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| Sunny Front Yard |
Yesterday the snow stopped in the early morning hours and
was followed by a truly rare sight – sunshine. I knew from my recent Panamanian
adventure that the sun was in fact still up there but New Englanders were
starting to wonder. The temperatures never got above thirty but it still felt
like a heat wave after the frigid existence of the past month. The freshly
fallen snow should have had even a hard hearted cynic waxing eloquently about
the pristine beauty but we’re beyond that. Just too much of a bad thing with the
snow that never seems to end. We’re ready to see our submerged fences and
hedges.
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| My Oscar Date in Position Last Night |
For the third year in a row I was watching the Academy
Awards alone which robs a certain amount of enjoyment out of the process. Buddy
parked himself beside me for the first half but he wasn’t much of a
conversationalist. I’ve got to acquire a fellow movie nut as a friend to watch
this annual pinnacle of the Hollywood year. My wife will continue her tropical
sojourns during this coldest of months so I’m kind of stuck.
I liked the telecast this year with Neil Patrick Harris as
the host. I thought he looked very nervous at times, like it was a little too much
for him. The opening number was well done but seemed kind of rushed – a great
tribute to Hollywood past and present with able assistance from Anna Kendrick
and Jack Black. I did better than usual
with my Oscar predictions only missing on six (and going 5 for 6 in the major
categories) but as usual most of the predictions were nothing more than WAGs
(Wild Ass Guesses).
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| Common and John Legend - Best Speech of Night |
The speeches were very good this year but the best of the
night goes to Common and John Legend after winning for best song for Selma.
They were articulate and powerful in what the song meant to them. David Oyelowo
tried to demonstrate what a mistake it was to pass him over for an acting
nomination by crying copiously whenever a camera was near. He had some serious competition
from Chris Pine though.
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| Birdman Soared |
John Travolta cemented his reputation as the creepiest
middle aged actor in Hollywood by face raping Idina Menzel after correctly pronouncing
her name for the first time. They screwed up the In Memory section again by
having only portraits instead of clips with no audience reaction. This was a
true shame in a year we lost James Garner, Lauren Bacall, Robin Williams, and
Mike Nichols. Birdman sprinted to the finish with most of the big awards
but The Grand Budapest Hotel saw a lot of richly deserved love over the night. Earlier
in the day I re-watched Birdman and it deserved the accolades. Why do they still let Sean Penn near a microphone is beyond me.
When I heard Lady Gaga had finagled her way into the Oscar
broadcast I cringed at what she would inflict upon us in the name of her “art”.
I was thus genuinely surprised when she was luminous and hit all the highest of
notes in the tribute to the Sound of Music that even moved Julie Andrews who
came on as she finished. The tattoos were distracting and I still don’t “get”
that but that’s my curmudgeon side asserting itself.
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| My Creative Daughter's Pastries |
My daughter’s annual Oscar party must have been a success
because I didn’t get my usual late night call to rehash the results. It was still
only 9pm out there when the telecast finished which is entirely more convenient
than right coast midnight. One of the stars of her Oscars snacks was
re-creating the signature pastries from the Grand Budapest Hotel. I don’t know
where she gets this from.
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