The Oscars

I've been catching up with the Oscars on the official site (I love you Michelle Williams but really, could you be any more bored during your red carpet interview?). It seems like it was a decent show, I loved the intro (a bit cheesy but you have to cut them some slack, it's the Oscars!). There were some loverly frocks too, more of which later.

So I didn't do too badly with my predictions - I should have had more faith in The King's Speech to fly the British flag though! By my reckoning I got 15 right. Not too shabby.

Oscar predictions

The Academy Awards are finally here! I'll probably spend the next 48 hours alternating between frustration at not being able to watch it (curse you Murdoch, curse you!) and desperate scrabbling on the web and TV for info on the winners and losers (of the awards and in the dress stakes).

This year there should be few surprises for the major awards, so I'm not going out on a limb here, but for form's sake these are my predictions (use the Datablog's handy guide to make yours).

Best actor: Colin Firth (but I'd rather James Franco)
Best actress: Natalie Portman (not seen it but surely deserves it for what she put herself through)

Supporting actor: Christian Bale (can he share it with John Hawkes please?)
Supporting actress: Melissa Leo (brilliant)

Best director: The Social Network (why oh why wasn't 127 Hours nominated?)
Best picture: The Social Network
Animated film: Toy Story 3
Foreign Film: In a Better World

Adapted screenplay: The Social Network
Original screenplay: The King's Speech

Original score: The Social Network (go Trent Reznor!)
Original Song: If I Rise (Randy Newman has too many Oscars already)

Documentary: Inside Job (but I think Banksy would make for better TV)
Documentary short: Strangers No More

Short animation: The Gruffalo
Short live action: God of Love

Art direction: Inception
Cinematography: Inception
Editing: The King's Speech

Costume: The King's Speech
Makeup: The Wolfman (because B-movies deserve credit too)

Sound editing: True Grit
Sound mixing: True Grit
Visual effects: Inception

Year of pleasures #4: Birthday treats

I turned 33 this week, a bit of a non-birthday numbers wise but it has a nice ring to it so I'm excited to see what the year of 33 brings. The last four or five years have been pretty significant, what with babies and weddings and the like, so maybe this will be a bit calmer and more settled!

I've had lots of treats this week. We had a Sunday pub lunch at the Maid of Muswell with some good friends (delicious, and the veggie option still includes gravy and Yorkshire pud, result).

Mark took my birthday off and we had a fun morning at home with Logan then dropped him off at nursery and watched The Fighter at the baby club at Screen on the Green (more boxing than I expected, which sounds daft I know, but some brilliant performances and the whole cast were marvellous), followed by a yummy burger at Byron and Ottolenghi cupcakes with Anna and Lucy.

Then I hotfooted it to the SLA Winter Warmers pub quiz with Team Gav. Lots of fun, it's so long since I had a proper night down the pub! The last few rounds were tense but we triumphed in the end, hurrah! I managed to carry the bottle of cava (and the library textbook!) home on the tube without dropping it, too.

Mum and Dad are staying with us so Mark and I had a rare night out last night. We pushed the boat out and had a proper posh dinner at Oxo Tower on the South Bank. What an experience! I think I managed to hide my excitement quite well, but I'm not sure I was quite nonchalant enough to look like I was a regular! I love the atmosphere there, the service and the view of St Paul's. The food was delicious - pumpkin gnocchi with goats cheese, truffle potato blinis with wild mushrooms and watercress and orange salad, and the chocolate plate (four different desserts, all yummy but not sure about the odd caviar-like balls).

Of course we had to have cocktails to start (dark and stormys), a bottle of wine with dinner (Dog Point sauvignon blanc from New Zealand) and port to finish... It would be fair to say I felt a little rough in the taxi on the way home but luckily Ella didn't wake up until 6.30am so I had a chance to recover. It was a really special night and it's a good job because for that price we won't be going out again this year!

We did go for lunch with mum and dad, Aunty Celia and Uncle Nick today though. We don't see Ciss and Nick nearly enough, so it was lovely to catch up with all the family gossip over a long lunch at Souk, in Seven Dials. It's one of my favourite restaurants - the food is really good (couscous, tagines, baklava and sweet mint tea), but it's the atmosphere that I really love, it's so theatrical, just like being in a Moroccan souk (I'd imagine!). And it doesn't cost half a month's salary either (I hate being on maternity pay).

Year of pleasures #2: Oscars season

I love the Oscars. I used to stay up all night to watch, when it was on the BBC, with a big bowl of popcorn and a few drinks to get me through until 6am. Now it's on Sky (grr) I have to rely on the web, 24 hour news channels and BBC Breakfast the morning after. I get a lot more sleep but it's nowhere near as exciting as watching it live, unedited and unpolished. Even though the Baftas has ramped up the glamour in recent years, no other award ceremony can quite hold a candle to the Oscars.

Nominations were released today, and while there's always a chance that the Academy could vote against the grain, so far Colin Firth (The King's Speech - the Academy likes an impediment) and Natalie Portman (Black Swan - physically demanding role) look like shoo-ins for the best acting prizes.

I may be on maternity leave but in my absence one of my colleagues is keeping an eye on the nominees and winners of all the major trophies this awards season. Before you make your Oscars predictions check out the form of all the nominees on the Datablog.

The Dude abides

As the Oscar buzz around Jeff Bridges's performance in Crazy Heart continues to build (and having just seen George Clooney in Up In The Air I can't decide if I want him to get it, Clooney is marvellous), Ben Walters at the Guardian has written an excellent piece on the continuing love for his most iconic role, The Big Lebowski. The Dude abides.