100 And Counting

I think it's safe to say that this years Oscars were a HUGH-GE Success!

I think Hugh Jackman was a fabulous host;and I'd love to see him there again. I've even wondered if his success might inspire Billy Crystal to take another stab at it - hmm. Hugh was the consummate performer and I found him thoroughly entertaining. He really set the tone.
I truly appreciated the Academy's efforts to save money by having the same presenters for multiple awards; however,I thought it was EXTREMELY tacky of them to pan to Angelina while Jennifer Aniston was presenting her awards. Yes, Yes, I know that we were all wondering what was going on in the minds of Jen, Brad and Angelina; but everyone at my house gave a big old "Oh know they didn't" when that happened.
Although I really enjoyed the show in its entirety; some of the highlights for me were, when Kunio Kato (who won the Oscar for his animated short La Maison en Petits Cubes) was accepting his award and after thanking his pencil he said "Domo arigato Mr. Roboto." CLASSIC! Now THAT was funny; and when Sean Penn began his acceptance speech by saying "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns;" loved it!
Then of course, there was the fashion. My faves included Sarah Jessica Parker , Natalie Portman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslett and Meryl Streep

The misses for me included The Black and Blue girls; Queen Latifah and Reese Witherspoon. I adore them both, really, I do; but their dresses were dreadful. Tilda Swinton just plain scares me. I think Peter Jackson must have dressed Phillip Seymour Hoffman for the night. If he were alive I might have guessed that Ray Charles dressed Whoppi Goldeberg for the night; (I mean leopard print moo-moo really?) And what can I politely say about Sophia Loren? I can't even bear to show you a picture of that one; but suffice it to say she looked extremely weathered and was dressed as a lamp from a French bordello. Ok, so maybe that wasn't SO polite - sorry Sophia.

I was VERY happy for Kate Winslett's win as her performance really was outstanding. I think it's a mark of a great actress when you forget who SHE is, and see her totally as the charachter. This was the case for me with kate and "The Reader. I'm very happy that the World has embraced "Slumdog Millionaire' and if you haven't seen it yet; it came out on DVD on Feb 24th.

It is genuinely surreal to me that another Oscar season has come and gone; and that this is actually my 100th post. I feel like I've got a lot of kinks to work out; but I'm hoping that you'll stick it out with me. During the past 99 posts, I know that I've had a couple of real hits and I've really tanked some as well; but I'm going to try and toughen my skin up and press on. I have been the Queen of Self Doubt lately (OK; not just lately) and I have really been questioning my decision to pursue a writing career. I honestly can say that every fiber of my being tells me that I should be a writer; but I know that I need to be even MORE selective about my subject matter. You know they say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well I guess I can cancel my reservation at the local sanitarium, because I don't EXPECT different results; however, I am fully aware that I have made some bad choices - and I am dedicated to not letting that happen again.

I thank everyone that reads The Bumpy Ride; and I hope that you will continue to do so. I think there may have been some problems with the feed lately, so if you notice that you aren't getting at least a weekly post, please try to sign up for the feed again.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING