The Duke, The Big D & Me

First, a salute to one of the all-time great Dodgers who passed away Sunday morning. I was lucky enough to have met the man--an L.A. native and a true class act. One can only imagine the amazing pick-up game now playing on that diamond in the sky.

Now to less weighty matters.

A few thoughts about the Oscars:

I have zero problems with The King's Speech winning. But I'd rather see True Grit again than King's. No offense.

Nice try, Annie and Jimmy. But this is a show in need of true seasoned presentation. Bring back Billy or Steve (with or without Alec).

And speaking of, teasing the audience with Billy & Bob Hope is like a radio format of all-new artists and songs, with a few classics sprinkled in. When Led Zep or the Beatles play, people perk up--and want more.

Roger Ebert was about the only person I've ever seen on the red carpet to regularly ask non-inane questions. It now gets more insipid every year, what little of it I can stand.

The show will always be long and overblown because it makes a crapload of money for ABC. It's what the market will bear and has since they started going 3 hours or more.

And there's a nice bi-partisan touch: Hollywood actors (unionized and traditionally liberal) making whatever the market will bear (traditionally a conservative notion).

See True Grit. But more importantly, read the book.