Again, sliding into Friday...and more rain this weekend...

Well, the Oscars are coming up this weekend.  In today's paper, the nominations were spelled out.  I was certainly surprised at some of them.  I would expect that lots of money will change hands in Las Vegas over the winners.  Each year I remind myself that a large part of why someone or some picture wins, is political.  Also, there is an art to the date of release. I'm sure the various studios do not share that information, so the actual mix of movies at the theater when you release is a big gamble.  Doing well at the theater doesn't necessarily make a winning nomination, though.  Unfortunately, it is very subjective and the criteria for nominating or winning can change depending on how much the rules can bend in order to make something happen.  One has to know how to play their game....

Tomorrow I get to pick up Tori at school and bring her home for a week.  I'm really excited, since it has been so long since we've seen her.

On another topic, as I predicted, as of this morning there are already seven suits against Toyota that claim that surging acceleration still occurs after the recall fixes.  Some group is offering a million dollars to the first person to prove that it is an electronic or software issue and fix the problem.  I'm also betting that it is not an easy problem to diagnose or fix, or it would have already been done.  It is probably many problems that tend to cover up each other.  It will be a long, long time before Toyota repairs their consumer confidence.  A real shame....

Morris, a city boy moved to the country and bought a donkey from
an old farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the
next day.

The next day, the farmer drove up and said,

"Sorry, but I have some bad news. The donkey died."

"Well then just give me my money back."

"Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

"OK, then. Just unload the donkey."

"What ya gonna do with him?"

"I'm going to raffle him off."

"You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

"Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later the farmer met up with the city boy and asked,

"Whatever happened with that dead donkey?"

"I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998. "

"Didn't anyone complain?"

"Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."

Chicken Soup for the Drinker
Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." --by Jack Handy

I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. --Frank Sinatra

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
--Ernest Hemingway

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. --Ernest Hemingway

Time is never wasted when you're wasted all the time.
--Catherine Zandonella

Reality is an illusion that occurs due to lack of alcohol. --Anonymous

Drinking provides a beautiful excuse to pursue the one activity that truly gives me pleasure; hooking up with fat, hairy girls. -- Ross Levy

A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her.
--W.C. Fields

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch?
--Tee Mans

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.
--Henny Youngman

Life is a waste of time, time is a waste of life, so get wasted all of the time and have the time of your life. -- Michelle Mastrolacasa

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.
--Tom Waits

24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?
--Stephen Wright

When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven! -- Brian O'Rourke

You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. --Frank Zappa

Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than
alcohol has taken out of me.
--Winston Churchill