Not the soundtrack of the Oscars, but the Oscars as soundtrack.

You would think after 8 months with BabyA that I would've learned that one cannot pay close attention to Television Events and parent. Generally these days, I tend to catch bits and pieces of shows, but rarely an entire coherent narrative. So what in the hay-ell, you might ask, possessed me to think that I could watch the Oscars? While caring for sick baby, and making supper, and unpacking a new breadmaker, with the intention of making bread? That, my friends, is a most question.

Here's the thing - I love, love, love watching the Oscars. If I knew enough other people in this town who also loved the Oscars, I would host a party with those tiny little hors d'oeuvres and lots of alcohol and an Oscar pool. I would even host movie nights before the Oscars, just so we could all see the movies that have been nominated. I'm not sure why I love them so much, because I haven't usually seen all, or even most of the nominated movies. I usually end up just cheering for whatever I've seen. But I get a crazy kick of watching people dress up in ridiculously expensive and beautiful outfits and celebrate the wackiness that is Hollywood.

This year, I got to spend the evening with GeekDad who patiently sat through hours of boring entertainment stuff', and even gave me updates of what was happening while I unpacked groceries and made dinner.
"OK, now it's the best soundtrack. OK,. there's two songs from Slumdog, and one from Wall-E. OK, the one from Slumdog won."
All this while entertaining a slightly manic and sickly baby. The man is a gem, I tell you

I really didn't get to watch much of the Oscar broadcast at all - it was more like the they were soundtrack for my evening of doing other stuff. My overall impressions were lots of Hugh Jackman (which is NEVER a bad thing) and musicals (which is slightly more questionable). I think that the Oscar producers were/are trying to get back to an old-school dramatic feel, as opposed to the kind of cynical, self-reflexive comedy that they've gone with in recent years. Unfortunately, I didn't actually see enough of the broadcast to tell you whether or not it was successful. I came in about the time that Kunio Kato ended his acceptance speech for best animated short with "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto," and you know, I think that may have been the high point of the evening. By the time the big awards were on, BabyA had reached her limit, and we were off prepping her for bed.

Which brings me to what was the defining not for my weekend. BabyA's cold has reached that point where she is too stuffed up to breastfeed, and despite our best efforts at nasal hydration and homeopathic remedies, any attempts at feeding result in frustration on both our parts. I find it heart breaking, because I know she feels shitty, and I want nothing more than to comfort her, but everytime I try to cuddle her, she seems to become frustrated that I can't giver her what she wants. GeekDad actually rocked her to sleep for the first time tonight, which I'm ever so grateful for. I just wish it were under less stressful circumstances. All I can say is that I this had better not be a result of teething, because DAMN. This sick baby stuff is rough on all of us.

Dear Santa Clause, for Christmas I would like...

I hope you don't think this Christmas list will involve schmaltzy stuff, such as family-together-time, or environmental fixes, or world peace. Because I'm far too shallow for that. This, in no particular order, is my pop culture Christmas list.

10. An Ironman suit. Or Ironman himself. Or Robert Downey Jr. himself. Cause the movie rocked, and being able to fly and kick bad-guy ass seems like a good time.

9. My very own personal Edward. Because those ladies at MAMAPop went on and on about the Twilight series, and then I bought the first book, because I didn't want to buy them all in case I didn't like them (you can stop snickering now), and finished it in a day. If you haven't checked these books out yet, you should.

8. A post-humous Oscar for Heath Ledger. Because he gave himself over to the role of the Joker, so much so that I couldn't even FIND Heath Ledger anymore. And now that he's gone, we're never going to see how much better he could've gotten, so the genius should be recognized.

7. A chance to listen to good music again. There are 5 radio stations in the city I live in, so you would think I would be able to find some good music. Also, I listen to a wide range of music, so you'd think that would increase the chances of finding music I enjoy. You'd be wrong. The radio situation here sucks to such an incredible degree that I've given up, and only listen to CBC radio, because they are at least up-to-date and educational. I used to rely on the interwebz for good music suggestions, but having a new baby = no spare time = I need some suggestions for new, interesting music people. Please feel free to leave suggestions.

6. Some kind of award for Tom Cruise's role in Tropic Thunder. It can't be an Oscar, 'cause it would be fore Best Supporting Actor, the same category as Heath, and Heath would definately win in that matchup. But still, Tom as Les Grossman was absolutely, totally hilarious. And when he described character development on The Hour, as "He has to have fat hands. And he has to dance."? Absolute genius. This character actually made me start liking Tom Cruise again.

5. That 'So You Think You Can Dance Canada' would be as good as the American version. I loved 'So You Think You Can Dance'. I loved the judges, especially Nigel. I loved the contestants, especially Twitch. Twitch was my eye candy this summer while I recovered from my c-section. The judges were critical, but in a positive, you-can-do-better kind of way. The music was hip, the costumes were crazy - I loved the whole damn thing. So when the Canadian version started this fall, I was all ready to be in love again. But unfortunately, not so much. The dancers were great, for sure, but the judges seemed unwilling to make serious criticism, the costumes varied from good to waaaay off, and Blake just seemed to want to sleep with everybody. Sorry Blake, it just came across that way. I know these shows can vary alot from season to season, so I'm hoping that if there's a second season of SYTYCD Canada, we see a little more greatness, and a little less jazz hands.

4. Bratz dolls should cease to exist. Yes, I'm a Bratz-hater. I think these dolls promote a wacked-out body image, promote excessive consumerism, and most of all, they just look weird. I've always been of the "Yeah-Barbie-is-kind-of-unrealistic,-but-she's-a-classic school", but the Bratz dolls just push me into the deep end of my feminist pool. However, there is light at the end of this tunnel. Apparently the guy who invented Bratz hadn't closed his contract with Mattel before he started working for MGA, and therefore the Bratz dolls are infringing against Barbie's copyright. So maybe the Bratz will go away before my daughter has to deal with them. If not, at least there are Heart's Club dolls.

3. For everyone I know to start using Twitter. Twitter is my new best friend. Because the thing I use most on Facebook is the status updates, and Twitter is essentially a tool for updating your status EVERY. DAMN. SECOND.

2. For TV comedy to continue it's recovery. TV comedy has been in a slump for a long time. But it's starting to recover from its Two-and-a-Half-Men low point. First there was How I Met Your Mother, which is smart and funny, and which Neil Patrick Harris is pushing towards greatness. Then Chuck, which may not be a sitcom, but which is one of the funniest things on TV. It's pop culture references, and lovey-love for geeks of all kinds, plus the fabulousness of Zachary Levi make the show worth watching, trust me. And The Big Bang Theory, which has really hit its stride this year, also celebrating the geek connection. These shows are totally making TV funny again, so you should watch them. Go do it.

1. That everybody would get why blogging is cool. I'm actually not refering to myself here at all. As I was prepping for parenthood, I discovered the blogosphere, and my people, it is like I was blind and now I can see. There are amazing people out there, writing about everything you can imagine. And doing it really, really well. These are the people who've inspired me to start blogging. Check out my 'Bloggers I Would Vote For Section' to see the people I'm reading. And if you only have time to check out a couple, you can't miss Sweetney, MAMAPop, and most of all, Her Bad Mother. These are the cool kids, no doubt.

I have a boyfriend. His name is George.

First, I need to apologize. I'm trying to post to my blog regularly, and I've been gone for way too long. Things have been crazy with the holidays approaching, and finding the time to compose my thoughts into something comprehensible is tough with BabyA. But I'm going to keep working on it, so please stay tuned.

So I was watching The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos last week, and I have to say, I heart George. George is my rockin', late night, news-boyfriend. For those of you in the dark, The Hour is a current-events show on CBC, hosted by the aforementioned George Stroumboulopoulos, a former MuchMusic VJ. If you are somewhat interested in news and current events, but don't necessarily have the time or inclination to watch a nightly news show, YOU SHOULD WATCH THE HOUR. The Hour is both funny and entertaining, and incredibly informative. George does interviews with an incredible variety of politicians, authors, artists, athletes and other newsmakers. Everyone from NATO spokesperson James Appathurai, to NHL player Sean Avery to Tom Cruise (yes, THAT Tom Cruise).

The interview with Cruise was a a really great example of George's work. You know how you see interviews with famous people, and hear them laugh, and joke, and tell stories, and think, 'I could be friends with that person'? I think what we actually mean is, that we'd like to be friends with them, because they tend to be funny, or interesting, or seem to share a point of view. Cruise, however, wasn't particularly funny, or interesting. He was just really normal. Normal as in not particularly eloquent or well spoken or funny, but all the same, passionate about his work and his family, and eager to share those things. George asked a number of interesting questions, about whether you can ever prepare a person for the kind of media frenzy that a star like Cruise incites, and whether Cruise's religious beliefs would be treated similarly if he were a Muslim or a Christian. And Cruise answered his questions, but not with the kind of canned, pre-prepared answers that you often hear from stars, especially of Cruise's caliber. Instead, he sounded like I do when I get asked a question by a reporter, and answer it in about 10 seconds and then continue to babble for another 30. I have to say, it was really refreshing to hear intelligent, well though out questions, and interested and interesting answers, not the usual show business shlock. If you're interested in watching the interview, here's the link.

Cruise is probably George's most high-profile guest to date, but I would be shocked if he didn't continue to snag big interviews like this one, because George is GREAT interviewer. Interviewing people is a skill, and interviewing people who get interviewed all the time is tough. These people hear the same questions all the time, and while they are pros and do their best, we often hear the same canned, preplanned answers to the same canned, preplanned questions. In addition, George doesn't play at trying to be neutral - he puts his own opinions out there, and skewers everybody pretty much equally. He doesn't shy away from asking the tough questions, but he also offers a different, original perspective. Guests on the show seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves, as does George, and its obvious that viewers are enjoying the results.

In short, you should totally check out The Hour. It's worth your time.