My Oscar views

Okay, so I watched the Oscars.  Having no host was a big improvement.  To me, it seemed as if a lot of the pomposity was taken out of the ceremony which was fine with me.  For years the show has been more like "The Cavalcade of Stars," with presenters slowly walking to the microphone while the orchestra plays.  That didn't happen last night, they walked on and listed the nominees and announced the winner. I saw where some people complained about the set... again, I liked it.  They shrank the proscenium down, which mean shorter walks for everybody while creating a more intimate feel.  In fact, the whole show had a much more personal feel, something lacking for so many years.
Interesting points:  The two films with the most nominations failed to live up to their promise, with "The Favorite" winning one, and "Roma" winning three awards.  "Black Panther" won the most, garnering the tech and costume awards.  "Vice" didn't win anything... that didn't surprise me, in the end it's only a star vehicle to win Christian Bale and Best Actor Oscar.  "Green Book" won Best Picture.  To be truthful, that win could have gone a number of ways because there were a number of good films.  I thought, for a while, it might actually go to "Bohemian Rhapsody," except it had that Bryan Singer cringe worthy shit hanging over it; no one mentioned his name.  After "Roma" won for Best Foreign Film, it was out of the running for Best Picture...
Two things that didn't work:  Acceptance speeches - if you're a major winner, (Best Actor, Actress, etc) then you can talk.  If you win "Best Documentary," or Best Short Subject" understand you have a limited time n the stage.  If there are 4 to win awards and you're the first to reach the microphone, don't pull out a phone book and start reading - show a little consideration... you have a limited time on the stage.  The other thing that didn't work:  gowns with trains.  Holy shit!  If you do not wear a gown with a 4 foot train (or longer) do not wear one to an award ceremony where you may need to walk more than 2 feet, and then climb a stairs.  Trains were rampant last night!  What the hell were these women thinking?  There is absolutely nothing glamorous about hoisting 20 pounds of fabric over your arm so you can struggle down the aisle and up to the podium.  Perhaps they were all hoping Chris Evans would help them to the stage.
I was thought it very refreshing not to have any gimmicky bullshit like pizza getting delivered, or going to the theater next door to thank the fans.
Bette Midler was great!
Having Brad Cooper and Lady Gaga come up from the audience to sing "Shallow" was very simple and very smart.  Like I said, a lot of the pomposity we've seen for so many years was absent.
Finally, there was a lot of brown skin on stage last night.  I'm sure a lot of white Republicans didn't watch... that's part of the denial process.  What shame.  They missed a good show.

Unglued

Well, here it is Saturday and the storm has come and gone.  We had horizontal snow which melted and some very high winds.  People lost power.  Not me.  Though the river birch I have planted in my back yard did lose a lot of branches.
The new ceiling fan arrived yesterday - in all of that wind.  I found it waiting for me on the front porch, too heavy to be blown around.  I unpacked it, checked to see if it uses the same mounting bracket as my current ceiling fan, and then went to bed... early.  Bad idea.  You see I woke up... early.  And since I was awake, I got up... another bad idea.  Even though I got things done, by the time 0530 rolled around, I was tired, wishing I'd stayed in bed.  As a result I took a nap, and ended finally getting up closer to 0700.  No cardio today.  Shit.
And last week was a banner week for cluster fucks at the White House.  The Idiot Jerk came out for gun control... and then an NRA lobbyist, evidently a new spokesperson for the White House, announced that the Idiot Jerk had not been serious.  Hope Hicks announced she's leaving... after chatting with Mueller...  they say she had a "misty" goodbye with the Idiot Jerk.  Jared lost his Top Secret clearance.  Jared is also under some serious investigation - selling White House favors in order to get financing for Kushner debt (lock him up!  lock him up!).  Oh, and the Idiot Jerk wants to start a Trade War.  Did I miss anything?
This past week we got to see the Idiot Jerk become "unglued."  He also Tweeted an attack against Alec Baldwin, who basically told him to wipe his ass and shut up.  That's was funny, too.
We also got to see resistance against the NRA growing.  And the Georgia legislature tried to punish Delta Airlines because they stopped giving discounts to the NRA.  Those Republican legislators from Georgia love the NRA so much they voted to exclude Delta from getting a tax break.  Delta, announced that they are going to review which groups get discounts.  Translation?  Legislators from Georgia will lose their discounts.
And anger towards the gun lobby is not dissipating, rather we see that it's growing and spreading, the boycott now including other products gun manufacturers sell... like surfboards.  People are finally telling these morons to shut up.  Good.  I suspect the NRA is on the verge of following the Idiot Jerk in the White House, also becoming unglued.
Finally, a bit of movie irony.  This Crazy Christian flick called "Samson" opened the same night as "Black Panther."  To date it has earned a little over $4 million at the box office, while "Black Panther" might actually hit $500 million this weekend.  So, who do you think is out of touch with the real world.  I suspect there's another group that's about to become unglued.

The Challenge

Well, here it is Thursday and I'm supposed to go back to work today, however... my stomach's a bit cranky... and it's not because I have to work.  There's some sort of short lived virus going around, so that might possibly be the cause.  Anyway, I haven't decided if I'm going in or not.
I went to see "Black Panther" last evening.  I liked it, a lot.  While wearing the trappings of a Marvel Comic film, like "Captain America - Civil War," the human drama at the heart of the story is what makes this movie great.  Chadwick Boseman is very good as the king who realizes change is essential, whose moments with his spiritual father sting with the rejection of the old ways.  Michael B. Jordan is also very good as the successful, CIA trained mercenary, who has lost himself in the angry, resentful chip upon his shoulder.  This is, in a way, the story of a number of black Americans, some who jump at the chance to take the reins, and others who expect to be driven, those who challenge, and those who blame.

And then there's the Idiot Jerk in the White House who, yesterday, shit all over gun control.  The gun lobby is calling him names while liberals are saying he's making great strides - I call bullshit.  He's done this before on immigration, played both sides because... well, I guess in his mind he's deal maker.  Nothing happened.  Immigration is still a shit storm.  The same thing will happen with gun control, which will amount to nothing.  What ever gun control we get will be the result of retailers: first Dick's, and now Walmart, setting their own restrictions on gun sales.
Also, for those who didn't see, Putin, the Idiot Jerk's preferred BFF, shit out some sort of comment about Russia now having an ICBM which makes all defense systems "meaningless."  Of course, the sack of shit in the White House will no doubt splutter out something stupid because... well, that's why Putin wanted him there, to be a Russkie stooge.  The fool Social Conservatives love so dearly to totally inept at dealing with world issues.