Best Picture: 'The King’s Speech'
Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Actress: Natalie Portman
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld
Not too bad, I only missed one!
The hosting of the Oscars was well done and very professional. Franco and Hathaway were very impressive. I have to admit, though, that the bubbly Anne Hathaway really did stand out when she briefly has a red dress on [WOW!]. Unfortunately, she changed more than Obama's promises in that short period of time.... As for my opinion of the hosting: "yawn". It was okay-- better than Gervais.
$9-$12 The cost range of a mid-priced bottle of wine—which, in the value-conscious post-recession era, is the fastest-growing segment of the industry.
Over $100 The average woman's most recent impulse purchase—and 35% of women say they regret at least one impulse purchase made in the past year.
$129.75 The average monthly cable TV bill for Comcast customers, up from $107.20 in 2008. No wonder some 800,000 cable customers have cut the cord over the past two years.
$263 Estimated amount the typical cell phone user overpays annually because of signing up for the wrong wireless plan.
$417 What a sample group of consumers said an iPad is actually worth. That's $200 or so less than what Apple charges. No wonder many consumers feel the iPad is basically a toy and a time suck, just isn't worth the money.
$650 The bill you'll receive if you lose your three-foot snake on a Boston subway.
$1,600 The expected first-year costs for owning a medium-size dog, per an ASPCA estimator.
$1,738 Annual cost of the average commute in Chicago, the city with the most costly commutes in the country.
$1,880 Amount the average pack-a-day smoker spends on cigarettes in a year, according to one estimate.
$2,000 Amount of unexpected expenditures that the typical American consumer encounters annually.
$3,000 Approximate amount you'll pay to buy and use an iPhone over the mandatory two-year contract period.
$4,000 Cost for a man to attend certain mail-order bride "socials" in Eastern Europe.
$6,751 The 2009 per capita state and local taxes paid in New Jersey, which has the nation's highest tax rate at 12.2% of per capita income.
$13,770 Cost of the average family's health insurance premiums in 2010. (That is, if they have health insurance.)
$18,773 Average annual price of full-time infant care in Massachusetts, the state with the highest daycare costs, according to the Boston Globe. That amount would eat up 18% of the average two-parent family's income, and 67% of the average single mom's earnings.
$20,435 Average cost of tuition, room and board for a college student in 2008—which, after factoring in inflation, is more than double the amount charged in 1980.
$84,388 Amount the average American will spend on auto insurance over his lifetime.
$128,530 The average cash bonus given to a Wall Street worker in the financial services in 2010. That's actually down 8% from an average of over $140K the year before.
$132,683 What a typical $100-a-month cable bill really winds up costing you over a 25-year span.
$396,000 The record amount paid at a Tokyo fish market auction for a 752-pound bluefin tuna last month.
$584,000 Median home price in San Francisco, one of the least affordable cities in the U.S.
$48 million Projected cost of Prince William and Kate Middleton's upcoming nuptials.
$20.5 billion Total amount of credit card penalty fees charged to American customers in 2009.
$47.7 billion Estimated amount spent in the U.S. pet industry in 2010, up from $45.5 billion the year before.
$101 billion Approximate annual sales of beer in the U.S..
Murphy's Law of Logical Argument
- Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about. 
Last week I checked into my hotel in Tampa and was a bit lonely. I thought, I'll call one of those girls you see advertised in phone books like escorts and such. I picked up the phone book and found an ad for a girl calling herself Erogonique, a lovely girl, bending over in the photo. She had all the right curves in all the right places, beautiful long wavy hair, long graceful legs..... well, you get the picture!
I figured, what the heck, give her a call.
"Hello," the woman says . God, she sounded sexy.
Afraid I would lose my nerve if I hesitated I rushed right in. "Hi, I hear you give a great massage and I'd like you to come to my room and give me one. No, wait, I should be straight with you. I'm in town all alone and what I really want is sex.
I want it hard, I want it hot, and I want it now. Bring implements, toys, rubber, leather, whips, everything you've got in your bag of tricks. We'll go hot and heavy all night; tie me up, cover me in chocolate syrup and whipped cream, anything and everything! Now, how does that sound?"
"That sounds fantastic," she says, "but you need to press 9 for an outside line."
