My Response, Free Art Friday, and Michael Bolton

There has been a lot of talk lately about my blogs and what I should write about.  I do take some suggestions into consideration, but when it comes down to it I'm going to write what I want to write.  I had a comment on my last blog that said my thoughts were irrelevant and I should write about what was important in the world like the Oklahoma tornado victims.  I wish them all the best and I am sorry that it happened, and I do send my prayers and support to them, however I mean no disrespect to them in any way by not writing about it but as a journalism minor I suggest if you want to read about that, go to a newspaper.  This is a blog.  It is an opinion piece where I can write about what I want when I want to write about it.  My blog isn't about current events although sometimes it can be.  It's about whatever is on my mind.  On my last blog, I had an apparent unpopular opinion and that's okay.  I'm not always going to agree with everyone on every issue and that's alright.  I will let you speak your mind and if you hate me for my opinion, first of all it's pretty shallow and secondly you don't have to read. No one is forcing you to come to this page.  On my last few blogs, I have also been accused of being sexist.  I'm not quite sure where this came from.  I'm about as far from being sexist as one could be.  People are reading way too much into one sentence on a blog.  If you all know me, I mostly hang out with female friends.  I hold the door open for them, I pay for their lunches for the most part even if they are just a friend, I stand up for them, and I support them in every way I can.  I treat them as equals and I have never disrespected them in any way.  I believe it is stupid that I even have to address this but I promise you that I am in no way sexist.  You can ask my two sisters and my mother.  You can ask my best friends.  To label me as sexist for one sentence that wasn't even out of line is very judgmental and it takes a shot at my character so I have to address it.  I hope you all continue reading as most of my blogs will be much lighter than this and more fun.  And by the way, whoever left that first comment on my last blog, please look up your facts as it is a primary offense in most states, including the state of Kentucky where I reside, to not wear your seat belt.

Winner of the Day: Free Art Friday.  What is this do you say?  It is a program to promote the arts and its basic concept is that all artists should create a piece of art each Friday and leave it somewhere for free for a random person to pick up.  According to Cincinnati representative, Nicolette Stefanopoulos, "It's about giving, getting people back into art whether that means just appreciating it or executing art. Also, it could make someone's day by finding a piece of art.It's about sharing the love, the art way." For more information please view their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Art-Friday-Cincinnati/320050141431311


Loser of the Day: Cheaters.  Five people have been charged for cheating at the new Horseshoe Casino.  The five are charged with either “capping their bets,” “pinching their bets” or “past posting” their bets, whatever that means.  Here is the article.http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130528/NEWS/305280035

Quote of the Day: "Be so good they can't ignore you." - Steve Martin

Song of the day: "Playas Gon' Play" by 3LW

Cheesy Michael Bolton photo of the Day:

Click it or Ticket (Another cop bashing Blog)

I've never been pulled over for not wearing my seat belt.  I've been pulled over several times for several different reasons. Some of which I dispute, but not once has it been for not wearing my seat belt.  With that being said, I believe it's unconstitutional to not let me make my own decision on whether or not I want to wear my seat belt.  We've all seen the commercials with the 'Click It or Ticket' campaigns.  First of all, why are all these cops trying to be bullies? Most of the people police fine are the honest, law abiding citizens.  Certainly, no one is perfect and we all bend the rules sometimes, but I have a theory that they really sit around and literally pick on people they know will pay the fines.  

The whole police ticketing thing is all hypocritical, anyway.  If you are an attractive women, you have a far greater chance of getting out of a ticket than a 350 pound man committing the exact same violation.  I find that wrong.  If you are going to ticket people, it shouldn't be at the police officer's discretion based on looks, although I would much rather have an officer give me a ticket than some camera or airplane mailing me one, because at least with an officer there is a witness, no matter how biased he may be about the driver.  There's a human element there and it's kind of like baseball.  Don't let machines call balls and strikes.  We can live with the incorrect calls of an umpire now and then to make our game pure.  Now the umpires seem to be getting worse, but my theory is technology just got better and we can see how bad the umpires actually have been for years.  Some day drones will run this country's law enforcement and that's going to be a bad day.  You wont be able to get away with anything and the government will control are lives more than it already does and books like Fahrenheit 451 will have predicted the future.

I promise.... I'm getting back on track. In this country, we have something called, The Bill of Rights, which is the first ten amendments to the Constitution.  The first one states the following: 

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

Basically it says, we are free to make our own choices.  Obviously, I'm talking about a seat belt issue.  I should have the right to decide if I want to risk my life in a vehicle without buckling up.  I'm not saying I would, but I say I should have a right to.  I would not be endangering others, which is why laws should be written (to protect others).  We allow people to destroy their bodies by smoking, but you can't drive a car without putting a seat belt on or pay for a ticket.  The cell phone pull over rule is another problem.  Obviously. texting while driving is dangerous, and it should be banned as it does endanger others but the issue is cops don't know whether a person is texting or looking at a GPS map on their phone.  I don't have an answer but it's just something that came to mind while I was writing this.   

Winner of the Day: Lebron James. Hate him or love him, the guy made a layup last night with literally no time left on the clock to win the game.  When he finishes his career, he will be one of the top 3 players of all time.  I'm not sure if he will be #1 yet.  Time will tell.

Loser of the Day: College Grads.  You are graduating at a tough time in the economy and there are very few jobs out there.  College was the easiest part of life.  Good luck.

Quote of the Day: “Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces. Stand back from the centrifuge.” 
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Song of the Day: Mr. Roboto by Styx

Thought of the day: Be a good person.  Never sell yourself out.  Be yourself.  Don't live life for anyone else and be honest.  

Bellevue Alumni Tourney 2013: All Tournament Teams

Saturday was the 4th annual alumni basketball tournament at Bellevue High School. I have participated the last three years as a member of The Blackout.  We have not won since our debut year and a huge upset over the red team.  Since then we have come close but short every time.  This year we played the eventual champions to a draw at the end of regulation.  We lost in overtime, but it was the best game anyone gave the champs and the most exciting game of the day.  The winner was Brad McIntosh and the Blue team.  The rivalry between his and Jake Ross' team was all of the talk going into the tournament when all of the talk should have been on the pressure of Brad cutting down the nets for the first time.  Brad's rivalry extends back to last year where punches were nearly thrown in an intense physical game.  Brad has a history with this team due to his smack talking on the court.  Jake's team, does however, takes things to the extreme when retaliating.  They were nearly kicked out of being able to play after last season but were allowed to enter again after some negotiating with Dave Slater.  The team ended up facing Brad and his gang twice in the tournament, with no huge fireworks except for a ball being thrown at Brad's face and Jake getting thrown out in the championship.  Overall, the tournament was a success as usual.   This blog is to debut the all-tournament teams:

All Tournament First Team

SF. MVP-Brad McIntosh-Blue Team. Although Brad did not participate in his team's first game, that was their closest.  He lead his team to the largest margin of victory and had key baskets in all of his games.  He was the captain of a talented team and helped his teammates get open baskets.  This is his first All-Tournament First Team appearance.

PG.  Alex Grant-Blue Team.  Alex was the point guard for the eventual champions.  He was the hustler and made things happen for his team, all the while drilling key three pointers down the stretch of many games.

SG. Justin Ross-Orange Team.  Justin was the key player for the team that became the runner up in the tournament.  Brad was quoted as saying that he was worn down by Justin's defense and he is the only person besides The Bradley Stopper (me) who can shut him down.  Well all he did was contain McIntosh, but Justin added key baskets to lead his team to the finals.

SF. Paul Eaglin-White Team. The seasoned veteran. Paul is usually a mainstay on this list and he made it again except he was not surrounded by the usual talent that led his team to the championship in previous years.  Paul was still very good, but came up short this year.

SG. Chris Kilgore-Green Team. Chris was the sharp shooting player on the green that knocked out The Blackout.  Chris helped shoot his team to a 4th place finish in the tournament.  Without Chris, the Green may have been the first team eliminated.

All Tournament Second Team

SG Jimmy Scott-Blackout

PF Steve Baker-Green Team

SG Brandon Hoffman-Red Team

SG Jordan Fogelman-Blue Team

SG Joe Lay-Orange Team

All Hustle Team

PG Alex Grant-Blue Team

PF Justin Caudill-Black Team

SF Austin Kessen-Blue Team

PG David Stefanopoulos-Black Team

PF Chaz Woodyard-Red Team

Head Coach of the Tournament-Stuart Watton Blackout. If not for anything else, for the mustache.

Assistant Coach of the Tournament-Mindy Merritt. For helping coach three teams.

Shoutout of the Day: Jeff Stefanopoulos, because I promised this a while ago.

Walking Dead, T-Dog, and 5 best TV Series of all time.

The big craze right now when it comes to television series is The Walking Dead.  I have never been into zombies and stuff except for Dawn of the Dead.  The new one had the great Ving Rhames in it who shares a birthday with me so of course I am a fan.

It doesn't hurt that he plays Marcellus Wallace, the crime boss, in my favorite movie, Pulp Fiction. Anyway, I hated all the zombie/vampire/werewolf/insert sci-fi figure here movies and t.v. shows. In some of the groups I run with, what I am saying right here is blasphemy because they are all comic book nerds.  About a year ago or so, a friend of mine asked me to check out The Walking Dead.  I wanted nothing to do with it.  I was really into Mad Men at the time.  A few weeks later I decided to finally watch the pilot.  It really impressed me and it wasn't long before I was hooked. The cliffhangers they leave at the end of every episode keeps you interested in viewing the next episode.  The zombies aren't even the biggest plot point in the show usually.  The makeup is pretty decent for a t.v. show too.  The drama is what keeps me interested.  The character development is done very well.  As many of you know outside of this blog, my favorite character on the show is T-Dog.

*SPOILER ALERT* God rest his soul.  He had very few lines and he was never important to the plot, but as you know I like characters like that.  His real name was Theodore on the show, but they called him T-Dog and gave him the most black name you could give a black character on a show.  Usually the minor characters die off pretty fast but not T.  He survived into the third season, which is still currently airing.  I have a created facebook fan page for our fallen hero which you can visit here.  I also got an autograph of IronE Singleton (the actor who plays him) as a Christmas present from my father.  It ended up being my favorite present this past Christmas.

For a while I thought The Walking Dead had the potential of overtaking Mad Men as my favorite series currently on the air.  Then a dark horse came out of nowhere: Breaking Bad.  I guess I just love AMC shows.  Breaking Bad is a show about a chemistry teacher who finds out he has cancer, and he decides to pay for it by cooking crystal meth.  It stars Brian Cranston from Malcom in the Middle fame.

The show drags for the first two seasons, but once season three begins, it is worth hanging in there for the first two.  I'm telling you all of this, because I am about to reveal my five favorite television shows of all time. This can be any kind of series from sitcom to drama.

Honorable mentions: Life With Louie, Power Rangers, Survivor, Sportscenter, American Idol, TRL, Family Matters, All That, Boston Public, Saturday Night Live, Keenan and Kel, Seinfeld, Zoobilee Zoo, The Walking Dead...yes it didn't make the cut and yeah I can go on and on with honorable mentions but I'd be here all day so here is my top 5:

5. Sex and the City.  Yes. Sex and the City. Sarah, my sister owns the whole series and she'd always be watching it when I got out of class so naturally I began watching it and the main characters on there are developed very well and they build characters who resemble people you know in real life.  Carrie Bradshaw is one of the best television characters of all time.  She, along with Miranda, Charlotte, and of course Samantha helped create one of the best shows ever made, not just in the chick category.  I mean, overall.  It's basically about 4 middle aged women and their sex lives.  None of the women are the hottest women on the planet yet you still find yourself attracted to them.

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yes.  This was my favorite show as a youngster.  It follows 4 mutant turtles and the rat master, Splinter as they fight crime.  As I child, what more could you ask for?  You want them to be named after painters?  Too late they got that covered.  You want them to love pizza? That too.  You want them to fight against ninjas known as the foot?  Oh yeah that too. Shredder was their rival with his mutant hog Bee-Bop, and rhino, Rocksteady.

3. Breaking Bad. If it weren't for the first two seasons going so damn slow, this may be my number one.  Seasons 3, 4, and so far 5 are that good. I already spoke about this movie so I won't waste your time again, but I strongly recommend it.  The writing, acting, and directing are all amazing.  They will put something in the show and you won't know what it fully means until 5 episodes later.  Watching Walter transform through the series is a work of art.

2. Freaks and Geeks. This show was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen.  It was created by Judd Apatow.  Yes. That Judd Apatow.  It stars a bunch of kids that went on to do bigger and better things (Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jason Segal,  and Martin Starr among others).  The story focuses on a family and their two high school kids in the early 80's.  Their son hangs with some nerdy kids and their daughter is trying to fit in with the freaks.  The show somehow only lasted one season which is shocking considering the star power, but it is the best show about high school I've seen and it captures what high school is really like.

1. Mad Men.  This show is about a bunch of ad men on Madison Avenue in the 60's.  It focuses on a character played by John Hamm who does an excellent job at his role and his family.  The show does a fantastic job with the drama in this show as you can cut the tension with a knife.  The show keeps you intreagued and once you watch an episode you will have to watch two.  The show isn't for everyone as it moves slow, but for people who love Oscar winning style movies, this series is perfect.

Now that it took so long to write all of this I will not be doing the 'of the day' section.  Tune in next time.

What Women Want, Hogzilla, Keychains, and Cell Phones

It is basketball season, and I haven't really written much about sports in a long time.  I think it may be because for some weird reason, most of my readers are females. I'm not complaining.  Growing up with two sisters and since I'm a momma's boy, I do relate to females and understand what they are thinking, or so I believe.  I've always liked "What Women Want" with pre-insane Mel Gibson. It is one of my favorite non-Matt McConaughey romantic comedies ever.  He was able to hear what every woman was saying.  It's a ridiculous romantic comedy from the 90's (I wish things were still like they were in the 90's on a side note. The world sucks now). 

Anyway, wouldn't it be crazy to hear what the opposite sex were thinking?  Well ladies, you probably wouldn't want to, because tapping into a man's brain would be like, "Sex. Sports. Food. Repeat."    But men, wouldn't it be cool?  That is if any man is reading this.  We will get to basketball in a second so hang in there.  My one beef with the movie is why would Mel's character (I'm terrible with character names so I will refer to them by the actor's names) choose Helen Hunt over Marisa Tomei?  Sure one works at a coffee shop while the other is a big shot at his company, but let's review here: 

                                Mel and Helen from the movie            Mel and Marisa from the movie

1. Marisa is way hotter than Helen. 
2. Marisa doesn't work with Mel so he can get a break from time to time.  
3. George Castanza blew it with Marisa on Seinfeld (I know this has nothing to do with proving my point but I did love that episode).
4. Marisa seems more fun and more willing to have a good time.
5. Helen is too uptight.

I get why he chose her though, because it was in the script.  And he was going for what he can't have which is attractive to most people (don't push the red button syndrome). Anyway, I'm getting way off track.  I planned on writing about basketball.  Everyone knows I grew up a fan of the Kentucky Wildcats college basketball team and I am a homer.  I follow all of their careers in the NBA.  My favorite NBA players are probably all Wildcats but I do like other players too.  I have decided to list my top five NBA non-UK players of all time.  It would be easy to put you know, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, or Larry Bird.  But I like the under appreciated guys:

5. Karl Malone.  He's probably the best overall player on this list.  The guy was tough.  He was called the Mail Man, because he always delivered.  The guy lead his team to the finals a few times, but never won it all.  He is on my list because a friend of mine knew him and Karl actually got one of his finals teams to autograph a pennant for me. He also wrestled.

4. Dennis Rodman. He may be the greatest rebounder of all time.  They called him The Worm.  He has lived a crazy life but dude was as bad as he wanted to be.  He did whatever he wanted and didn't care what anyone else thought of him.  He won some titles.  He played with the Bad Boys in Detroit and with Michael in Chicago on the greatest team of all time.  He dyed his hair often which made him stand out.

3. Shquille O'Neal. Now how can you not love this guy?  He's a walking one liner.  His jokes are almost as funny as mine.  They called him The Diesel, which helped me develop the name, Pat Diesel for my cousin.  He was also a beast of a player.  He won multiple championships.  He also starred in Kazaam, where he played a 7 foot genie, and had a video game called Shaq-Fu.

2. Dikembe Mutumbo.  This dude was a block machine and he knew it.  The guy would wave his finger after blocking a shot and rubbed it in the face of whoever he blocked.  He is now in one of the funniest Geico commercials I have ever seen.  I just can't help but laugh when I saw him play or heard him talk.

1. Rasheed Wallace.  I never could figure out why he had that random bald spot.  He has a title and possible record for most technical fouls.  The dude was a badass and enforcer who could hit threes.  I remember his early days in Portland when he and Arvydas Sabonis would chuck up threes from all over the place.  I also loved when he played alongside my boy Tayshaun in Detroit.

Winner of the Day: Madeira High School. They busted ten high school girls for sexting.  One of them is as young as 14.  Back when I was 14, we all didn't all have cell phones.  The chunky Nokias weren't invented yet.  It almost got me involved in a fight one time.  Robert, my friend, was telling me this story walking home one day.  He was telling me about this weird guy was walking behind him while he headed to school.  The man asked Rob if he had a cell phone in his hand.  It of course wasn't a cell phone.  It was a key chain.  How the man got a key-chain and cell phone mixed up I have no idea, but this was back in the day so I guess it's plausible.  Rob was telling me this story after school and the dude  came from an opposite street, and said, "Hey dude. That was me."  I immediately ran.  I told I was going to go call the cops.  The man got up in Rob's face.  He didn't back down.  Some how Rob talked himself out of a beatdown.  Read about the Madeira students here.

Loser of the Day: Fox Chase Apartments.  This is the apartment complex right next to my condo complex.  A suspicious death happened there last night and now I fear for my life. Read the Story Here.

Quote of the Day: "The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off." -Gloria Steinem

Song of the Day: "Heaven is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle

Hogzilla of the Day:

Oscar Pistorius, Carnival Cruise, and murdering cops, + Ray Charles on top of all that.

I read the audience of my page today.  Apparently 20 times my page has been viewed by South Africans.  I don't really understand it.  I never really write about anything that appeals to them like apartheid,  Nelson Mandela, vuvuzelas or Bafana Bafana (which simply means the boys, the boys) and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

And of course I've never written about Oscar Pistorius.  I never liked him.  I was in the minority about him when he was granted eligibility in this year's Summer Olympics.It was not fair for him to race against able bodies and people with all of their legs.  Now that sounds harsh, but Pistorius has no legs which means no leg muscles.  The guy can't cramp or get sore or tired without legs.  I know this seems like I have a lack of sympathy for him.  I do.  But his legs were just unfair to other athletes who can get injured.  Pistorius is now charged with murdering his girlfriend who is a super model in South Africa.  I think those two being together in South Africa is like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the states, except with two legs instead of four and the  size of the lips are undoubtedly smaller. 

Pistorius and his girlfriend Reeva Sneencamp

The case has gotten crazy as the lead investigator ended up being charged with attempted murder himself.  I also find it disgusting that Pistorius blamed his legs for being the reason he shot his girlfriend through the door.  He claimed to be vulnerable with his legs, panicked when he thought an intruder entered his home and fired bullets into his locked bathroom.  He claims there was no struggle, but why was the door locked?  No one locks the door if they go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, especially if the only one there is your boyfriend.  I'm through with this subject.  I thought I would just talk a little South Africa for my fans over in that country.  Now South Africa is not the foreign country which views my blog the most.  The Russians love  me.  They for some reason have viewed my page 267 times.  Maybe it's because I'm such a pale skinned person, I look as though I am one of them.  I don't know.  

Enough about other countries; we are in the land of the free and the home of the brave, 'Murica.  America the Beautiful.  While Pistorius was over in South Africa slaying his woman, there was a cruise ship with over 4,200  passengers and crew floating with no power or electricity whatsoever.  There were terrible conditions as passengers started using there showers to relieve themselves with no water and the boat was moving at one mile an hour.  I'm not sure how that equates in knots (ship speed measurement) but I do know most people walk faster than a mile an hour.  It took the Carnival Cruise Ship days to get back to shore.  My first question was, this is 2013, why the hell can't they just move the people on to another ship?  It made no sense to me.  I heard the bus taking them to where they needed to be also broke down.  Talk about a bad week. That's worse than living a day in Lindsay Lohan's shoes.  I can't commit to going a week in her shoes.  That may be worse. Read About It here.  

While that ship was lost at sea, Christopher Dorner murdered two cops, a cop's daughter and fiance.  He wrote a manifesto on facebook, saying he would bring warfare down on the LAPD.  There are a lot of conspiracy thories about why he did it.  I believe he was probably bullied by the cops to do something unethical and he didn't want to do and the dude went nuts because he saw no way out.  Desperate men do desperate things. The man supposedly killed himself in a cabin after a long manhunt.  I don't know why he got Whitney Houston status for killing four people, but for some reason people ate up this story.  

Winner of the Day: #JoeyVotto.  Why did I put the hash tag on there?  Well on Twitter if you add #JoeyVotto to any of your tweets, it counts as a vote for Votto to win the face of the MLB contest on MLB Network.  So please go VOTE-O this week.

Loser of the Day: Ryan Braun.  This guy is a complete turd.  He beat the system last year on a technicality and now he's brought up with steroids again.  The guy is a liar and it's obvious you cheated.  Just come clean.  We aren't naive anymore.

Quote of the Day:Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something" - Proverb 

Song of the Day: "America the Beautiful" by Ray Charles

Thought of the Day:  If Stevie Wonder in his prime were to fight Ray Charles in his prime, I believe Ray Charles would win.  I only base that on his agressiveness from the movie.  He would be really agressive in several scenes and he could also take down Stevie with the dreads if it came down to it.

Oscar Review: Bennifer, Halle and the Heatmiser, Bill the Butcher, and Jennifer Lawrence

So I watched the Academy Awards last night.  My friend Rob had this party at his newly built house and we got some pizza, made some chili cheese dip, and watched them with a few friends of mine.  The only movie I had seen up to the Oscar's that was up for anything was Django Unchained, which I of course loved. 

I am a Quentin Tarantino die hard.  Pulp Fiction is my favorite movie of all time.  The way Tarantino develops his characters is a work of art.  Having written a few screenplays in my day, I know how difficult of a task character development is.  Django was a serious subject, inspired by Spaghetti Westerns, and had a dash of quirky comedy and violence that Tarantino is known for.  The first award given out on the night was to Christolph Waltz.  He has been nominated twice for two different roles in Tarantino movies and won both times he has been nominated.  Waltz does steal every scene he is in, as he did in Inglorious Basterds.  He does look quite odd without a beard.

Seth McFarlane hosted the show, which obviously they tried to gear the show towards a younger audience.  The Academy had tried this once before with James Franco and Anne Hathaway a few years ago which was an absolute disaster.  It is already a hard enough show to get through, and add to it terrible hosts. That's a no win situation. 

McFarlane was the best host I've seen in a while.  He actually got me to laugh a few times, which let's be honest, no one laughed last year at Billy Crystal except about how much larger his head has gotten as the years have gone by.  The intro last night went on way too long.  The William Shatner sketch was funny and unexpected, but I could have gone without the dancing skit with Harry Potter and Joseph Gordon Levett.  The best part of McFarlane's hosting was the Boob Song which you can see below.

The show did drag for too long, which the Oscar's seem to do every year.  I wish they could cut out a lot of those costume design and technical awards and give those out pre show like the Grammy's do with pointless awards but The Academy insists on them being part of the show.  The tribute to the Bond Films was kind of boring and went on far too long as well.  I think they just wanted an excuse to put Halle Berry on stage.  She is nice to look at even with that Heatmiser/Don King hair she had last night.  I almost ruined the longest relationship I've ever had early on when I met my ex girlfriend, and later on she text me and asked me what I thought of her.  I said, "You're no Halle Berry," and of course that hurt her feelings and it took us about a month to see each other again, but it did last three years so I some how won her over.  I think it is my wittiness  sexiness, and of course uncanny charm.

 

                             Don King                                                Heatmiser                               Halle Berry 2013 Oscar's

                                                                  Me this past Halloween

The biggest surprise of the night for me was Jennifer Lawrence winning best actress.  I have yet to see Silver Linings playbook.  It's on my list to see along with Argo, Flight, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln. I did see her in The Hunger Games and she did alright in that.  I can't judge her and say it was a complete surprise she won but I wasn't expecting it.  She did trip and fall on her way up to accept the award which was humiliating but she made light of it when she accepted.  If only she was as good at walking up steps as she is at archery.  

Argo won best picture.  I guess I should've said SPOILER ALERT, but if you are reading a review you have to expect this.  I assumed it was going to win since it cleaned up the J.V. awards.  Ben Affleck has come a long way.  He started on a high with Good Will Hunting and winning an original screenplay Oscar then he starred in movies like Gigli and Armageddon.  He co-starred along side his teeth in Armageddon.  He definitely got them whitened or something before he starred in that movie. He dated J-Lo and became Bennifer.  He dated J-Lo right after Puffy did.  Does she have a random taste in men or what?  You can't get much different than those two.  He is now on top of the world though, directing Gone Baby Gone, The Town , and now best picture winner, Argo.  I plan on buying Argo soon as I plan to own every best picture winner since my birth year of 1985.  Argo looks very good from the previews and everyone says it is really good.  Ben deserved a best director nomination but for some reason didn't get the nod.  It makes no sense to direct the best picture but not get nominated for best director.  It seems silly.

Daniel Day Lewis won best lead actor which he looks like Abe Lincoln in the movie and that's all Jamie Foxx needed to win for Ray so that sounds about right.  It's his third time winning for best male lead so he's turning into the male Meryl Streep.  He is a great actor though so he deserves it.  He really deserves four because I don't know how he didn't win for his portrayal of Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York, one of the greatest characters of all time.

                                                         Daniel Day Lewis as Bill the Butcher

Overall grade for the Oscar's?  C+.  I'm not going to give it above a C until they don't make me stay up until midnight on a work night.  The host was better but not all the way there yet.  He's like a G rated version of Ricky Gervace.  None of the speeches really had a 'moment.'