And the Oscar Goes to...

Yes, it's that time of year again. Tonight's post will be entirely dedicated to the Oscars and the winners. Actually, the main reason I'm watching, not only because I have been for many years, it's because Jon Stewart is hosting [again]! I must say, he has done a very good job so far. Lots of liberal-bias in Hollywood jabs, all the good stuff.

Winners tonight [adding as the show progresses]

Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Animated Feature: Ratatouille

Makeup: La Vie en Rose

Visual Effects: The Golden Compass

Art Directions: Sweeney Todd

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem [No Country for Old Men]

Live Action Short Film: Le Mozart Des Pickpockets

Animated Short Film: Peter and the Wolf

Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton [Michael Clayton]

Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men

Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard [La Vie en Rose]

Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Foreign Film: Falscher, Die [Austria]

Original Song: Falling Slowly [Once]

Cinematography: There Will Be Blood

Original Score: Atonement

Documentary Short Film: Freeheld

Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side

Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody [Juno] *side note: yay!*

Lead Actor: The "I've abandoned my child" Guy -- Daniel Day-Lewis

Directing: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen [No Country for Old Men]

Picture: No Country for Old Men

Some highlights [that I can remember]:

- Jon's jokes, all of them

- Troops in Baghdad presenting

- Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen's bit

- Wii Playing

- Baby nomination to Angelina Jolie

- Helen Mirren saying "cojones"

So did you see who so and so was wearing? I mean, hello! What was so and so thinking!? I think I just summed up the after show without watching it. I will give one comment though, Jon Stewart looked mighty fine all dressed up with the bow tie and that jazz. 

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On a note aside from the Oscars, Fidel Castro has officially stepped down and his little brother, Raul Castro, has stepped up [age difference is 5 years and Fidel is 81 so...he isn't that young?].

So there's more news aside from the Oscars. Ralph Nader has entered the race as an independent! This is preposterous! I very much dislike the man. His campaign slogan should be, "Ralph Nader: Vote Stealer"

Handful of happenings...

It has been a week since I last posted and I know, that's a long time. I bring no excuses but my own laziness, but let's get started.

The main thing I regret not having posted on the day of is that the Writer's Strike is finally over! It's done! I don't know the details about the new contract, but since the WGA had been very persistent, the AMPTP must've given them what they wanted. I'm very glad that all the late night shows got their writers back [Stephen Colbert also getting 'back' Tiki Barber, Kevin Bacon, and Mr. Met]. Welcome back writers, you have been missed! Now bring on the new episodes, I'm ready to watch them!

Valentine's Day has also come and passed, but nothing good has come out of it. There was a school shooting at the Northern Illinois University that left 5 people dead and the shooter as well. There have been many developments, but all the information seems to be the same as the previous school shootings'. But this time, the shooter did not attend the school did at one point. It's really unfortunate that the many school shootings in 2007 has carried over into 2008. A big question: who's fault is all this? I'll be writing a piece on it in the coming days.

Kosovo is now its own country. It declared independence from Serbia yesterday and the U.S. and many other countries have already recognized it as its own. But there are of course, many countries who oppose. Serbia [obviously] opposes as well as Russia, Greece, and Spain. There is also a small fear that many other nations will exercise their rights to self-determination and follow suit in declaring independence. Good thing or bad thing? We'll see as it unfolds.

Yesterday and today saw suicide bombings that left many casualties in Afghanistan. On Sunday, a bomber attacked a market and recent information tells of at least 100 dead. Today, a suicide bomber crashed his car into a Canadian convoy's, killing 35 civilians and at least 25 people injured -- including 2 Canadian soldiers. Sunday's killings have been the deadliest since the "Islamist movement" according to CNN. This event no doubt puts more pressure on the Conservatives and their decision to extend the stay of Canadian peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan. Expect consistent attacks from the Liberals and the NDP, and maybe even an election [I hope not] in the near future.

Now onto the U.S. presidential elections. Republican John McCain is expected to win, and has been for awhile now, the nomination for the GOP. Even Mitt Romney has endorsed him *sigh* Previous president George H.W. Bush has endorsed McCain, so what is Huckabee still doing? I remember him saying something along the lines of it being better than doing nothing at all. I really don't want to put my support behind McCain because for a 'straight-talker', he sure is a 'flip-flopper'. This really shows the doom of the Republican party. All I can do now is quote a person I don't usually quote. "I would vote for the Devil over John McCain, thus my claim that I would vote for Hillary [Clinton] over John McCain." - Ann Coulter.

The Democratic race is tight as ever. The one state that Clinton seems to be putting most her efforts into -- Texas -- is showing the same thing, a tie. Wisconsin and Hawaii are tomorrow and expect Obama to win them. But, once again, will it make a difference? Pundits and typical critics alike are already claiming that these primaries/caucuses won't be the deciding factor in the nominee. It will be up to the superdelegates to decide [read bottom post if you don't know what I'm talking about]. Am I going to root for a Democrat? I don't think I'd expose that information to the public. But I can say, ANYONE BUT John McCain or Hillary Clinton. Hmm, who's left?

I will bookend this post with repeating the fact that the Writer's Strike is OVER! What does that mean? The Oscars will get decent jokes! Who's the host this year? I've known for awhile now, but I haven't informed you all. It's none other then Jon Stewart! *applause* I'm excited for the Oscars every year, but the years that Jon Stewart hosts [this will be his second year], I'm more excited. So don't miss the show, this coming Sunday, February 24. The only down side is that there isn't the Daily Show or the Colbert Report this week because Jon has to write the material. I'm hoping he grabs not only his writers but also Colbert's writers to make the show less aged [have you seen the crowd at the Oscars?].

That's all for me today. I think I should stop making promises of posting, but I really do want to try to post more often. I blame it on school [so I do have an excuse]. But if Anderson Cooper can post almost everyday, I can too! Good night, and good luck!

Superdelegates?

Is it just me, or are the presidential hopefuls and their campaigns starting to get...boring? For the Republicans, the only candidate that can win, and the candidate who will win the nomination, is and will be John McCain. On the Democratic side, Clinton and Obama are in a virtual dead heat. Neither of them will get ahead of the other unless one drops out, but it doesn't appear that either of them are prepared to do so.

So what will decide? The majority of the primaries and caucuses are being won by Barack Obama, but why is he not ahead? The reason: SUPERDELEGATES. They're not just delegates that are won in states, they're the SUPER ones. What does that mean? Well they're the delegates that candidates don't get from the primary/caucus process. They're people from the Democratic National Convention who hold positions such as party officials or others along that line. Who do these people represent? Well, themselves really. They each get one vote and can give it to whichever candidate they want. There are about 796 superdelegates that can go to either candidate. They can even flop from one candidate to another at any given time. Obama has won more states than Clinton, but he is still a few delegates behind because she has more support from these DNC people. The pledged superdelegate count looks like this at this moment:

261 Clinton

176 Obama

359 Undecided

Do the voters feel a bit ripped off? Millions have gone out to vote in hopes that the amount of delegates in their states goes to the candidate they want to win. But since Clinton won the states with the larger amount of delegates on Super Tuesday but Obama won more, these delegates just make them even more tied -- if that makes sense. The tie breaker, as stated before, is now up to these superdelegates. To quote something that is often said, and that I feel relevant at the moment: "All men are created equal, but some are more equal than others." The some in this situation are these people who get a whole vote to themselves.

Have I sold you on the illegitimacy and unfairness of these superdelegates yet? No? Here's something interesting. Superdelegates can be anyone relating to the DNC and can be any age. Did I mention that they don't have to be pre-approved by voters? No offense to the young, but there is a 21 year-old manboy that is in possession of one of these superdelegates. Jason Rae is a college student who has been helping the DNC, directly or indirectly, for a few years now. He hasn't decided who he's going to vote for yet, but has received many phone calls to try to get his vote. Former President Bill Clinton has phoned up this manboy hoping he'd give his vote to his wife. Has Bill Clinton phoned every other American who is able to vote to do so? Why does this manboy get special treatment? He also got a date -- I mean, lunch appointment -- with Chelsea Clinton [if the Clintons read this blog, they may be very angry with me. Un-suspend David Shuster!!] Has Chelsea gone to lunch appointments with the millions of Americans who can vote? I didn't think so.

Do I need to quote that quote again? No, just scroll up. Basically, my point is, superdelegates should not be more important than regular delegates, yet they are. I wouldn't say they should be gotten rid of, but the rules should be revised. Like whichever state the superdelegate is in should be given to the winner of that state. Another thing to think about: Did the DNC purposely make the superdelegates more important? They stripped the delegates of many states completely bare, and many others in half. Does this relate to anything?

Can the Democrats get any more confusing? Maybe that's another reason I like Republicans more, there are no 'hidden fees' on each 'transaction', they are as written. And this has got to be the longest post I've written about the Democrats. Hooray? I need to take a Republican shower...whatever that contains [I know what it won't contain -- Larry Craig *canned laughter*].

So Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. is tomorrow. Who will win for the Democrats? Probably Obama, but apparently Clinton has some edge left in Virginia. Who will win for the Republicans? Will it even make a difference? [The answer is no, by the way].

That's all for me tonight! I want a cool sign-out...something that isn't stolen from Murrow. See ya later? Hasta Luego? [there goes the interview with Lou Dobbs *canned laughter*]. *waves* [now that one, I like].

Sad day...again...

Mitt Romney has 'suspended' his campaign [he pretty much dropped out]. His reasons had to do with being in the way of the Republicans defeating the Democrats or something. If anyone is in the way, it's Huckabee.

I know, I have posted in forever. New semester means I am unorganized, but I will pick it up very soon. It's Chinese New Years today so I wish everyone Gung Hay Fat Choy! Year of the Rat, are you one?

One thing I should've made a post on was Super Tuesday. It's the day that everyone had been counting down, but I was so indifferent about the results that I didn't care to post. Obama won more states than Clinton, but she won the bigger ones such as California and New Jersey. She even won Massachusetts, which means that Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Obama had no effect. So Obama won more delegates, but Clinton got more votes overall. Now, Clinton is still leading Obama because she has more super-delegates.

On the Republican side, Romney won the usual Utah and Massachusetts along with a few others. He didn't do worse than Huckabee, who did manage to win some, but not as much. McCain obviously won the rest of it, which pretty much makes him the Republican nominee.

So what's it going to be? McCain vs. Obama or McCain vs. Clinton? I think he'll lose against Obama but he has a chance against Clinton.

Fox made a mistake today, not surprising, but what is surprising is that I agree with it. When they showed a clip of McCain talking, underneath him it said: Senator John McCain [D-Az]. If you don't see anything wrong with that, it's fine, many wouldn't. But McCain is actually a Republican, not a Democrat. Oh but he sure could fool us [and Fox].

I am going to say, we miss you Mitt!! Come back in a few years and beat those Dems and closet Dems!

I will be back soon, hopefully, so I'll be back then. Good night and good luck [I'm in the process of watching the movie, good so far!].

Status: Crying

The New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl against the New York Giants. Congratulations to Eli and the rest. But the Pats played well too. 18-1 is all I hear *cries*

Good night.