THE OSCARS

Well, the Acadamy Awards show was definitely watchable this year. Not a lot of hokey inconsequential stuff and Ellen Degeneres did a great job. They actually made the show very interesting with some great visual silhouettes behind a screen. I was glad to see "The Departed" win because it really is a good movie and very well acted. Martin Scorcese just doesn't do anything that isn't superb. "Taxi Driver" was one of his best and a big favorite of George's and mine. We watched it every time it was on. George loved to say one of Robert DeNiro's most famous lines, "Are you talkin' to me"? and never missed a chance to say it. Actually my kids thought it was hilarious that he and I talked in "movie-ese." We always quoted the movies every chance we got. When we owned our retail shops we'd go to the trade shows in Los Angeles and San Franscisco. We couldn't get in without a badge, and , you guessed it - he had to say it every time. "We don't need no stinking badges." which of course is the most famous line from "Treasure of Sierra Madre." And I laughed every time he said it. One of the biggest kicks he got was driving back to Vegas from Michigan and quoting the lines from "National Lampoon's Vacation." We took just about the same route as they did in the movie and George had to quote Chevy Chase every mile of the way. Then we started flying both ways and the quotes stopped. He made me laugh and I miss him. I always will.

Anyway back to the Oscars. I was hoping "Babel
would win. If you haven't seen this movie try to rent it . I thought it was one of the best and most powerful movies I've seen in a long time and will watch it again. The story is about a couple who are vacationing in Morocco and the wife is shot while on a bus tour. She is critically injured and from that point on the story begins to tie in with incidents happening in Japan, Morocco, and Mexico. As the story goes on you begin to see how all of these incidients tie in together and it leaves you breathless. The acting is nothing short of superb. Sorry it didn't win.

Our solos group went to see "Tina and Tony's Wedding" last night at the Rio. It was chaotic and hilarious. The audience gets involved and we even danced at the wedding. Our next outing will be "Legends" at the Imperial Palace. I've lived in Vegas for 7 yrs, came to Vegas every month for about 10 yrs. and still haven't seen this award winning show. Now's my chance.

I don't want to talk about the weather because I'm never going to warm up. This sucks big time. I was never this cold when I lived in Michigan for crying out loud. Speaking of Michigan......