In the meantime

Post Oscar brags and blogs...

Well, it is after 1:00, but the Oscar show ended at 11:30.  As it turns out, I was 2/3 right on my picks, which ain't too shabby, even if I do say so myself.  Hoffman and Witherspoon both garnered their well-deserved statuettes and the surprise of the evening was the selection of "Crash" as Best Picture. I haven't seen "Crash" but I've heard good things about it and look forward to seeing it soon.

At least as big a surprise to me was how unimpressive Jon Stewart was.  He makes me hurt myself laughing at the Daily Show. But Jon was out of his element at the Oscars.  Most of his jokes fell flat, especially in the opening monologue.  A couple of his obviously off the cuff jokes were great, but the stuff written or produced in advance was just not funny.

And the winner of the most idiotic outfit of the evening went to Charlize Theron. What was that glob of fabric on her shoulder??

My Oscar Picks

OK, the Oscars start in less than 30 minutes, and I want to go on record with my picks. Just for grins.

This is a strange year for the Academy.  No blockbusters that are "worthy" of the Academy's nod.  In fact, the total box office for all of the Best Picture nominees are less than the total of those who went and enjoyed "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."  At least the show itself should be more entertaining than recent year's offering from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (or now from the Kodak Theater).  Jon Stewart is a truly funny guy. Those million or so of us who enjoy Stewart's wit on Comedy Central's Daily Show four nights a week will welcome an additional 40 million to the ranks of Stewart fans after tonight.

Much of the pre-Oscar press has gone to "Brokeback Mountain" because of the gay theme.  It is quite possible that the Academy will give the Best Picture statue to this film solely to make a social statement, which incidentally is what Ang Lee has been endlessly talking about despite the fact that the film's publicity has run, not walked away from that theme and images.  That strikes me as really disingenuous. 

That said, here's my picks for tonight's really big shew... well, at least the major ones:

Best Picture: "Capote."  This film was a riveting study in human nature and motivations.  Hoffman's performance was stunning, but the whole of the work was equally astounding.  Like most of America, I didn't see "Brokeback" but it couldn't possibly have been in the same class as this film.  It will be a classic, studied by film students for generations to come.

Best Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  His performance in "Capote" is one for the ages.  Hands down the best historical character study I have ever seen.  He played an outrageously extravagant, quirky and downright strange individual, but he didn't give us a caricature of Capote. He became Capote.  If Hoffman doesn't win Best Actor, I will never watch an Academy Awards show again.

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon.  She was great in "Walk The Line."  Made you realize that Johnny Cash would have self-destructed had June and her family not saved him.

We'll see around 1:00 am this morning if I was right or not.  If I'm still awake, which I highly doubt.

Duh, the Right to Remain Silent??

News item:  Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five rights granted to them by the First Amendment, but more than half could name at least two members of the Simpson Family.

I first heard this story on the radio two days ago.  While I found it amusing in a nauseating sort of way, I have to admit that it drove me nuts that I could only remember four of the five First Amendment rights.  I drew a complete blank on petitioning the government for redress.  DOH!!!

I can name all four of the Simpsons, though:  Homer, Bart, Jessica and Ashley.

That's right, isn't it??

(Extra credit - Name the person who does the voice of Ashley on SNL...)

He's Baaaaack...

Secure in my record as one of the all time biggest slackers in the Blogosphere, I have returned to semi-regular posting.  Hopefully.

I never intended to stay away from this blog for this long... my road to slackerdom sort of happened one day at a time.  A couple of times I even went to the post page, but the Inspiration Express never left the station.

I'm looking forward to having lots of material, what with Dick Cheney shooting guys in the face, countless other politicians shooting off their mouths and the discussions about who's to blame for the Katrina failures continuing unabated.

Not to mention spring training has begun in Florida and very soon America's Team will be playing America's pastime again and going for Division Championship number 15 in a row!  By the way, I still haven't given up on either Ted or Bernie buying the Braves.  C'mon guys... it's only 400 million.

It's good to be back.