Oscars recap

A bit late, but : the Academy had their big awards ceremony, quite entertaining & 'rewarding' (the general reviews were pretty down on it, but I tend to like it, and be a bit more vested than the casual citizen). Many surprises : Marion Cotillard win (I am a bit of an Edith Piaf fan); Golden Compass VFX win (though friends at Tippett worked on it, so I hope that helps their biz). A few bright moments : Jon Stewart's joke about watching movies on the iPod; the chick from 'Once' getting invited back on the stage to finish her speech (WTF was up with "Enchanted" getting 3 noms for best song?? OK- maybe they were good songs, but to have 1 movie blobbed in there like that makes a mockery of the process. And no nom for Eddie Vedder?? Yeesh.).
In the past, we've hosted quite the festivities for the evening - this time, had a small invitee list, and a few of those bailed, so it came down to one other couple (my college chum Janice - just moved to the Bay Area from Orlando! welcome, Jan! - and her guy Troy) and my pal D-Flo. A nice & enjoyable afternoon, spending time with friends (plus, being on the West Coast, the event was wrapped up by 8:30 PM!)