Oddly enough, of late I've been doing things outside my usual office/home continuum. I have attended a few local networking/blogger events, including one of Jeff Pulver's increasingly famous Social Media Breakfasts; I visited the Bodies exhibit in Fort Lauderdale (on which more will be written later); I even trekked all the way to Deerfield Beach for the Renaissance festival (also with more to come).

And now I'm heading off to BarCamp Miami for an afternoon of geekery, then to a Nokia-sponsored dinner tonight to learn about their S60 OS phones. Lastly (for now), on Saturday I'll be at a "geeks and Greeks" dinner as a wrap-up to the areas many tech events (most of which I was unable to attend). All this motion is unfamiliar to me, but circumstances (and people) have conspired to move me out of my comfort zone, and into what is slowly becoming a new comfort zone.

Isn't that the way it is supposed to work?

First, for those who lack basic access to the media, and who frighteningly rely on this site for news of the world, here are last night's Oscar winners.

My overall review: eh. Host Jon Stewart got in a few decent jabs (at 80 years old, the Oscar is the de facto Republican front-runner for the nomination), there were a couple of mild surprises (the woman from La Vie en Rose beating Julie Christie for Best Actress), and a couple of touching moments (Jon Stewart bringing the woman half of the Best Song team back out after the commercial to make up for her having been cut off prematurely). But there was a lot of self-indulgent wankery (is there any other kind?), so I was happy for the ongoing discussion on Twitter to keep me company.

Anyway, throughout the show I kept a few quasi-random notes to share with you.

• I won't pretend to fully understand the categories like art direction, make-up, costume design, and the other technical awards. Nonetheless, I would be curious to hear actual practitioners of the form explain why some of these winners deserved the honor. I can only appreciate the superficial aspects, but of course there is a lot of skill and nuance I miss.
• There is a persistent myth that over a billion people watch the Oscar telecast. It simply isn't true.
• Diablo Cody is an attractive woman with E! Hollywood Story written all over her. Nonetheless, she won an Academy Award for original screenplay. Does every sound bite or news article need to lead with her past as an exotic dancer?
• The "In Memoriam" clip is always poignant, but more so this year with the inclusion of Heath Ledger. (I correctly predicted that his would be the final name shown in the segment.) However, the criteria for inclusion is very murky. Still, it seems odd that Roy Scheider would be omitted, as well as Brad Renfro. Did they have the poor timing to die after editing was complete on the segment?

I'll sort out the winner of our contest soon, but since there were only three entries (one coming right at the start of the awards), I suppose it doesn't much matter.

The Oscar contest is closed. I'll be back once the show is over.

The Statue of Liberty is an iconic symbol of freedom pretty much everywhere, so it isn't exactly a brilliant artistic leap to use a fallen or destroyed statue as a symbol for threats to freedom. Nonetheless, I had no idea how commonplace it had become until I saw this essay collecting pictures of a fallen Liberty.

"[T]hey are incorrectly counting on the fact that there will be, as there has always been, a peaceful transition of power in the executive branch—that the inauguration will occur on schedule? What if Bush and Cheney refuse to leave?"

ZENITH BANK COMPENSATION UNIT, IN AFFILIATION WITH THE UNITED NATION.
Send acopy of your response to official email: jimovia27@yahoo.co.uk

ATTN: Sir/Madam,

How are you today? Hope all is well with you and family?,You may not understand why this mail came to you.

We have been having a meeting for the passed 7 months which ended 2 days ago with the former secretary to the UNITED NATIONS.

This email is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of the world, the UNITED NATIONS have agreed to compensate them with the sum of US$ 500,000,00 This includes every foriegn contractors that may have not received their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government problems etc.

We found your name in our list and that is why we are contacting you, this have been agreed upon and have been signed.

You are advised to contact Mr. Jim Ovia of ZENITH BANK NIGERIA PLC, as he is our representative in Nigeria, contact him immediately for your Cheque/ International Bank Draft of USD$ 500,000,00 This funds are in a Bank Draft for security purpose ok? so he will send it to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice.

Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone number/your correct mailing address where you want him to send the Draft to you.

Conatct Mr. Jim Ovia immediately for your Cheque:

Person to Contact Mr. Jim Ovia
Email: jimovia27@yahoo.co.uk

Thanks and God bless you and your family.Hoping to hear from you as soon as you cash your Bank Draft.

Making the world a better place

Regards,

Mr. Kofi Anan
Former Secretary (UNITED NATIONS)

I'm guessing no.

I am impressed by the level of metafiction displayed, though. To try and scam victims of previous scams by offering fake reparations takes quantities of balls measurable only in astronomical terms. This does not, however, get them a pardon when I am appointed god and line all spammers up against the wall.

[Edited because for some reason all my formatting fell out of a hole in my pocket.]

It is time again for that much-maligned commercial holiday dedicated to the selling of chocolate and flowers, said holiday which has the side-effect and clearly polarizing the populace into the sappily romantic and the sneeringly bitter. Since these days I fall more into the former camp than the latter — although I have certainly had my days years of the latter — please accept these audio treats in lieu of flowers.

• To begin, let's have a repeat of last year's love-based playlist (actual love not guaranteed, but some laughs may ensue).
• As a bonus for 2008, here is a lovely and unsettling story by Neil Gaiman, as read by the author. Please enjoy Harlequin Valentine, from the collection Fragile Things.
• And because I love you all, here's another bonus track, from one of the best songwriers America ever produced: Warren Zevon, Reconsider Me.

Of course, these songs will be available for a limited time only. I'll be taking them down some time tomorrow night.

And what the hell, here's another re-run: the sordid tale of my senior prom. Go ahead and laugh, you insensitive bastards! I did, eventually.

My mother was an inveterate pack rat, a genetic trait which was passed down to me, I'm afraid. When she died she left my father to deal with box after box of the detritus of two childhoods — report cards, crayon drawings, theme papers, Cub Scout crafts, and the like. A lot of it was discreetly discarded, but a fair amount of it remains.

She also kept souvenirs of all sorts from all our family vacations. A while back my father and I came across a collection of program books and ticket stubs covering decades of family vacations, Among these questionable treasures was the 1971 Walt Disney World Preview Guide. We got a copy of this 24-page booklet in the fall of '71, when our family made an ill-timed and Wally World-like excursion to Florida's Disneyland, only to discover that it was not yet open to the public. The sympathetic people at the construction trailer, though, kindly gave us the booklet — a savings of 65¢! — to show us what we weren't going to do.

The other night I finally got around to scanning the book. I threw the pages into an out-of-the-box gallery, so it isn't exactly optimized for the best user experience. Nonetheless, if you are interested, here is the entire booklet for your nostalgic reading pleasure. Take a moment a return to those mist-shrouded days when Miami and Fort Lauderdale were Florida's best-known vacation spots, and read about Walt's original plans for Disney World and EPCOT.

A brief announcement: Rick, formerly of the regrettably defunct Stuck on the Palmetto, has returned to the South Florida blogging scene with South Florida Daily Blog. Please stop by and say hello.

In related news, I will be cleaning up my link list this week, as it has gotten a bit out of hand. (What, you didn't know I had a link list?) If you aren't currently on it and would like the extra couple of hits a week it might provide, say so in the comments and I'll be happy to add you. And should you notice your site disappear in the pruning, point it out and I'll probably put it back. Guilt works remarkably well on me, as too many of my friends know.