Oscars

Brie Larsen shined. Her graceful speech stood out amongst the mess of petty whining scolds. She thanked the moviegoers! I can't remember seeing that before. Her lovely, graceful speech ought to be the norm, but it made her look like royalty amongst a bunch of children.

Martini Thoughts

-Gin is superior to Vodka. In fact, I don't really drink Vodka martinis anymore. That said, Vodka martinis got me started and were a gateway to the better, gin variety. Sort of like how Oz lead to the Wire.

-Martin Miller is both the best and the best value gin I can find. The Wellsbourne version costs about $6 more per bottle and is worth the upgrade.

-Spanish olives

-Dry vermouth should be bought in smaller bottles. After about a month the vermouth is not as good. Dolin and Noilly Prat are both good, but there are other brands I want to try.

-Other than the ingredients the single most important factor is getting the martini as cold as possible.

-I like the ratio 6 parts gin to 1 part vermouth and 1 part olive juice, although I am playing with increasing the vermouth to 4 to 1 or even 3 to 1.

-Gins I want to try: Plymouth, Ford, Greylock, Beefeater

-Notes on gins I've tried lately: St. Georges - tastes like a christmas tree. I like it for the difference, but cannot say I'd drink this every night. Bombay London Gin - classic, good value for the big bottle. I'll say, however, I'm not drinking a ton right now, so when I indulge, I like to go for a little tastier gin. But I love having the Bombay as a bar standby and I like it for G&Ts. Hendricks - good, but for the price point, I go for Martin Miller.

The Best Monologue In The Wire (And there were a lot of good ones)

"Listen to me you fuck. You did a lot of shit here. You played a lot of fucking cards. And you made a lot of fucking people do a lot of fucking things they didn't want to do. This is true. We both know this is true. You, McNulty, are a gaping asshole. We both know this. Fuck if everybody in CID doesn't know it. But fuck if I'm gonna stand here and say you did a single fucking thing to get a police shot. You did not do this, you fucking hear me. This is not on you. No it isn't asshole. Believe it or not, everything isn't about you. And the motherfucker saying this, he hates your guts, McNulty. So you know, if it was on you, I'd be the sonnofabitch to say so. Shit went bad. She took two for the company. That's the only lesson here."

Somebody give that actor a job -- something Gene Hackman would be good for.

Diversity Hawks

On the Coen Brothers providing the "wrong answer." From the article:

Their opinions are valued and reported upon because they are major members of the industry. To whiff on this answer so badly is tremendously disappointing, especially coming from such ambitious filmmakers.

Seems to me, this sentence makes absolutely no sense. If their opinion matters, then the opinion should be considered, not condemned. Think of the implication here...the only "opinion" must be the "right-thinking" one. This is 1984, plain and simple.

And then this:

Being famous in 2016 requires an awareness beyond yourself and a sense of social justice — that's indisputable.

I'd dispute it.

Hat tip, Viner.

Cam

Just watched the press conference. Don't see the big deal. Pop and Belichick do the same type of thing all the time. Another thought: WHO FREAKING CARES ABOUT PRESS CONFERENCES?

I didn't see the fumble play, only the replay. Looks like he didn't put full effort. I dunno. It happens when you're frustrated in games. Also, hard to tell the context without seeing it live.

Been Awhile

Random Thoughts:

1. I watched Denver play a lot this year and their defense was really good.

2. A lot of talk on the radio about Peyton Manning not being responsible for winning the SB. True. But if we're gonna mark him down for not playing well in a victory, it seems kinda unfair to mark him down for "not winning the big one," which was tag he carried for a long time, oftentimes when playing quite well.

3. All that said, a lot things broke well for Denver during the playoffs.

4. I have no opinion on Cam Newton.

5. Trump and Bernie won in New Hampshire and it suddenly hit me to be worried about the election. Listening to Trump prattle on about "making America great again" seems about as vacant a motto as "Hope." His rants about China, Japan, Mexico stealing from us and bringing in the best business minds strike me as a pretty odd way to talk about allies. Bernie Sanders has a really good pitch. I listened to him in the last debate. Hillary is unloved. But Bernie Sanders is a freaking socialist and free college, healthcare, and dessert for everyone and the billionaires will pick up the tab sounds nice and would last about 3 years before we ran out of spending rich people's money.

6. Numb3rs isn't a bad tv show.

7. Colin Kaepernick dated a transvestite is one of the weirder football stories of the year. I wouldn't be opposed to keeping him on the Niners as a back up at a back up salary.

How I Miss, Thee

The Onion, whenever I stop reading it for awhile.

Renting vs. Owning A Home

An economist considers the question.

I often hear people talk about how low interest rates are good for buyers because they pay less to borrow money. But easy money is available to everyone and the low borrowing costs just get factored into the house cost. Strikes me that low interest rates are good for sellers. And for property tax basis.

Sologamy

New trend of marrying oneself.

Why not?