Reflections and Quotes on International Women's Day 2025

 

"Woman are like tea bags.  You never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water."

A quote often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt without an original source in her writings, as in The Wit and Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt (1996), p. 199. But archivists have not been able to find the quote in any of her writings,

"One is not born a woman, one becomes one."

- Simon de Beauvoir (1908-1986), French philosopher, writer and feminist - From The Second Sex [1949]

Despite the misogyny of Donald Trump, JD Vance and the Taliban, there have been some recent advances for women.  I am going to focus first on two major advances. 

* Mexico elected it first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, 61.  Sheinbaum on October 1, 2024.  She has had to face the bullying of Donald Trump and deal with his disastrous tariffs.

Claudia Sheinbaum

  * On January 6, 2025, Pope Francis appointed the first woman to head a major Vatican office.  Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, was named was named to lead the Vatican office that oversees religious orders for both men and women, including one quarter of the world's priests.

Sister Simona

Woman by John Lennon

Woman, I can hardly express

My mixed emotions at my thoughtlessness

After all, I'm forever in your debt

And woman, I will try to express

Mu inner feelings and thankfulness

For showing me the meaning of success

- From the song Woman, lyrics by John Lennon (1940-1980)

- Joanne

Canada and its European allies must remain steadfast in support of Ukraine

It's hard to believe, but the United States of America, under King Donald, has aligned itself with tyrants and authoritarians around the world.  Donald Trump has forged an alliance between the U.S. and his good buddy, the cruel Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.  In fact, Trump is envious of Putin's raw power.  He has nary a bad word to say about Putin, yet he and his government have have abandoned America's closest democratic allies.  Trump has had  the unmitigated gall to blame Ukraine for being invaded.  Almost every incomplete sentence that comes out of his mouth is a lie.  He is the king of mendacity.  He is the poster boy for bullies.

At Trump's bidding, the U.S. has insulted and threatened Canada, its  good friend and neighbour  As a proud Canadian, I cannot remain silent when the sovereignty of my country is under attack.  I cannot remain silent while Trump starts a trade war, imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico.  It's a trade war that will benefit no one.  It is a lose-lose situation for all involved.  The American economy will take a hit, too.

Trump's actions must please Vladimir Putin a great deal.  The Russian war criminal must have sipped some vodka in celebration when Trump was returned to the White House.  If Putin is allowed to run roughshod and annex Ukraine, expect him to set his sights on other sovereign nations.  He will be emboldened and his ambition will know no bounds.  He and Trump may well be the 21st century version of Hitler and Mussolini.  A hard rain is gonna fall if those two septuagenarian Alpha males achieve their territorial ambitions.  

- Joanne

Number 16 Oscar Quiz 2025

The 97th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025.  The show will air live at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. on ABC and will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.  It will also be live-streamed on the ABC app, which requires a cable subscription.  For the first time ever, the awards will be streamed live on Hulu.  Other streaming services such as YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Sling TV and DirectTV Stream will also provide access to the event through ABC on their platforms.  This year's Oscars will be hosted by Conan O'Brien.  As you prepare for the big night, why not challenge yourself and try Number 16's 13th annual Oscars quiz. There are 11 questions. Good luck!

NUMBER 16 OSCARS QUIZ

1. British actor Ralph Fiennes has been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar this year or his performance as Cardinal Lawrence in Conclave, a film that explores the intrigue behind the election of a new Pope.  Has Ralph Fiennes ever won an Oscar?

Ralph Fiennes

A,  Yes, for The English Patient

B.  Yes, for Schindler's List

C.  Yes, for In Bruges

D.  Yes, for Quiz Show

E.  He has never won an Oscar.

2.  Jack Nicholson has won three Academy Awards.  He won an Oscar in the Best Actor category for his roles as Randie McMurphy in the psychological drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).  He also won a Best Actor Oscar as a man with obsessive-compulsive disorder in As Good as It Get (1997), a romantic comedy in which he co-starred with Helen Hunt.  Nicholson's third Oscar was in the Best Supporting Actor category.  For which film did he win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor?

Jack with Oscar in 1998

A.  Easy Rider

B.  Chinatown

C.  Terms of Endearment

D.  Five Easy Pieces

E.  Prizzi's Honor

3.  Which movie is the most decorated Oscar winner of all time (counting both wins and nominations)?

A.  Ben-Hur

B.  All About Eve

C.  La La Land

D.  Titanic

E.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

4.  Ben-Hur (1959) won 11 Academy Awards at the 1960 Oscars.  It only lost in one of the categories for which it was nominated.  What was that category?

A.  Best Adapted Screenplay

B.  Best Sound

C.  Best Art Direction (Color)

D.  Best Special Effects

E.  Best Film Editing

5.  Which is the only animated film to win an Oscar for Best Picture?

A.  Frozen

B.  Shrek

C.  Toy Story

D.  Up

E.  No animated film has won an Oscar for Best Picture 

6.  How many times has Emma Stone been nominated for an Oscar.?

Emma Stone

A.  Five times

B.  Two times

C.  Three times

D   Once

E.  None of the Above

7.  Citizen Kane (1941) is Orson Welles' masterpiece.  Along with Casa Blanca, it is considered by many as one of the finest films ever made.  However, Citizen Kane did not win an Oscar for Outstanding Motion Picture from the films of 1941 (at the awards ceremony in 1942).  Which film won the Best Picture Oscar, beating out Citizen Kane?

A.  The Maltese Falcon

B.  How Green Was My Valley

C.  Hold Back the Dawn

D.  Suspicion

E.  Sergeant York

8.  Who is currently the oldest person to win an acting Oscar?

A.  Jessica Tandy

B.  Christopher Plummer

C.  Anthony Hopkins

D.  George Burns

E.  Melvyn Douglas

9.  Bob Hope hosted the Oscars a record 19 times.  In what year did he first host the Academy Awards?

Bob Hope hosting the Oscars

A.  1939

B.  1949

C.  1942

D.  1941

E.  1940

10.  Angelina Jolie has won two Oscars.  She received her second Academy Award in 2014, but it was not an acting award.  It was the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.  For which film did Angelina Jolie win an acting Oscar?

Angelina Jolie

A,  Changeling

B.  Girl, Interrupted 

C.  A Mighty Heart

D.  The Tourist

E.  In the Land of Blood and Honey

11.  Adrien Brody has been nominated for an Oscar this year for his performance in The Brutalist (2024).  For which movie did he win an Oscar for Best Actor?

A.  The Thin Red Line

B.  Detachment

C.  The Pianist

D.  The Jacket

E.  Midnight in Paris

ANSWERS:

1.  E.  Ralph Fiennes has never won a Oscar.  

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave

Ralph Fiennes received a Best Actor nomination for his performance in Schindler's List (1983), but did not win.  He was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The English Patient (1996), but did not win.  Conclave represents his third Academy Award nomination.

2.  C  Terms of Endearment

Nicholson in Terms of Endearment

Jack Nicholson won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of former astronaut Garrett Breedlove in Terms of Endearment (1983).

3.  D.  Titanic

1997's Titanic won 11 Oscars and earned an additional 3 nominations.  Ben-Hur and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King also received 11 Academy Awards.  Ben-Hur swept 11 of the 12 categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture and Best Director.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won all 11 Oscars for which it was nominated.

La La Land was  nominated for 14 Oscars, but took home 6, including Best Director and Best Actress.  All About Eve also won 6 of its 14 nominations.  

4.  A.  Best Adapted Screenplay

At the 32nd Academy Awards in 1960, Ben-Hur won 11 Oscars in the following categories - Best Motion Picture, Best Directing (William Wyler), Best Actor (Charlton Heston), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Hugh Griffith), Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture),  Best Sound, Best Cinematography (Color), Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design (Color), Best Art Direction (Color) and Best Special Effects.  The film received in an Oscar in every category it was nominated for, except Best Adapted Screenplay.

5.  D.  Up

Scene from Up

The 2009 animated film Up received the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2010.  Up is a comedy-drama adventure film featuring the voices of Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer.  Produced by Pixar Animation Studio for Disney Pictures, Up is the first and only animated film to win the coveted Best Picture award.

6.  A.  Five times

Emma Stone has received five Oscar nominations.  She has one two Academy Awards for Best  Actress, for her roles as Bella Baxter in Poor Things (2023) and Amelia "Mia" Dolan in La La Land (2016).  In 2024, she was also nominated for a second Academy Award as the producer of Poor Things, which she did not win.

In 2015, Emma was nominated For Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Sam in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014).  She lost the award to Patricia Arquette for Boyhood.

In 2019, Emma was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Abigail Masham in the satirical comedy-thriller The Favourite.  She lost out to Regina King, who won the Oscar for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk.

7.  B.  How Green Was My Valley

Citizen Kane lost out to How Green Was My Valley, John Ford's film about a hard-working Welsh mining family.  It starred Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon.  The Maltese Falcon, Suspicion and Sergeant York were also nominated the same year as Citizen Kane.

8.  C  Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins was 83 years old in 2021 when he won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a man diagnosed with dementia in the film Father.  The Welsh actor was born on December 31, 1937.

In 2012. Christopher Plummer (born December 13, 1929)  was 82 years old when he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in the film Beginners (2011).  The Canadian-born actor was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in All the Money in the World, a 2017 crime thriller.  Plummer was 88 years old when he received the nomination, but did not win.

In 1990, at the age of 80, Jessica Tandy won Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy.  At the time, she was the oldest person to win an acting Oscar.  She remains the oldest woman to win an acting Oscar.  (In 2014, Maureen O'Hara received an Academy Honorary Award at the of 94).  

9.  E  1940

 Beginning in 1940, Bob Hope hosted the Academy Awards 19 times, either by himself or with cohosts.  In 1953, he hosted the first Oscar broadcast on television.  In 1966, he hosted the first Oscar show televised in colour.  In 1978, Bob Hope hosted the Oscars for the final time.

10.  B.  Girl, Interrupted

In 2000, Angelina Jolie won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the American drama Girl, Interrupted (1999).  She was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the 2008 mystery crime drama Changeling, but did not win.

11.  C.  The Pianist  

Adrien Brody won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the 2002 biographical film The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski.  Brody played Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish pianist, composer and Holocaust survivor.  He was only 29 when he won his Oscar at the 75th Academy Awards on March 23, 2003.

Brody also appeared in The Thin Red Line (1998), Detachment (2011), The Jacket (2005) and Midnight in Paris (2011).

- Joanne

It's Gulf of Mexico. Stay strong, Associated Press! Don't give in to Trump!

It is my hope that The Associated Press does not give in to Donald Trump's bullying.  One of the first things a dictator does is try to control the media, and Trump is no different.  He is determined to unilaterally change the name of  the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America."  On January 25, 2025, he signed an executive order specifying that the area of the U.S. continental shelf, "extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba," be renamed "The Gulf of America."  

So far, The Associated Press has refused to comply with Trump's wishes.  To its credit, AP, one of the world's largest media outlets, continues to use the term "Gulf of Mexico." As a result, the giant news service has been banned indefinitely from the Oval Office and from Air Force One.  

Unfortunately, Google, has caved in to the Dear Leader's demand.  Not surprisingly, Mexico is opposed to the name change.  Mexico's firebrand president, Claudia Sheinbaum sarcastically suggested that Trump rename North America.  "Obviously the Gulf of Mexico is recognized by the United Nations . . . but why don't we call [North America] "Mexica America"?  We're going to call it Mexican America  . . . It sounds pretty, no?  Isn't it true?" 

Claudia Sheinbaum

Sheinbaum threatened to sue Google after Google Maps began displaying the "Gulf of America" name change.  She pointed out that U.S. sovereignty is restricted to 12 nautical miles from the coast.  The United Kingdom declared that it had no intention to recognize the name change unless it becomes the most commonly used term in the English-speaking world.  In fact, Sheinbaum thanked Encyclopaedia Britannica for sticking with Gulf of Mexico.

Stay strong, AP!, because the stakes are high.  Stand your ground and resist the White House's strongarm tactics.  Remain true to your journalistic principles.  Don't allow the tyrant Trump to control you.  You must continue to stand up for freedom and democracy or the United States will continue its downward slope towards authoritarianism.

- Joanne