Ho hum... The Oscars

It's funny that I'm even writing this, since I only saw 5 of the films nominated this year (and that's including Superman Returns), but I thought I would chime in on what I thought were some of the highlights and lowlights of the night. So, here it goes in an incredibly awesome table format!

The Lowlights

-Pan's Labyrinth losing in the Best Foreign Language film category. OK, I didn't see it, but how could I not root for a Mexican Film?
-Ellen. She had her moments, but all in all, not all that great. But then again, most hosts aren't all that great.
-Jennifer Hudson's win. OK, so I didn't see Dreamgirls either, but given the other choices, I really didn't think she would win. The whole thing felt to me like the Academy was throwing Dreamgirls a bone. How cool would it have been for Abigail Breslin or Adriana Barraza to win? Yeah, they didn't have much of a chance.
-Happy Feet. Boo! Awful! Having actually seen this one, I cannot tell you how disappointed I was to see it win. What a disjointed, preachy (yet utterly boring) movie is this! I don't know that Cars deserved to win and I didn't see Monster House, but they had to have been better than this tripe. By far the worst part of the evening.


The Highlights

-¡Viva México! How great was it that after Pan's Labyrinth won it's second Oscar they cut to a shot of some of the attendees waving little Mexican flags? With significant Mexican contributions this year (Babel, Pan's Labyrinth) I was really excited to see how far they could go. I was pleased at the result for Mexico and all of Latin America.
-Abigail Breslin and Jaden Smith. They were pretty funny as presenters, especially when Jaden botched his lines. How cute was Abigail?
-Will Ferrell/Jack Black/John C. Riley. This was more of a "midlight," but their little number still made me chuckle. What's with Ferrell's hair?
-Martin Scorsese. Nice to see him win. So, now you will begin to hear these things like, "did he win it for the right one?" Who cares. I bet he's feeling at least somewhat satisfied today with helming the film with this year's biggest Oscar take.
-Alan Arkin. I think this was the highlight of the night for me. Granted, I may be biased (his was one of the few that I actually saw), but I've always been a fan. I think he still holds the record for scariest jump of all time. I was also pleased to see Little Miss Sunshine take the Oscar for original screenplay.

The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization

I'm tired and frustrated. Due to a recent influx of CDs, I have had the great frustration of not having anything all that great to play them on. I love my Mac, but the small speakers just don't sound all that great. Add to that my recent desire to get away from digital music and back to CDs (any audiophiles out there are now laughing), and I'm in something of a bind.

I do have a stereo. I bought it when I was 14, so it's 12 years old now and the CD player is broken. On the bright side, both the tape decks still work. Yay.

Who knew that in the last 12 years the audio industry has changed? Do you know how hard it is to find a decent desktop stereo system that doesn't look like it came from Mars? Yeah, I don't really care all that much for shiny, globular stereos with additions like "dynamic x-boost" or the ability to play songs off a USB drive. And I don't want a home theater system. What is this world coming to?

So, after a frustrating look on the internet at places like BestBuy and Circuit City (where I purchased my beloved Aiwa so many years ago) and a trip to Bang and Olufsen's site (I forgot for a moment that I'm a grad student), I finally found something that interests me: Tivoli Audio's Music System.


The Pros: I love the look. Simple, clean, understated. None of those stupid graphics and crazy lights that you find on so many of the systems today. Most importantly, the sound quality is supposed to be phenomenal. I've never heard one, but I haven't found a review that bagged on one of these.

The Cons: $700 price tag. Ouch. Waaaaaaaay too far out of my range. For that price, I'm tempted to start a component system, but this one looks so sexy. If only I were made of money...

This one's for you, Casey

I'm sick, so not much happened today. But, as I was sitting on the couch watching Deal or No Deal (perhaps why I'm sick?) I was reminded of this. Forgive me if this is old news to you, but as it was one of two things that made me laugh today, I thought I would share (the other was a clip of Isabella Rossellini going gaga for Arbys).