Special Oscar Edition

So, it's the Friday before the Oscars, which means that even if my invitation to Vanity Fair's Oscar Party has been lost in the mail, I still won't have time to jet to L.A., get Austin Scarlett whip me up a gown, make sure Vin Diesel is free to be arm candy, raid the Harry Winston vaults for eleven-thousand carats of loaner diamonds, and brush up on repartee witty enough to entrance both Christopher Hitchens and Dominic Dunne.

Sigh. Another year of watching the show from the cheap seats. Someday, I tell you, someday.

This year, however, I will be doing one Oscar-related thing that I've always wanted to do--watch some of the "short films" nominees. I think the only time I've ever caught a shorts nominee was on accident, before a Pixar film. This year, however, Salon.com has them on their site. Go, watch.

I was about to comment on the strangeness of familiarizing myself with the short films when I don't think I've seen any of the Best Picture nominees this year when it occurred to me that I don't think I've seen a Best Picture nominee in the past five years that didn't involve hobbits in one way or another. I'm going to look that up.

In other news, goalies.