Livin' La Vida Luxem: Oscar's in Luxembourg…and other news

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For the first time ever a Luxembourg film won a coveted Academy Award. Laurent Witz, a Luxembourger, created his film with the help of fellow Luxembourg animator Alexandre Espigares. It won in the category of 'Best Animated Short Film'. Monsieur Hublot runs a whopping eleven minutes…shocker, but it is a huge event here in this small nation.

As you can imagine this has been rather big news in a country 2/3 the size of Rhode Island. Believe it or not the Grand Duchy is a becoming a media hub in Europe. Aside from being the european pioneer for private satellite communications, Luxembourg hosts many film crews from all over the world. Last year a bio-pic about Marvin Gaye was shot here, and I often see advertisements asking for extras (figurants) in the local papers. Earlier in 2014 a full length independent film was released here. Heemwéi is based on two Luxembourgers' experience leaving the German army at the end of WWII, and of course the lovely Chateau Vianden has been a backdrop for such blockbusters as 1993's The Three Musketeers.

OK, maybe it wasn't that memorable, but it was filmed in Luxembourg with Emilio Esteves and Charlie Sheen!

Our other big news is that Jeni is at the half-way point in her deployment at Ice Station Zebra. This means that she has two weeks to travel, relax and generally decompress.

Isn't she something?

The Zombie Horde doesn't stand a chance!!

This spring we are headed to Africa. Wish us luck as we travel from South Africa to Victoria Falls then through Botswana on safari! Don't worry, I will be writing all about this sub-adventure to be sure.

Any excuse to use this gem once again :)

And finally, as I'm sure you're all aware, our tiny but powerful Duchy continues to be the center of all things global. Yes, that is Luxembourg in the President's seat at the UN security council this month. Putin is gonna have a hard time squirming away from the long arm of the Duke!