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As of this writing, I have not yet read reactions; in fact, as it is post-midnight, wee hours of the Monday morn, I’m about to go to bed or should have been in bed awhile ago, but for various things. My own reaction: well, I want to think that Jon Stewart did an ok job. His opening monologue (which I caught mostly) was funny. His little sound editing tidbit was funny. I have a feeling that critics will put him in the David Letterman category in the history of Oscars – but I don’t think it’s his fault. The Oscars folks put him in a bind, with not-that-great writing and this terrible pacing they had. (then again, I never thought David Letterman was that bad and thought people overly criticized him).

Much of the evening was — meh. The music from the pit below the stage kept going from the very start of the winners’ speeches, forcing people to speak quickly or else cut them off without popping up out of nowhere. Yet, the winners managed to say a lot without saying very much. The stage design was bizarre and not tv friendly by any appearances. (why does the “78” for 78th Annual Awards have to be so damn huge?). And, the breakneck speed to which they got through the awards show – man, they ended at 11:30pm EST – way earlier than they have in YEARS. The filler still felt like filler, but there was somehow a feeling of boredom and “could you just get to the point” even as they headed to a point.
Well, maybe it was award ceremony fatigue – this whole ambiance that everybody at the Oscars just wanted to get this over with, since they’ve been to the Golden Globes and SAG and so on, so the winners (who they would be was incredibly predictable) already knew what they wanted to say, since they rehearsed their speeches in the previous awards shows.

George Clooney was a good winner, I thought, for Best Supporting Actor. He kindly acknowledged his fellow nominees for their good work; acknowledged the Academy’s lead in doing progressive work (ex., awarding Hattie McDaniel of Gone With the Wind with an Oscar during the pre-civil rights era); and teased that he probably wasn’t getting the Oscar for Best Director now that he won his night’s award. He even mugged for the camera and went along with Jon Stewart’s teasing him. Charming Mr. Clooney. Poor Paul Giamatti though – he should have won for Sideways and again loses out for Cinderella Man. (I saw Sideways and definitely felt he did great there).
And, they forgot to honor Don KNotts among the passing of the Hollywood community. Or maybe they figured the Emmys will cover him, thinking that he was more of a tv guy. But, he did do a few movies in his day!

I had that feeling that the Oscar wouldn’t go with Brokeback Mountain – Crash seemed to be having momentum from those awards shows (plus, it’s a movie about Los Angeles – the Academy people must be suckers for movies about/and taking place in their own neighborhood). (but, I’ve seen neither movie, so who am I to say?). But, really, kudos to Ang Lee for winning Best Director and Donna Osana and Larry McMurtry for winning Best Adapted Screenplay.

The group singing “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” seemed like the group most enthusiastic for being at the Oscars and for winning an Oscar (again, that feeling of meh couldn’t be avoided). I suppose it was amusing that their title was what it was; but then even the presenter and Queen Latifah noted that it isn’t that shocking (I mean, if the song for Shaft can win an Oscar for best song, reflecting its movie, why not this song for “Hustle and Flow”?) – amusing jokes of double entendre. Dolly Parton’s song for “Transamerica” wasn’t so bad, and seemed pretty relevant to the movie. So, no one can feel that upset really. However, there was a benefit to the five-second air delay – they managed to bleep out the curse words of the winners – at least keep joy clean for Middle America. But, the natural joy – it flowed well.

And kudos to the winners for Wallace and Gromit. I really have to see that movie!

I almost missed the lengthiness of Oscars shows of yore; at least they were long so that people bonded and celebrated movies. Here, it’s just… boring. The writing of the words which were meant to celebrate movies were trite and wordy, as if the writers wanted to give the presenters substantive stuff about movies and movie making but ended up getting them all tongue-twisted and more uncomfortable than ever. Please. Jon Stewart’s skit about the sound editors lobbying for Academy votes to win Best Sound was funny and kind of made you wonder more about sound editing than the usual gobbledy-gook the award presenters had to read from the teleprompter. Honestly, the Tony Awards were more fun with the wit and veneration of the art form. (I’m not suggesting that Hugh Jackman’s a great host; I’m just saying that there was a feeling of respect the art).
When morning comes, I’ll see what the professional commentators will say; I may post again later.

“Charmed” is the first casualty of WB’s conversion into the new CW. Too bad – it’s a decent show. The writing could have always been improved (it never made all tht much sense to me), but it had a long enough run (WB was debating whether to keep it for quite awhile).

A nice article on Bob Schieffer, the CBS News anchorman (the so-called transitional guy until CBS find a permanent flashy anchor). I think he has a deft touch, and maintains a certain network identity. While NBC News is identified by Brian Williams, the face of its nightly news, CBS didn’t go wrong with Bob Schieffer. ABC though – well, it’s a tough transition, let’s just say.

A story of Asians on TV – the relationship development of Jin and Sun of ABC’s “Lost”. I’m not a viewer of “Lost,” but follow along with the story lines (more or less), so this was a nice tidbit (well, I confess, I did watch pieces of the episode referred therein, and I think that both actors playing the characters Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim are quite talented).

TV is not bad for you after all. Ooh…

And, tonight – the Oscars.  Hmm.

Arriverderci, Turino; Bonjour, Vancouver. Ok, that was an interesting (if not weird as usual) closing ceremony. Clown noses, a carnivale thing; and Vancouver doing a little ice fishing demonstration to kick off their 2010 Olympics. Umm, okay. Their mayor, Sam Sullivan, taking the flag – that was inspiring – a paraplegic since age 19, he’s working on getting the goods for his city. Seems to me that NBC’s just hoping for better ratings with Vancouver’s being in the same continent and therefore better opportunity for actual live coverage.

NY Rangers Jaromir Jagr is back from Turin and the Olympics break, and he’s past the whole Olympics thing – he’s pretty certain he won’t be playing for the Czech national team anytime soon and now, he’s aiming for the Stanley Cup. Hmm.
Ok, so I was just reading this in passing, but thought that the headline was kind of odd: “Court nominee lightly grilled, not roasted” – wherein Reuters reports on how the Canadians were taking some kind of step towards American-style Supreme Court nominating:

Canada took a small step on Monday toward the U.S.-style practice of vetting nominees to the Supreme Court but the result was more of a love-in than a rigorous interrogation.

As part of a desire by the new Conservative government to make the process of appointing top justices more open, a parliamentary committee was allowed, for the first time ever, to question nominee Marshall Rothstein.

Legislators were warned they could not ask about his stance on controversial topics for fear this would compromise him once he made the top bench.

The opposition Liberals, who had expressed dismay about the idea of questioning judges, gushed with praise.

“I would characterize you as a brilliant jurist, as having a remarkable intelligence, a prolific writer and a man of the highest integrity,” said Irwin Cotler, formerly the Liberal justice minister.

The committee had no power to vote on the candidacy of Rothstein, 65, a veteran of the Federal Court of Appeal. The final decision will be taken by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Gosh, don’t the Canadians know any better than to imitate the Americans at their worst? Or, maybe Members of Parliament really are just as screwed up as their counterparts in the American legislature. Eh.

The passing of sci-fi writer Octavia Butler. I noted this, even though I’ve never gotten around to reading her work yet (I’m really so not a big sci-fi geek) , she is notable for being an African-American female writer in what has been a primarily white male domain.

Some recent reading I did:

A strange and lyrical book, “Spies” by German writer Marcel Beyer (translated by Breon Mitchell). The nameless narrator is not a very reliable narrator, as he pieces to the reader the mysteries of his family’s past and secrets. Grandpa was a German Air Force pilot during the Spanish Civil War (and may or may not have committed atrocities) and fought during World War II; Grandma died, but the memory of her haunts Grandpa, their children, and later the grandchildren who never knew her; Grandpa’s second wife is a lunatic (or is she?) who cut the kids off from their father and the grandchildren never meet their grandfather; or maybe Grandpa is complicit in the estrangment, because he likes his secrets, and later, so do the grandkids, who barely become functioning adults who stop speaking to each other – the three siblings and their cousin, the one who especially hasn’t given up on the idea of Grandma, a former soprano with “Italian” eyes.

Seven Steps on the Writer’s Path: The Journey from Frustration to Fulfillment, by mystery writer Nancy Pickard and writer/therapist Lynn Lott. A spiritual/therapeutical self-help book for writers, but more than that – I think it can help anyone get a perspective on things. I’m not even into self-help books, but I found this one to be a good read – and it was light enough to read in the subway and it was a bargain from Barnes and Noble.

This week, Newsweek has an interesting issue on India, in time for President Bush’s trip to India. But, more notably, it has interesting stuff in Indian-Americans. Writer Jhumpa Lahiri writes on what it means to be hypenated. And, young Indian-Americans are moving beyong medical careers. Well, I suppose Asian-Americans are making progress when we get to have a movie like “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” – still a movie I haven’t seen yet (I’m just not a big movie person, I guess).

The passing of Don Knotts. I’m of the generation that knew him best as Mr. Furley of “Three’s Company” (particularly since I probably watched far too much of that show when I was young). Man, is it sad that both John Ritter (the ex-Jack Tripper) and Don Knotts are gone.

The passing of Darren McGavin, who – among other things – was known for his cult fave role of Kolchak, of the old 1970’s show, “Kolchak: The Night Stalker.” ABC tried a re-make this fall of the show, with a tiny McGavin appearance, but the re-make series was cancelled (I never got a chance to try it).

More notably (and why I take notice of McGavin), Kolchak inspired Fox Mulder of “The X-Files” – the FBI agent who investigates the paranormal/supernatural/unidentified space phenomenon, and takes a more official course that Kolchak, a reporter who investigated the same stuff, probably lacked – but they probably had the same frustration (i.e., being thwarted from investigating very much). (okay, so I did watch too much X-Files during its original run). Anyway, I’d salute McGavin.
This week’s Entertainment Weekly reviewed the Oscars. These special issues — well, I guess it’s what EW is known for having these days. But, what I really liked – the article on Mark Harmon! His NCIS is getting big ratings, so who’s to ignore the All-American guy? Notably, NICS creator/producer, Don Bellisario (the man behind such shows as “Magnum, PI,” “Quantum Leap,” and “JAG”) apparently liked Harmon in West Wing as the ill-fated Secret Service agent – and, I agree – that role was a good role for Harmon. I have my quibbles about his NCIS charater Agent Gibbs (he’s much too tough, making it too obvious that he has a soft heart – I mean, really, Mark Harmon!), but Harmon’s a good actor, who has longevity. Goodness, EW even got Harmon to reminisce about his role on “Chicago Hope” (I lost hope on that show when Mandy Pantinkin and Peter MacNicol left; it was a typical David E. Kelley show that too often didn’t put enough respect for the characters, I long felt) and his work in… “Battle of the Network Stars”! (I was far too young to really appreciate the old “Battle of the Network Stars,” but I think it’s funny how EW notes that NBC did strangely well in it – with Mark Harmon on the NBC team – in what was really an early “reality show”; and I’ve always been convinced that – until recent years – NBC did a good job having network identity and unity, via their old promos in the 1980’s and 1990’s).

Been behind on “House” – but I’m pretty sure that Dr. House is going to self-destruct and it ain’t going to be pretty. Dr. Wilson, if you’re really his best friend, please, do something. Or maybe, Dr. Wilson’s marital problems will be the next storyline to tackle. I mean, really, how much longer will the current Mrs. Wilson be off-screen?

And, a bit behind on “Grey’s Anatomy” – looks like I wasn’t far off the the mark on Meredith Grey’s issues about her dad. Hmm…

And, the Olympics will soon come to an end (the closing ceremonies are on tv tonight). Ah, but it’s been fun, Turin!  (despite the controversies and the like).

We’re in week 2 of the Olympics, and one of those little vignette-timewasters inserted into the NBC coverage involved how this year’s doughnut-shaped Olympic metals are supposed to memorialize the piazza, or town plaza. Cut away to the Olympic metal presentation stage set in a giant open square surrounded by stores, cafes, and room for 8,000 people. Before two weeks ago, apparently the piazza was a busy thoroughfare where you were as likely to be run over if you were caught standing in the middle of it — forget about sitting and enjoying an expresso.
All great neighborhoods have an open air area that comprises a natural public area. Some places have parks, others have squares, while still others have promenades. In my old neighborhood in Kensington it was a wierd area caused by the intersection of two grid systems, that of New Utrecht and 36th Street and 15th Avenue at a 45 degree angle to that of old Flatbush’s Dahill Road, which pretty much goes straight north-south. This created a “natural” area where numerous games of stickball, footbal and other street games were held. On the run to first lies the neighborhood bodega. Along the path home was a two storey frame house with a large porch. Behind home plate was a house best described as a Swiss Chalet. Our bedroom window was the outfield skybox where we could observe what was going on in the outdoor forum. A Fourth of July treat were the massive demonstrations of fireworks that we thought as kids rivaled the Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks.

Alas, the triangle is gone, revised by modern traffic shaping into just an ordinary straight street that would have run into the house. And alas, the house is gone, being gobbled up by a much more utilitarian building. Yet, the area is still used as a walking area called an eruv by the Hasidic community of Borough Park, and the memory remains. Perhaps that is what those Olympic medals set out to represent – continuing to be an open area surrounded by — yet a part of — the whole world.