Tonight is the 82nd Annual Academy Awards ceremony. This used to be a big deal back when I was running movies. I seem to recall we’d have Oscar parties, and get together to watch, though I’m not sure how we managed to do that, since we all had to work on Sunday nights. I guess we probably taped them (yes, tape; this was a long time ago) to watch after work. Now, though, I don’t much care one way or another about the things, though I’ve at least heard of most of the films and actors that were nominated, unlike the Grammys. But I supposed that’s just how it goes when you get old. Back in my day, music was music, you could make a decent living as a working person and have health insurance for your family and a pension to live on when you retired. We walked 100 miles each way to school (but we had fun doing it), never had to lock our doors, and let our dogs roam freely about the neighborhood (in fact, mine would follow me to school in the morning, then make her rounds about the neighborhood getting handouts along the way, and be there waiting to walk me home at the end of the day). Now we have the Internet, cell phones, and HDTV though, so I suppose it’s a fair tradeoff. (more…)