew and Shannon

Jack back to school

Finishing Jack's three week Christmas break, I got up at 3:30 am. I got Jack and Sharon up about 4:00 am. We rolled from the house about 4:30 am. Jack was supposed to take a 6:50 am United flight to Chicago. For reasons I still don't understand, the flight was repeatedly delayed. Eventually, the flight took off, but went to Denver. After a short stop, it continued to Chicago. Jack then caught a 6:00 pm flight to Washington National. He was finally in Washington DC shortly after 9:00 pm.

Catching an Uber, Jack was back in Georgetown to start the second half of his junior year a little before 10 pm eastern time. He was a few things that he is going to have to sort out at the start of this semester.

Typically, we have flown him nonstop to Baltimore or Dulles, but they don't seem to run those flights in early January. In the almost twenty five years that Sharon and I have traveled together, we have one rule: any day that you end up where you were supposed to be is a good day.

Roma

On Year's Eve, Tom, Sharon and I watched Roma on Netflix. The film began a limited theatrical run on November 21, 2018 and started streaming on Netflix on December 14, 2018. The National Board of Review rated Roma as one of the top ten best films of 2018. At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, it earned nominations for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay; it won Best Director. Roma is on a number of lists as a nominee for best picture at the Oscars.

Roma is a 2018 drama film written, co-produced, co-edited, and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. It stars Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Enoc Leaño, and Daniel Valtierra.

Set in 1970 and 1971, the film is a semi-autobiographical take on Cuarón's upbringing in Mexico City.  It follows the life of a live-in housekeeper to a middle-class family. The title refers to the Colonia Roma, a neighborhood in Mexico City.

I have to admit that I struggled more than a little with the film. The cinematography is gorgeous, but the film is in Spanish with English subtitles. Reading a summary of the film afterwards, I realized that I missed a couple of nuances because I was focused on reading the subtitles. Sharon suggested that we might need to go back and watch it again without subtitles... At this point, I give it a luke-warm thumbs up. it will be interesting to see if it actually gets a best picture Oscar nomination.

Green Book

Continuing our quest to get a jump on seeing all of the potential Oscar Best Picture nominees, Sharon and I went to see Green Book at the Palladio 16 in Folsom. The film was chosen by the National Board of Review as the best film of 2018 and as one of the Top 10 by the American Film Institute. The film won several awards at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali).

Set in the Deep South in the 1960s, the movie follows a tour between African-American classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and Italian-American bouncer Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen). Vallelogna served as Shirley's driver and bodyguard.

The screenplay was written in part by Vallelonga's son, Nick Vallelonga. It is a true story based on interviews with his father and Shirley, as well as letters his father wrote to his mother. The film is named after The Negro Motorist Green Book, a mid-20th century guidebook for African-American travelers written by Victor Hugo Green, to help them find motels and restaurants that would accept them.

I thought that the movie was very good. I really enjoyed it. I would guess that the movie as well as Mortensen and Ali will get Oscar nominations. I particularly enjoyed Viggo Mortensen's performance.

Taking down the Christmas decorations

Sharon and I spent all of Saturday taking down and packing up the Christmas decorations. Usually, this takes us all weekend, but we made a big push and got everything packed up and out of the house in one day! There are still about thirty boxes in the garage that I need to move to the storage shed on Sunday.

Although it rained off and on over the course of the day, I was just thankful that it was pouring rain like it was two years ago! While I love the house at Christmas, it feels right to take everything down, turn the page on the holiday season and start into the new year.

Cafe Bernardo

Sharon, Jack and I finished the week with an early dinner at Cafe Bernardo at Pavilions. Jack had a four cheese pizza, I had a butternut squash & white bean soup and a turkey burger and Sharon had a mushroom & Jarlesberg cheese salad and a grilled salmon plate.

2019 Oscars Nominations Predictions

2019 Oscar nomination predictions from Goldderby.com as of January 4, 2019

BEST PICTURE
   A Star is born
   Roma
   Green Book [Golden Globe: Best Picture - Musical or Comedy]
   The Favourite
   BlacKkKlansman
   Black Panther
   If Beale Street Could Talk
   Vice
   First Man {Digital HD - January 8}
   Mary Poppins Returns
   Bohemian Rhapsody [Golden Globe: Best Picture - Drama] {Amazon Video and iTunes on January 22, 2019}


ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
   Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born
   Christian Bale - Vice [Golden Globe: Actor  - Musical or Comedy]
   Viggo Mortensen - Green Book
   Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody [Golden Globe: Actor - Drama]
   Ethan Hawke - First Reformed {Digital HD - available}
   John David Washington - BlacKkKlansman


ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
   Lady Gaga - A Star Is Born
   Olivia Colman - The Favorite [Golden Globe: Actress  - Musical or Comedy]
   Glenn Close - The Wife {DVD release date - January 29} [Golden Globe: Actress - Drama]
   Melissa McCarthy - Can You Ever Forgive Me? {Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes on February 5, 2019.}
   Emily Blunt Mary - Poppins Returns
   Yalitza Aparicio - Roma


ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
   Mahershala Ali - Green Book [Golden Globe: Actor in a Supporting Role]
   Richard E. Grant - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
   Sam Elliott - A Star Is Born
   Timothy Chalamet - Beautiful Boy
   Adam Driver - BlacKkKlansman
   Michael B. Jordan - Black Panther


ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
   Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk [Golden Globe: Actress in a Supporting Role]
   Amy Adams - Vice
   Emma Stone - The Favorite
   Rachel Weisz - The Favorite
   Claire Foy - First Man
   Nicole Kidman - Boy Erased {Digital HD - January 15}


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY


The 2018 Oscar nominations are here.

The 2017 Oscar nominations are here.

The 2016 Oscar nominations are here.

The 2015 Oscar nominations are here.

Vice

On Christmas Day, Sharon, Jack, Tom and I went to see Vice at the Century Arden 14 and XD. Although Tom suggested the movie, it is on several lists of possible nominees for the best picture Oscar. The film has already received numerous award nominations, including six at the 76th Golden Globe Awards. It got a Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Vice is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam McKay. The film stars Christian Bale as Dick Cheney, Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush and Tyler Perry as Colin Powell.

The plot follows the arc of Dick Cheney's life and career. I was fascinated by the portrayal of Cheney's early life; he is shown as a hard drinking kid who funked out of an ivy league college. I wonder how accurate this is.

This is a solid movie. I am sure that Christian Bale will get an Oscar's best actor nomination for his performance. I am not sure how accurate the overall story is to the truth, but I enjoyed the film.

Crazy Rich Asians

Saturday night, December 22, Sharon, Jack and I watched Crazy Rich Asians as a HD rental on the AppleTV. The movie is based the 2013 novel of the same name by Kevin Kwan. At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, the film received two nominations (Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for Wu).

The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Nico Santos, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong and Michelle Yeoh. It follows an American professor who travels to meet her boyfriend's family and is surprised to discover they are among the richest in Singapore.

While it had some nice moments, the movie was not very good. I kept looking at my watch to see how much longer it had. When I asked Sharon what she thought of the movie, she said "I thought it would be better." I don't recommend it. Interesting, Jack was more positive about the movie than Sharon or I were. Apparently, this is the first of three books and they are going to make a sequel...

2019 Kings versus Trailblazers

Sharon, Jack, Jason and I went to the Sacramento Kings versus Portland Trailblazers NBA game. Sharon gave Jack the tickets for this game for Christmas [section 104, row Q, seats 16, 17 and 18].

I had a ticket for my work's balcony seats; I sat in these seats once last year. The seats include a hosted bar and food service. The food service included a series of small plates each quarter. The group from work included Bill and Ed from my teams and Heather and David from Sean's teams.

Trailing by ten points for most of the game, the Kings pulled ahead in the fourth quarter. The Kings then went cold; they were 1 for 17 in the end of the fourth quarter and the overtime. The Kings lost the game in overtime by the score of 113 to 108. It was a very disappointing loss...

Buddy Held was the leading scorer for the Kings with 27 points. Held was 11 for 23 from the field, 5 for 8 from three and had no free throws! The Kings only got to the free throw line 12 times compared to 30 times for the Trailblazers.

Damian Lillard was the leading scorer for the Trailblazers with 25 points. Lillard was 8 for 21 from the field, 1 for 9 from three and 8 for 8 from the free throw line. Jusuf Nurkic had a career night for Portland with 24 points, 23 rebounds, 5 blocks and 5 steals.

The Kings now have 3 wins and 2 losses in games that I have seen in person during the 2018-2019 season.

New Year's Eve 2018

Sharon's brother Tom came over. Sharon made a nice dinner of osso buco, risotto and green beans. Jack joined us for dinner before he and Jason took off for El Dorado Hills.

Sharon, Tom and I watched Roma on Netflix. Although it is foreign film with subtitles, Roma is on a number of lists as an Oscar Best Picture nominee. You can find more on the film here.

Sharon and I made it to midnight. We finished the night watching fireworks from the master balcony.

House of Cards - Season Six

After getting back from visiting with my sisters on Saturday night, December 29, Sharon and I finished the sixth season of House of Cards. We finished season one in October of 2016, season two in November of 2016, season three in April of 2017, season four in June of 2017 and season five in September of 2017. This season was originally released on November 2, 2018.

The season does not include former lead actor Kevin Spacey who was fired from the show due to sexual misconduct allegations. In the wake of Spacey's firing, Robin Wright leads the sixth season of House of Cards. Her character, Claire Underwood, assumed the presidency at the end of the previous season.

New additions to the cast included Diane Lane and Greg Kenner who played Annette and Bill Shepherd, the sister-brother inheritors of an industrial conglomerate. Portrayed as a family with the power to influence politics, the characters were inspired by the Koch brothers.

I really hated this season. I disliked it even more than I disliked season three. They were already filming season six when Spacey was fired. It is clear that they quickly rewrote the plot for the season. The end result is a disjointed abbreviated season with lots of loose ends and a bad finale.

To Marin County

Rolling from Carmichael about 8:30 am, the plan for the day was to meet up with my sisters, a couple of cousins and Drew and Shannon in Marin County. We met at the Smith Ranch Park and Ride. The group included Lee Ann and Dean, Sharon and Michael, Drew and Shannon, my cousins Pete and Christine, Sharon, Jack and I. There are also multiple dogs, including Tiber, Lee Ann's two Brussels Griffon terriers and a Great Pyrenees named Bear that Drew and Shannon were house sitting.

From the park and ride, we headed up Lucas Valley Road to the property that Lee Ann and Dean have bought. Located off of Fire Road, they have twenty-five acres and plans to build house there. Dean brought the blueprints and showed us how the split level house would be laid out.

We stopped for lunch in Rancho Nicosia Bar and Restaurant. After lunch, we headed to Sharon and Michael's property. They have fifty acres near the corner of San Antonio Road and I Street south of Petaluma. Sharon has about two dozen sheep that she uses to train her sheep dogs. On the way to the property, Sharon picked up her five sheep dogs!

We roamed the property. My sister Sharon gave Tiber a chance to herd the sheep. We watched a couple of her dogs work the sheep.

We had a very nice visit. We ended up staying later than I expected. It was also 4 pm by the time we left. Hitting an accident on Highway 37 and lots of traffic on Highway 80, it was almost 6:30 pm by the time that we got home.

Christmas Ornament 2018

I have bought Sharon an ornament for the tree every year since the first Christmas we celebrated together.

This year, I bought her an ornament at the Butchart Gardens during our trip to Vancouver Island.

Wine Tasting in Napa

Crouching Spider, 2003, by Louise Bourgeois

Leaving the house before 9 am, the plan for the day was wine tasting in Napa. Sharon had wine shipments to pick up at several wineries where she is a wine club member. We made a quick stop at Raleys to grab a couple of sandwiches.

The first stop was Bouchaine Vineyards. Sharon has been a wine club member here since our first visit in 2010. It is amazing how much this winery has changed in the last nine years. They are building a new tasting room that will be open in the spring. We sat on the back deck, had a nice tasting and ate our sandwiches.

From there, we headed to Donum Estate. Thanks to Sharon's friend Noel, we discovered this winery two years ago with the Sanborns on the way to Sea Ranch. This is a remarkable winery with a world class collection of art. With the wind coming out of the north, it was a very clear day. We tasted in a room on the south end of their new tasting room with gorgeous views of the bay. You could see all the way to San Francisco.

We were back on the road towards home about 1:45 pm. It was a slog. The traffic was very heavy. The GPS in Sharon's car actually routed me on the freeway in Fairfield and Vacaville. We were home just after 4:00 pm...