The Oscars
The Oscars, at least to me, used to be exciting, I normally would make an effort to see the movies nominated, the pop some corn, and watch with bated breath to see if my picks won. Later it would be Oscar parties. We would get dressed up, have a fake red carpet, and drink shots of whiskey. A shot was drunk anytime someone mentioned something...a political statement, god, told their kids to go to bed, over thanked (meaning they talked over the music).
In later years, the Oscar show has taken on a new meaning to me, no longer do I make an effort to see a movie just because it was nominated but instead wait for the show, and see the clips. Then I would start a list of movies that might look interesting. If a film is nominated for several different categories, you can end up seeing several different clips, giving you a better idea about the film than the standard movie trailer. However not this year. This year instead they had other actors talk about it seemed whatever they damn well pleased. Some talked of past movies, some of the present, some seem to ramble, and while I'm sure it was nice to individually recognize them; it just didn't help me. I hadn't seen the movies and they talked as though everyone had seen them. To me, it should be about the current movie their nominated for, not all the great movies they starred in, in the past, some which they had won for, or not.
My other huge complaint was when they showed the people that had passed on...I didn't need to see the person singing during that...hearing her voice was enough, I wanted to see better who they were, what they did and why they were being mentioned. Instead I saw a smallish picture, and nothing more...it was sad and honestly insulting.
So in my opinion it's all official, Hollywood is in a serious recession, they couldn't afford clips of the movies nominated and I hated it. If it continues like this I suspect a tradition will slowly die, much like the Miss America Pageant. As for the big winner Slumdog Millionaire, I still have no clue what it's about. Pity, I thought about renting it, but probably won't bother now.
Some States Do the Darnedest Things
While the State of Oregon contemplates closing schools to cover budget deficits for the currant school year, the state legislators in all their wisdom decide now might be a good time to raise the beer tax. Now, I know before you groan and say I don't care about beer, just listen to this...say you make something and your business is taxed for every 1000 you make you pay three dollars. What would happen if your state government told you instead of paying 3 bucks you'll now have to pay $59.60. Seriously, how would that impact your life? Now it is true different states charge different amounts, and close border states charge anywhere from 3-7 bucks per barrel of beer made, this jump Oregon is currently discussing puts them at the top, above Alaska and Alabama for the highest beer tax in the country.
Just another beer fact, Portland Oregon has the most breweries in the country and the statewide beer industry employs around 5300 people. This is all despite the fact there is a world wide grain and hop shortage. Nothing like kicking an industry in really hard economic times while they're already down.
In Other News
Last weekend Pissboy as part of a school project was to bring home a baby. Not a real one but one of these...He did but it didn't work right. The caregiver is supposed to wear a wrist strap, with some sort of device on it that sends a signal to the baby when it cries. The idea being that it knows it's caregiver is there and taking care of it. Otherwise it just cries, then stops. Then cries again. This can continue until it registers 12 hours of neglect (failing to do anything) and then it shuts down.
As luck would have it Pissboy's baby had the wrong wrist strap, so it never worked. 12 hours later it shut off, I guess others weren't so lucky, their babies didn't shut down after 12 hours and continued crying all weekend.
We're trying it again this weekend. Wish us luck.
1 comment:
Those babies sound painful. I feel your pain.
As for the cost of beer rising, I wonder how else people are supposed to drown their sorrows with regards to the high cost of everything. ON that note, electricity went up here by 40%. we just bought $75 worth of compact flourescents to offset things and talked about how to cut down our bills. Thus, I guess it's time to be ready for the rising costs of everything.
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