I forgot to mention that I was off last week to attend to many chores… so if you thought I quit this gig to join a cult of Kool-Aid drinking crazies in Nike sneakers, you were mistaken. I thought about it, though.

There is nothing I wish to report, except that I did, in fact, win the Oscar pool. Only 60 bucks, but what the hell. That will cover a bank overdraft fee charged against me, so I’m not complaining.

So in accepting the dough, I want to thank the academy, my dog, who stood by me in the lean years and of course, God.

Seems I’m the only won who figured Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) would win for best supporting actor. I think the world thought Eddie Murphy (“Dreamgirls”) was going to win, but he has a nasty reputation in Hollywood and he really, really wanted that Academy Award. He wanted it so bad and was so hyped as the shoo-in winner that I just knew they were going to stick it to him and give the statue to Arkin, who was great as the heroin-snorting gramps in Little Miss Sunshine.

Ha! Was I the only one who noticed that after Arkin won, Murphy wasn’t seen on camera for the rest of the night? I’ll bet he stormed out of the theater.
This reminds me of a terrible movie about the movie business called, naturally, “The Oscar” which came out in 1965 and featured Tony Bennett and Stephen Boyd. It’s generally considered one of the worst movies ever made, which makes it a lot of fun to watch. Boyd plays an obnoxious, back-stabbing actor who sells everyone out as he claws his way to success. If I recall correctly, he has a ridiculous name, too…something like Frankie Fame.

Anyway, in the climatic scene, Frankie goes to the Oscars, and he’s so certain that he’s going to win for best actor that he stands up and completely humilates himself because he doesn’t wait for the winner’s whole name to be announced. He rises to get the award just as the announcer says, “And the winner is Frank…Sinatra!”
Hilarious.

They should give out a Frankie Fame Award every year. Past winners would include Burt Reyonds (“Boogie Nights”) and Michael J. Pollard (“Bonnie and Clyde”). This year’s winner is definitely Eddie Murphy.
Let me know if you can think of any others.