2015 Academy Awards

2015 Academy Awards event has been excruciatingly long, painful and boring, host presenter Neil Patrick Harris barely achieved anything to be talked about, he did not utter a single witty gag without going any further. Everything has been monotonous. We have scarcely enjoyed something relevant to talk about. What is more, we have not watched a great movie let alone something remarkable like when Daniel Day-Lewis did win his 3rd Oscar two years ago or when Matthew McConaughey did win his first one last year. There are a lot of Cinematographic Events, yet if it is supposed Oscars night is the most important ceremony of movie industry, we have a big problem here. 

2015 Academy Awards.

Host presenter Neil Patrick Harris has barely achieved a funny joke, a witty gag or something similar. Everything has been forgettable. Last year Ellen Degeneres did make a good job, it is not she was specially funny yet very self conscious, she has such a vast experience and confidence in an scenario that she invited people any time she opened the mouth. Her occurrence of making a selfie (perhaps it is not remembered, yet she is responsible for the current fad of people doing selfies everywhere (it is sad to discover people who do this think of themselves as witty) making the most retweet tweet in Twitter History. It was especially funny as when Ellen DeGeneres called on a pizza deliver and asked people in the room (all of them wealthy of course) to give him a good tip. By contrast, Neil Patrick Harris, (it is supposed to be an expert in this kind of things) passed through the whole event as if he were not there, when everything was over he acted as if he were in a bar instead, yet he was at the most important event inside Movie Industry.

2015 Academy Awards

And of course, I take advantage of this to talk about Ricky Gervais because people responsible of arrange Academy Awards do not want to hire him as they do not want to insult a celebrity, let alone create controversy to make it more successful all around the world, I think Ricky Gervais should not die without hosting an Academy Awards ceremony, he knows he deserves it and he knows likewise they do not want to hire him.

RICKY GERVAIS Golden Globes. Opening Speech.


Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais

Do share, comment, What do you think of last Academy Awards event?. Does Ricky Gervais deserve to host it? 

Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney, FourFiveSeconds

Rihanna has teamed up with rapper Kanye West and music legend Paul McCartney to present us her new hit FourFiveSeconds that is a single for her forthcoming album R8 as the Barbadian star has published 8 music albums to date. To present her new album she has unveiled this impressive song, FourFiveSeconds with Kanye West and Paul McCartney to whom she starred a wonderful videoclip you can watch it here.

Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney, FourFiveSeconds

Unlike other times when Rihanna has brought us middling stuff, videoclips which were excessive (Pour it Up) or has mixed styles wrongly (Phresh out the runway) or when she only published bland pop songs to be played at the disco (Where have you been for instance) Rihanna has produced a wonderful song, she has done this many times before therefore we are glad to praise this new hit FourFiveSeconds. Similarly, FourFiveSeconds videoclip is impeccable shot in a stylish black and white, Paul McCartney as a secondary artist, Kanye West proving his skills and Rihanna shining. You can watch it now. Rihanna´s FourFiveSeconds.

Rihanna FourFiveSeconds

          Do you like new single of Rihanna, FourFiveSeconds? Do share and comment. Sincerely.

Lily Aldridge and Martha Hunt, A Sexy Short!!

Do you still believe lives of supermodels are easy? Think twice and watch these two commercials starred by Victoria´s Secret model Martha Hunt and VS angel Lily Aldridge. As any of us, Lily Aldridge must impress her bosses in order to keep her job. Likewise, Martha Hunt faces some problems with her current boyfriend as men can be bothersome. Watch out these two funny commercials called A Sexy Short conceived by Victoria´s Secret to promote a new line of underwear.

A Sexy Short Lily Aldridge

A SEXY SHORT-LILY ALDRIDGE

                                             

A SEXY SHORT MARTHA HUNT

A Sexy Short Martha Hunt

Hope you have enjoyed these two fashion commercials with Martha Hunt and Lily Aldridge therein inside A Sexy Short commercial series. Do rate, share and comment.

CR7 did not deserve FIFA Ballon d'Or

I am not going to destroy the reputation of Cristiano Ronaldo fully, his stats are out there and anybody can scrutinize them, his competitiveness or regularity make him to be unique albeit I suspect he takes advantage of the outstanding and particular quality of Real Madrid whose wealthy budget, high enough to be out of reach from the rest of football clubs, makes Cristiano Ronaldo be able to finish the counter-attacks Real Madrid does start so rapid that are lethal for its rivals as Ronaldo is really fast and powerful. However, What happens to World Cup Winners? Was it not supposed to win The World Cup the best thing for a professional footballer? and if it happens as it has taken place in 2014 that the Winner Squad, Germany, conquers it with an extraordinary football style? In my modest opinion, football has globalised in such a way that even Ballon d'or event is broadcasted in Television as if it were Oscars Nights or Golden Globes Awards (if comparisons are hateful when we are talking of a sports event or a cinematographic one this is even more clear, we only have to analyse speeches of footballers) Ronaldo fits perfectly in a new footballer prototype, worried about his image, underwear model, relationship with a supermodel (although it has been assured that after 5 years Ronaldo and Russian supermodel Irina Shayk have broken their relationship because Shayk does not get on well with the family of Ronaldo).

Cristiano Ronaldo e Irina Shayk

In 2006 Ballon D'or was won by Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro, a strong defender and really complete but in defensive terms, nobody complained back then despite the fact 2006 World Cup was nothing extraordinary, there was nothing special and the most important matches were decided in penalties (like the final) or in extra time, the only one relevant match was the semifinal between host nation Germany and Italy. France, finalist, barely scored 3 goals all of them in the last 3 matches of the tournament. There were better players than Cannavaro that year?. Without going any further, Thierry Henry was a Champions League finalist with Arsenal and World Cup finalist with France back that year, going through the final with Arsenal was meritorious. Thierry Henry was a superb footballer, unstoppable with spaces and we are not talking about all the trophies Thierry Henry did win in England where he and his team Arsenal conquered everything possible. Champions League was conquered by Spanish squad Barcelona, Ronaldinho did render a great season, he did not dazzle within World Cup nor in Champions League final so fabulous but was he better than Cannavaro? Well, Ronaldinho was the best football player in the world back then but nobody discussed that title to Italian defender because he had achieved the biggest thing that could be achieved in the world of football. A world Cup trophy. All World Cup winners receive the biggest individual trophies because it is the best recognition a footballer can obtain, majority of cases they are football players who have a destabilise power, this is the reason I am talking of Cannavaro who albeit being a defender he did win the best achievement a football player can win. Did he have much more merit that Henry than the current Ronaldo? Of Course. Was Ronaldinho better than the actual Cristiano Ronaldo?. In my opinion he was. Has it been a much perfect German Squad than the one that won in Brazil?. Of course not. Has it ever been a football squad that humiliated Brazil like that?.

Another example that manifests what I want to explain took place in 1996 when German midfielder with offensive vocation Matthias Sammer received Ballon d'Or because Euro Cup was conquered by Germany, it was done luckily, some penalties against England in Semi-finals and a bouncing back against Czech Republic with a lucky goal in extra time, there was not brilliance. Now, Germany has achieved such brilliance in Brazil where they did beat a mighty Argentina on the final. Going back to 1996, that year Champions League was conquered by Juventus FC where a football player named Alessandro Del Piero (he still plays football) was an outstanding player, he did win football matches on his own with individual efforts but nobody dared to discuss Matthias Sammer recognition because it has always been accepted International Championships are something greater than a Champions League final won in extra time, plenty of goals scored in a devalued football league like Spanish First Division (is if we compared it to the equality of past times). Sammer had class and offensive prowess but his Ballon d'Or winning was because of his triumph with German National Football Team. Juventus Turin (its offensive trident was impressive with Vialli, Del Piero and Ravanelli) did spend lots of time without a bigger win in Europe (Like Ancelotti´s Real Madrid) but it was understood Eurocup was higher than Champions League without taking into account the individual quality of a superior player. Right now this is no like that, this is unfair as German National Team has beaten all the records and its football style is no like before as offensive personality and quality is added to the potent and contundence they still own, with some football players so wonderful like Muller or Schweinsteiger (Goalkeeper Neuer would have been a perfect winner)

Cristiano Ronaldo. Ballon d'Or

In 2010 Ballon D'Or should have been given to Iniesta or Casillas who did win 2010 World Cup, his savings from Robben in the final, his performance in Quarter Finals and his trajectory deserved it but we are not talking of a mere sport, players like Ronaldo for instance are more than icons, exploited to extract juice from Football, Ronaldo is a global star, he fits perfectly in the prototype of a XXI Century football player hence he is much better candidate than other. What is more, if Ronaldo has also won titles with the wealthiest football team par excellence, the one everybody loves Real Madrid and plenty of goals are scored more than perfect and World Cup Champions wait another 4 years. (Ronaldo did nothing with Portugal in last World Cup, Ronaldo surrounded of players from the same nationality plays worse like Messi without going further. Particularly, I would love to see World Cup being more recognized, it is a much better and equaliser competition than, let´s say Champions League, football players from the same country compete everything is more equal as a result. On Champions League there are 4 countries that are rich, Germany, Spain, England and Italy (Well Spain it is only rich in Football terms) that own  money and power to hire the best players. With a bit of luck a team from Portugal, Holland, France or Eastern Europe (Russia or Ukraine) will reach Quarter Finals and because in the previous round football teams from the same country cannot compete against each other.

Last time there were not two football teams in the final of Champions League that were not from England, Spain, Germany or Italy it did take place 11 years ago, the date was in 2004 when Porto trained by a not so well known Mourinho surprised the whole world winning easily Champions League final destroying Monaco in the final with a huge 3-0. From then on, every year is the same, we have to wait until semi-finals to see the true Cup of Europe we would see in the past and decide if the trophy travels to Spain, England, Italy or Germany. There is little doubt Ronaldo could be the best football player of 2014 but a World Cup Champions is a world Cup Champions, Germany has 20 (more or less it depends on how you analyze it) last Ballon d'or should have been given to one of them. Do you believe like me that Trophies like Champions League are not so close as World Cup one and they are not so valued? Do you think Ronaldo is the fair winner of last Ballon d'or. Do share, rate and comment. Remember there are many more stories about football on this blog.

Elephant

Given the atrocities we see these days it was more than beautiful to see a movie regarding an elephant called Sun that had lost its parents because some ivory smugglers had killed them. This movie focuses on the life of this baby elephant, at first, her infancy until her adulthood. Soon thereafter, we see how Sun becomes the leader of its Elephant herd. 

The movie is great as it treats the story carefully, it is very touching but the director does not want to make you cry. 

Indeed, everything is treated with neutral dexterity, it is so great portrayed not only does convey the life of this animal, besides, it is an outstanding cinematic experience.

Written by Halcombe Norilsk, author of 5 books.

Rocking songs of 2014

Another year passes by, another musical year is reviewed just as I did in 2012 Best songs of 2012 and last year Best songs of 2013 but this year nonetheless I have preferred to select less songs. What is more,  the list of this year is comprised of mostly rock songs. I have added some songs that are not rock ones, yet they are so great that  can be deemed as rocking songs. Hope you love them. 

ROCKING SONGS OF 2014
Foo Fighters Something from Nothing 

Counting Crows. Earthquake Driver

 Deep Six. Marilyn Manson Deep Six.

Addicted to you Avicii

Leonard Cohen Slow

                                        

Parquet Courts Content Nausea

Lana del Rey West Coast

The War on Drugs Red Eyes

 The Black Keys Fever

Calvin Harris Summer

Jack White Lazaretto

Riptide Vance Joy

Russian Red John Michael

Arctic Monkeys Snap Out of it

 Kiesza Hideaway

All About that bass Meghan Trainor

Prayer in C Robin Schulz Radio Edit

Rival Sons Electric Man

AC/DC Play Ball

FKA Twigs Two Weeks

Jenny Lewis Just One of the Guys

SIA Elastic Heart.

Charlie XCX Need Your Love

To end up, Victoria´s Secret models dance while one of the songs of the year is played.  Taylor Swift's Shake it off.

Have a wonderful new year. Do rate, share and comment.

A Christmas Carol in Chinese!!!!

Just to prove my Mandarin Chinese lessons are worthy (or in other words to make me believe so) I am writing this post to wish all readers of this Halcombe Norilsk post a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!. This Christmas Carol must be sung bearing in mind the music from the famous English one: "We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year" Besides, I have not added accents as I am not in China!! Happy Holidays!!!

A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN MANDARIN CHINESE

Wo men zhu ni sheng dan kuai le, wo men zhu ni sheng dan kuai le, wo men zhu ni sheng dan kuai le zhu ni xin nian kuai le, wo men zhu ni sheng dan kuai le wo men zhu ni sheng dan kuai le, wo men zhu ni  sheng dan kuai le zhu ni xin nian kuai le!!! Ba xing xing dai dao mei yi ge jiao luo ba xin nian de xin xu dai gei ni men he wo.

RAMMSTEIN.

Till Lindemann . Rammstein 

 Rammstein's singer Till Lindemann . 

In order to celebrate that the entire catalogue of RAMMSTEIN is on Spotify, you can discover today great live performances and the best videoclips of Rammstein. 

This German metal group deserves to be included amongst the best bands that have never been created. Rammstein was formed officially in 1989 but it was not until 1994 they became famous as they won a contest in Germany which allowed them to record an album in a professional level. 

Despite Ramstein is a German place where a terrible crash plane took place in 1988 the double m implies they are inspired by a medieval weapon and Rammstein translates thereby as Ramming stone, or battering ram, this is not so evident. For instance, I have read Rammstein members saying they wrote the word Rammstein with a double m wrongly, yet perhaps they say this on purpose. Many claim they are happy with this ambiguous significance. German verb Rammen means ram. Rammstein

  I saw RAMMSTEIN live and I can assure you RAMMSTEIN live performances are spellbinding. Everything is brilliant, the leader Till Lindemann is a raucous, powerful and fearless front leader. By contrast, keyboardist Christian Lorenz seems feeble and inexperienced. Seeing a concert of  Rammstein makes you feel you are in a theatre because drama and comedy are mixed, besides the performance,  the eerie atmosphere, the mighty music, the unbelievable display of different tricks (many of them hot as hell) or fireworks do the rest.

KEY SONGS OF RAMMSTEIN

RAMMSTEIN Feuer Frei  (fire at will) gave Rammstein International fame as it was included  in a Hollywood action movie called xXx with Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson therein, Rammstein appears on the movie likewise.

Till Lindemann-singer of Rammstein

Rammstein Marilyn Manson admires the band, Rammstein admires Marilyn Manson

RAMMSTEIN

                                               

RAMMSTEIN Live aus Berlin is comprised of some great Rammstein Live performances, asche zu asche is so gripping that its frontman, Till Lindemann, sweats blood. You have to see the video. This is my favourite RAMMSTEIN song. 

                                           

RAMMSTEIN  Du hast. The most famous Rammstein Song, everybody loves it. Even though it was translated into "You hate me", it means "you know me" as talks about the eternal union between a man and a woman that marriage creates but it is not natural. 

RAMMSTEIN Links 2,3,4. Some people accused Rammstein of being extreme right wing followers, NAZI propaganda indeed, this song proves otherwise, a group of humble ants attack filthy, fat and evil beetles. As it is said in the song, "the heart is on the left side" 

RAMMSTEIN

RAMMSTEIN Loves the city of Moskau, this is a love letter to Moscow

                                            

RAMMMSTEIN They tried to sing in English and Rammstein produced this, Are all we living in Amerika?


RAMMSTEIN Ich Will. Even bad guys become rich and famous because Media portrays them like stars shamelessly, this is what RAMMSTEIN does convey here. Ich Will means I want

Mein teil (My portion) Rammstein Many RAMMSTEIN lyrics are strong and tell of sleazy stories, this song besides is inspired by a real case of cannibalism that shocked Germany some years ago. Judicial systems are not ready enough to handle a case of that kind.

RAMMSTEIN

If you have the opportunity of seeing Rammstein in a live concert, do not think twice, take advantage of it as a live performance of German metal band RAMMSTEIN will blow your mind!! Have you ever seen a live performance of Rammstein? do share, rate or comment. Rammstein

Dog Beer

My little dog is not happy at all when Autumn Rainfalls do arrive. My doggy gets depressed as the countryside is muddy hence she cannot smell nor run properly. In fact, the other weekend was so wet and rainy that we stayed at home, no matter how many steaks we ate or Family Guy´s chapters with Brian Griffin as main protagonist we watched, my pooch was really sad until I gave her a Dog Beer, to my amusement it was loved by her, my wonderment became stronger seeing how she drank the bottle entirely. I did not know until most recently this kind of beverages were available, the smell was good. Likewise, my dog enjoyed it, she does not usually try anything liquid that is not water. This Dog beer is made in Belgium, its named is Snuffle Dog Beer and it is so fabulous I recommend it to everybody in consequence!!!. I do not know if there are other brands available but this particular one was a very positive experience.

DOG BEER

Dog Beer

Dog Beer

Dog Beer

Dog Beer

Following the link you can visit the main site of Snuffle Dog Beer  Dog Beer

David Cameron´s Years in Power.

David Cameron  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

David Cameron has faced several issues that have impacted severely. Firstly, after nearly 13 years of Labour government a new Tory politician was in power, have the wounds yet to heal or everything is no longer germane? I am talking of course of Margaret Thatcher who divided the country in such a painful way that its consequences can still be seen deeply throughout British society. In fact, it is assured rich people do vote Labour in the north of England. By contrast, poor people vote Tory in the south. This can happen in sport where a person follows a football team forever, in politics though, it is not the most sensible way to see reality and it was not like that until Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. What is more, Scotland, once a Tory stronghold, rarely sees a Tory MP, this relevant part of Britain was on the verge of being independent, this was the major threat Britain has overlooked since World War Two, the difference though is there was not a foreign army ready to invade Britain, rather, a place inhabited by brothers and sisters with whom English, Welsh and Northern Ireland population have lived peacefully for centuries decided it was the proper time for them to be independent. Northern relatives were tired of being part of the United Kingdom. I find peculiar how many people deem Britain as a powerful country, do envy their lifestyle or its own currency but some of those who live therein yearn for independence, it is rather shocking and this is something historical alike, now time has passed by hence we do not recognize what was to happen, something that could have broken a whole country for once and all. With regards to this, many could claim David Cameron has won. In my personal opinion, he risked unnecessary something as serious as the sovereignty of a nation. No even Alex Salmond, leader of SNP, (who has resigned since he lost the Independence referendum albeit one can say he won given the repercussion and the result he obtained), thought he was going to have such a utter eminent profile, the whole world was watching, European Union trembling, private sector worrying and I presume, David Cameron without a proper bedtime. Alex Salmond wanted more powers to Scotland as his political agenda had promised in Scotland´s general elections, yet David Cameron unexpectedly allowed him to have a radical choice, to break away from Britain or to maintain the status of Scotland, in my view, Mr. Cameron decided to oblige supporters of Scottish Independence to forget their dream. However, it was Alex Salmond who obliged Westminster politicians to take it into account. Nobody could have expected Scotland was on the verge of going independent. David Cameron was sure the referendum was going to be won by people who love Britain thus Scotland´s pro-independence movement would end forever, at first, this was thought, but little by little the situation did change, it was so worrying Westminster politicians went north in order to plead Scottish people to remain British. This was when David Cameron (hated in Scotland as any Tory politician would be) rendered his most memorable speech to date urging Scottish people to keep the current status, yet it was him who allowed the risky situation.  In the end, Scotland did not go alone but David Cameron was close to become the most hatred British politician ever. In fact, the speech we have read to pen this piece of work could have been the last in Britain´s history!!!. I believe he should have given Scotland more powers to start with, something it is said is to do now hence his work on this area has not been positive from my point of view. By contrast, David Cameron had a great summer in 2012 Olympic Games that took place in London where British Olympic Team did have a great result and for some time United Kingdom seemed more united than ever, what is more, a Briton born in Scotland, Andy Murray, won Wimbledon, ending a long search for the most important tennis tournament, the best played in grass courts, Wimbledon. Still, Queen Elizabeth saw her family enlarged with the welcoming of a new Royal member, a baby that makes Britain to have its future ensured. However, David Cameron did decide to appear on American Television, (Late Night with David Letterman You can watch it here) to promote Britain and its Olympic Games but as these live shows prove you cannot trust your knowledge enough, a group of screenwriters and TV presenter (David Letterman) did made David Cameron a fool of himself as he could not answered adroitly some questions about United Kingdom, he did not know Magna Carta in deep for instance. This was a big embarrassment for him, as the day he was seen in an official dinner with a t-shirt wrongly unbuttoned or when he was caught in camera sleeping, a picture that went viral, in these times when everybody is allowed to have a camera and an Internet connection far too many people have a say, everybody can ruined you in consequence above all when you are a renowned political leader. Perhaps is not so important but while many Britons live in poverty and when Britain has a huge deficit (as Britain has its own Bank of England it does not depend on others hence can spend happily although this can be reckless) he decided to go to American television notwithstanding, something not so important, he did so because his nemesis, the famous and brilliant conservative politician, Boris Johnson, (current mayor of London to whom he is competing as Johnson does want not only be the leader of Conservative Party but also to rule Britain), did a great performance in the same programme Mr. Cameron was jealous of him therefore he appeared there too, he somewhat seemed more focus on this battle than to improve the reality of Britain. Nevertheless, this can also be seen as a modern day for politicians as they go to television. In fact, David Cameron does want this notion, he took paternal leave when his new son was born or when he would ride a bike to work. These help to modernise politics but have to be attempted properly. Now, David Cameron has a new problem called Ukip, this party is changing British Politics in a way nobody could have expected once David Cameron read his speech, Ukip is stealing votes from traditional Tory grounds as people who are suffering a lot in the current global crisis does not fell close enough to Westminster politicians like David Cameron, we ought to point out that British politicians come from privileged backgrounds more than any other country thus they are highly educated having not seen real problems in their lives. Ukip state Immigration and European Union are the ones to blame for all the problems in Britain. British Economy is recovering rapidly if compared to other European countries for instance. However, the corollary effect it has had from European Union is a hefty fine in the sense other European Countries are suffering a lot hence Britain (the Netherlands has also been requested to do so) has to pay money, this has exacerbated the dislike many Britons own towards European Union, Ukip is gaining space, is obtaining great results, this is why I do believe David Cameron´s strategy to see European Union from a negative point of view lies. This is a political strategy so that counteract the recent fame of Ukip, I immigration reform likewise. Once Cameron remained Prime Minister Britain will keep within European Union and immigrants would be welcome albeit this is only my opinion and the truth is that a date it has been established to vote whether Britain stays in Europe or not and also some measures to battle immigration have been debated. From losing Scotland to leave European Union, this is what I have to say about the significance and historical transcendence of David Cameron´s years in power.