Like my friend Jill, who wrote thoughtfully in her blog yesterday about the economic and budgetary woes we Americans face, I also want to tackle a serious subject here: Oscar fashions!

I know I'm two days late, but I got distracted reading our book club book last night ("United States of Arugula") and didn't find the time to blog. So here goes, my favorite gowns and my least favorite, (with apologies to Bonnie Bing for my poor fashion commentary.)

Also like Jill, I give my highest marks to Helen Mirren. People, she's over 60 and she looked stunning, as always. In case you didn't read about it, her sleeves are made of Swarovski crystals.

My second highest vote-getter was French actress Marion Cotillard, wearing what Bonnie calls a mermaid gown. (She won best actress in the only nominated movie I saw in that category. Yeah, she was good.)


Jessica Albo may be preggo, but she looked fabo.


Not an ounce of body fat on Rene Zellweger.


And finally, Hilary Swank wearing black Versace.

Now for my least favorites. I think there were more bad looks this night than good.

Jennifer Hudson: all you see is boobs coming at you.


Cate Blanchett, also pregnant. Just an ugly color for her and hate the bodice.

Ellen Page, proving that she has much to learn about style.

Stripper-turned-screenwriter Diablo Cody probably would have done better showing up nekkid.

Newcomer Amy Adams, getting very bad fashion advice.

And British actress Tilda Swinton. 'Nuff said.

Gotta love Jon Stewart

Don't you? I thought he was great as host of the Oscars last night, so while I'm sitting here Monday morning waiting for the plumber to arrive, I'll share with you some of his best lines of the night (stolen from another Web site.) I plan to share some of my other Oscar insights later...

Riffing on the writers' strike that almost threatened to cancel the Oscar show: "I'm happy to say the fight is over - so tonight, welcome to the make-up sex."

About how inclusive the Oscars were this year: "Even Norbit got a nomination, which I think is great. Too often the Academy ignores movies that aren't good."

"They said that having the Oscars helped end the strike. So before we spend the next four to five hours giving each other golden statues, let's take a moment to congratulations ourselves."

"[Away From Her] was about a woman who forgets her husband. Hillary Clinton called it the feelgood movie of the year."

About Anton Chigur, the villain played by Javier Bardem in "No Country For Old Men" - "combining Hannibal Lecter's murderousness with Dorothy Hamill's wedgecut".

"This is the environmentally-conscious green Oscars. So tonight our presenters will be walking all the way to the microphones."

"In case you're wondering what we do in the commercial breaks, we sit here making catty remarks about the outfits you're wearing at home."

"Our next presenter [Penelope Cruz] speaks four languages, and earlier tonight she told me "I'm calling security" in all four of them."

"Tom Hanks has won two Oscars but is not nominated tonight - so if you ask me, he's got no place being here."

"This year's slate: psychopathic killer movies. Does this town need a hug? All I can say is, thank God for teen pregnancy."

Milkshakes, and more

Dale and I saw "There Will Be Blood" this weekend, so I finally get why everyone seems to be parodying the "I drink your milkshake" line. It was, indeed, bizarre and over the top. And, ultimately, very bloody.
In case you haven't heard, that line is one of the last uttered by the great actor Daniel Day Lewis in this engrossing and odd film. Go to YouTube and type that line into the search field and you'll see all kinds of parodies, as well as real snippets from the movie. This is one of my favorites. (I haven't learned how to actually download video onto my blog yet, sorry.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl0GznCEHTk

Although I do hope Daniel Day Lewis wins the Oscar for best actor tonight, it's only partly because of his role in TWBB. He's always been a favorite for me. I loved him in "Last of the Mohicans" (talk about some scene-chewing lines, and his chemistry with the otherwise ho-hum Madeline Stowe was alone worth the price of admission)


But I also have a special fondness for him because he played a supporting (but very crucial) role in one of my top 5 favorite films of all time, "A Room With a View," in which he plays the arrogant and foppish Cecil. (Shown here wearing the straw hat, in the middle.)

If you haven't seen "A Room With a View," you must, if for no other reason than it has what I consider to be THE best movie kiss of all time (no, Daniel Day Lewis is not in that scene. His kissing scene in this movie ranks as one of the WORST movie kisses of all time, which is what makes his role all the more interesting. It is so against type.)


This photo is from the scene in ARWAV where the kiss (the good one) takes place. Don't worry, the movie is in color. This black and white photo was the only one I could find of THE KISS.

So now you have all of my thoughts on Daniel Day Lewis and his movies. He was also great in "My Left Foot" (for which he won the Oscar for best actor) and "The Age of Innocence." Check one of them out!

Disappointed, again

I continue to be thwarted in my attempts to hook up my iPod video with Genesis' cardio theater system. When I went to the west Genesis branch today, none of the three people on duty knew how to hook up the thing. It should have been easy enough, it didn't look hard, but it just didn't work.
And, of course, it being Sunday morning, there was nothing on TV! So I ended up doing what I usually do at the less-grand Y -- listening to music. So far, Genesis is just not delivering. By the way, D, C and B -- the west branch is definitely no better than some of the newer Ys, save for the fact that they have individual TV screens.

Nothing lady-like about it

I'm not one of those people who watch cooking shows while working out at the Y (or Genesis, today, see post below.) Today, however, when I was preparing to work out, the Food Network was on the TV at my station and I couldn't help but watch a few minutes of a Paula Deen cooking show. Anyone who is familiar with Paula Deen's recipes knows she never spares the butter, cream, cheese, etc. But the recipe she was featuring on this day is about as gross and irresponsible as I can imagine. She called it a Ladies Brunch Burger,and it essentially consisted of a burger, topped with bacon and fried egg, all sandwiched between your choice of English muffin or glazed doughnut -- or, if you prefer, BOTH the muffin and the doughnut. Seriously, here's the recipe. Shame on you, Paula! LADIES BRUNCH BURGER 1 1/2 pounds ground beef 3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves 2 tablespoons grated onion House Seasoning, recipe follows 2 tablespoons butter 3 eggs 6 slices bacon, cooked 3 English muffins 6 glazed donuts Mix the ground beef, chopped parsley and grated onion together in a large mixing bowl. Season liberally, with House Seasoning. Form 3 hamburger patties. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add the burgers and cook until desired temperature, 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Fry bacon in a hot pan until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Set aside. While burgers are cooking, heat a non-stick pan, over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter. Crack 3 eggs into the pan. Cook until the yolks are just set and still slightly runny and remove. Place burger patties on English muffins or buns, and if desired, on glazed donuts, as the buns. Top each burger with 2 pieces of bacon and a fried egg.

Working out in style

Four of us from the newsroom have taken on the Genesis fitness challenge to lose weight, get in shape, yada, yada, yada. We get a membership to Genesis for six weeks, so I went for the first time Saturday.
One of the best features about working out there is that each cardio machine has its own cable TV screen (above). You just plug in your earphones and use the little remote control to watch whatever you want. As I was getting ready to go to Genesis -- finding my iPod and earphones, retrieving my lock from my gym bag, putting on workout clothes, etc -- I remarked to Dale that it was a lot of work just to get ready to go work out. That led to this exchange:

Dale: Why do you have to go somewhere when you have a treadmill downstairs.
Me: Because each cardio machine at Genesis has its own TV screen with cable access.
Dale: You have your own TV downstairs in front of your treadmill.
Me: Well, at Genesis, each cardio machine has its own remote control so you can watch whatever your want.
Dale: You have a remote control downstairs so that you can watch whatever you want.
Me: Shut-up!

Anyway, it is a great facility. I went to the branch on 13th street near my house, but it's the only branch that doesn't have the capablity to hook up your iPod video to the TV monitor so that you can watch TV shows or movies you've downloaded onto your iPod. So tomorrow I'm going to the west branch to try out that little feature.
Denise, Bonnie, Carrie -- hope you're psyched to work out, Team Eagle.

Don't ever cross Peggy

Several of us were impressed, and a little frightened, with our co-worker Peggy Smith's expertise at cracking a whip. She did it with precision and lightening speed. Her explanation was something about growing up around cattle and horses, but we're all a little dubious. She seemed to relish it just a little too much. You may be wondering why we had a bull whip in the office. It's just one of the odd things we get in the mail from TV, movie, DVD and music promoters. This came with a package promoting -- you guessed it -- the new Indiana Jones movie.

Eaton elegance

I finally paid a visit to the new Eaton Steakhouse this week, a place I've been dying to visit after hearing about how beautiful the restaurant is and its ambitious menu. I will be reviewing it for the Eagle soon, after a visit at dinner, but here's an early peek after a lunch visit with Denise and our longtime friend Diane Lewis, who was as engaging and fun as ever.

Diane with a view of the restaurant. One of my favorite parts of our lunch with Diane was her contempt that the restaurant actually brings you a fresh white linen napkin with dessert. "That is just unnecessary," she said with her usual matter-of-factness. But I agree, Diane. (We had a cinammon bread pudding for dessert that was scrumptious.)

Denise enjoying the delicious crusty rolls.

The restaurant really is beautiful with its massive, stately columns. It was completely packed at lunch and we even had to wait about 20 minutes for a table.

One of the nice features is fresh flowers at every table, and every arrangement is different. I didn't take a photo of the pastry cases on the other end of the restaurant, with its towering cakes and creatively decorated tarts, cookies and cupcakes, but believe me, it's worth a visit just to gawk at.
Oh, and as far as the food, well it was a little mixed. I felt my mahi mahi was a bit overdone and the accompanying fresh green beans were woefully undercooked, and Diane's French dip sandwich was a bit too chewy, but otherwise tasty. So I'm hoping to be impressed more at dinner. Stay tuned.

Girls only

You don't see many men at the annual Women's Fair at Century II, and there's a good reason for that. It's pretty much an excuse for shopping and checking out girl stuff like scented candles, handbags, jewelry, makeup and , oh yeah, healthful stuff like bone density tests, fitness regimens and dietary supplements.

My friend Denise and I spent a couple of hours there today and, mainly, we coveted stuff and bought the occasional trinket.


I got one of those new flat wallets that our friend Tina told us about last night at poker. (Denise already had one.)

And I felt I had to have these flip-flops.


In between shopping we watched a really sweet mother-daughter look-alike contest.

Denise really wanted to buy this but she was too embarrassed to admit how much she loved it.

But she did buy these -- a pair of kitchen goggles to protect against tears while chopping onions. I bought a pair too and used them tonight while chopping shallots. It worked beautifully, which makes me very happy, since chopping onions can be a very unpleasant experience. See , the Women's Fair has all sorts of stuff you never knew you needed.

Winter ennui

I know I've got the winter doldrums when I spend too much time surfing the net for unbelievable deals on last-minute getaways to Mexico. Between my being sick, and Dale being sick, I haven't had much to blog about, but a friend told me today I better blog about something -- anything -- cuz he was sick to death of looking at my sick self in bed.
So here goes.

I left work early enough to enjoy what was left of the daylight and took Barney for a long walk. He always looks wistfully at the river -- and the waterfowl that are usually on it -- but he never ventures all the way down.

He does plenty of business, however.



Then I made Valentine's Day cookies, despite the promise from our new publisher that we would have VD treats at work tomorrow.


In between it all, I watched an old movie called "Houseboat" starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. Come on, it doesn't get much better than that...

Then I tried to psyche myself up for going to the gym tomorrow to do my strength-training routine so that someday I will look like this. Maybe it's time to up the reps a bit....

I'm sure tomorrow will bring something equally exciting to blog about. Stay tuned.

A wasted weekend

I don't know who to blame: the skeezy folks at the Y where I worked out last week, the 500 kids I interacted with when I picked up Dale's grandkids from their Bible study last Wednesday, or Ms. Lori Buselt, who was out several days with the flu this past week. At any rate, I'm spending my weekend in bed with flu-like symptons. Even had to give up my trip to Great Bend to attend my nephew's 14th birthday party, and I'm hoping certain family members will see this and realize that I really was sick and not trying to get out of family obligations!
Here's hoping I have this thing licked in time for work tomorrow. Yea.