Red (and Green) Sox

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Sox Fans.



Spring is here!

VIP Day

Very Important Picks.



If you must be at your desk--unlike students and city workers in Boston, who are celebrating Evacuation Day--doing NCAA basketball research is the ideal way to appear productive.

Last year, I took third place in my Geek Pool, where we rank all 64 teams (which I LOVE because it's so very cool) and second in my ESPN Challenge pool. It'll be tough to improve on that this year, but I'm optimistic, as always. And hey, maybe I'll beat President Obama, who filled out his bracket on ESPN this morning:



If you want to see the video--you know, as research--check it out here:



So share...who do you think will win it all? Who's a Cinderella in the making? Who's overrated?

Things I've Learned Today

1. The Red Sox are willing to sign a player to a one-day deal if he'd like to retire in a Red Sox uniform, but only if that player's name is Nomar, which begs the question: How many people on planet Earth are named Nomar?

2. One hundred calories worth of Lorna Doone cookies are tasty, but only for two seconds. And then you want more, because who is happy with only two seconds' worth of Lorna Doone?



3. Jessica and Heather of Go Fug Yourself offer the best post-Oscar style analysis of all time. Thanks for the excuse to procrastinate, girls. (BTW...I'm with you on Sigourney Weaver. No way she's sixty.)

4. It's possible to obtain a medical license in England without having the ability to differentiate between pregnancy and gout.

5. I should never, ever name a character Lindsay. If I do, Lindsay Lohan might think it's modeled after her and sue me. Apparently, Lindsay--or her lawyer, at any rate--claims that any fictional use of the name "Lindsay" is akin to using an identifiable, unique name such as Madonna or Oprah to hawk products. (The lawyer did not cite Nomar as an example.)

No Second Place at the Oscars

Well, I whiffed on my picks for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay, which means I ended up in second place in my Oscar pool. This is a little embarrassing, since I'm the only writer in the group (as Homer Simpson sings, "I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T, I am so smart!") But since there isn't a second place given at the Academy Awards, I, like Meryl Streep, will have to try again next year.

BUT...there are still outfits to discuss! I thought that it was a fantastic year, stylewise. Very few misses on gowns, don'tcha think? Though once again, my prediction was off. I thought Robert Downey, Jr. would look great, and he did...if you could ignore the questionable bow tie and the horrid shoes to focus solely on the suit (which fit better than it looks in this photo. The button wasn't pulling all night, I swear.) Or simply look at his wife, Susan, whose gown rocked:



Most women cannot pull off horizontal stripes. She can.

Normally, George Clooney would be a safe bet as Best Dressed Man, but I had an overwhelming urge to grab his hand and walk him to a barber. Guiliana Rancic may have waxed poetic about Gorgeous George's longer hair during the E! pre-show, but I can't agree. Sorry, Guiliana. Instead, I have to give this year's Best Dressed Man nod to Ryan Reynolds. THIS is how every guy should look at an awards show:



Guiliana also loved the gown of RDJ's former flame, SJP. My guess is that the Fashion Police will give a thumbs-up for her Chanel Couture tonight, but I hated it. At least onscreen, it seemed frumpy and ill-fitting. So sadly--and I realize it's sacrilege in some circles to say it--this year Sarah Jessica Parker is my Worst Dressed Woman:



That being said, I suspect the Fashion Police will name Charlize Theron their worst-dressed, with what I will forever think of as the Flower Boob Dress. I don't hate this--the color is spectacular on her, and the fit is perfect--but I think it would've been far, far better had the roses been big enough to cover the entire bodice, rather than separated. (In fact, I think this gown would've been a home run if the roses covered the entire bodice.)

What do you think? Could this dress have been saved?



And then there were the gowns I absolutely LOVED. First, the woman of the night, Sandra Bullock. Classy, feminine, and perfect for an Academy Award-winning night, since it looked stunning onstage under the lights:



My other hits of the night include Vera Farmiga, in a gown that perfectly suited her coloring (and a style that could only be worn to the Oscars):



Ditto Jennifer Lopez and Demi Moore:



Elizabeth Banks, who dared to wear a drab color (I think this is a gray-lavender) and own it:



Cameron Diaz, looking the best I've EVER seen her at the Academy Awards:



Penelope Cruz, who earned my husband's vote for Best Dressed:



And...drumroll...my Best Dressed Woman of 2010, Anna Kendrick!



I thought Kendrick looked stunning on the red carpet, but when she went onstage as a presenter and I got the 360 degree view, her gown absolutely blew me away. Great color, incredible detail--it's hard to see the intricate folds and draping in this photo, though it was visible onstage--and just a perfect fit on her. She may not have come home with a statue, but she dressed like a winner.

Think the Fashion Police will agree? What were your hits and misses? Let me know!

Signs of Spring

Nope, it's not the Groundhog. It's Oscar Day! Had to poke my head out of my hidey-hole (aka, my office, where I've been working my tail off for the last month) to see tonight's broadcast, with the ever-hilarious Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, and to toss out my predictions.

Will I win my bragging-rights-only Academy Awards pool this year? You tell me.

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'nique
Best Animated Feature Film: Up
Best Foreign Film: The White Ribbon (Germany)
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air
Best Documentary Feature: The Cove
Best Original Score: Up
Best Original Song: The Weary Kind (from Crazy Heart)
Best Film Editing: The Hurt Locker
Best Cinematography: Inglorious Basterds (and yes, I know this is a rebellious pick, as it's likely to be Avatar)
Best Costume Design: The Young Victoria


This year's pool ballot was taken from Moviefone's downloadable version, which only had sixteen categories, so I can't score points with Makeup or Sound Editing (I think Moviefone ballot might've been selected intentionally to throw me off my game.) If those categories had been included, I'd have picked The Young Victoria for makeup (though Star Trek has a good shot) and Avatar for all things sound.

Finally, the most important categories of all: Best dressed man-Robert Downey Jr, assuming he attends. Best dressed woman-Sandra Bullock.

What do you think?