In Preparation for the 2008 Oscar Pickett Sign Cake

So my first official date of 2008 was great! And yes I was trying to rhyme just then.

About the guy... he's 27, he's an engineer (manufacturing, not the train kind; although I secretly wish it was the train kind because then maybe he could take me on cool dates where we go on a train through the country side and I get to ride around in the front of the train and lean out the little window with my arm outstretched like Evita, singing about how I'm going to make something of myself, wearing one of those cute striped hats and occasionally shoveling coal so that when I get off, I have a cute black smudge across my nose and one on my cheek which he tries to wipe away but instead smudges it more because his hands are all sooty so we just laugh about how cute the whole thing is) he's in the National Guard, he has a motorcycle, he's from Washington state, um....what else....oh yeah, he hates Mustangs.

Despite that minor character flaw, he's got a great sense of humor and he's cute to boot. We had a great time at the hockey game - I decided to cheer for the visiting team because I liked their uniform colors better, so we were somewhat ostracized from the crowd. We talked really easily and had a lot of fun. And there was the typical awkward hug at the end. Sigh. But there was also talk of him wanting to come see Rambo with me on Friday night, so we'll see what happens.

In other news, this is the time of year I'm usually gearing up for the Oscars - planning the party, making the ballots, getting the prizes ready, and most importantly, preparing for the traditional Oscar cake. But with no foreseeable end to the writer's strike in sight, the Oscars could turn out to be as boring as the Golden Globes. Which means that my traditional Oscar cake will instead be a picket-sign cake. I'll do it, too.

However, I'm determined to carry out the ballot contest, prizes and all. Here's how it works: all you have to do is make your predictions and email them to me by Saturday February 23rd - the day before the Oscars are set to air. Send your predictions to juneyuh@gmail.com. There will be a totally awesome prize for the person with the most correct, and a totally awesome prize for the person with the least correct. But anyone who votes for anything associated with Keira Knightley is automatically disqualified. Just kidding.

And the nominees are....oh, and for those of you who are anything like Bone Senior and think that Eva Longoria and Eva Mendes are the same person, there are handy dandy links that should help with some of the things you may not be familiar with.

1. Best Picture:

Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood.

2. Actor:

George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"

Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"

Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"

Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises."

3. Actress:

Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"

Julie Christie, "Away From Her"

Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"

Laura Linney, "The Savages"

Ellen Page, "Juno."

4. Supporting Actor:

Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"

Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"

Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton."

5. Supporting Actress:

Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"

Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"

Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"

Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"

Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."

6. Director:

Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

Jason Reitman, "Juno"

Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"

Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."

7. Foreign Film:

"Beaufort," Israel

"The Counterfeiters," Austria

"Katyn," Poland

"Mongol," Kazakhstan

"12," Russia.

8. Adapted Screenplay:

Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"

Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"

Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"

Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."

9. Original Screenplay:

Diablo Cody, "Juno"

Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"

Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"

Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"

Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."

10. Animated Feature Film:

"Persepolis"

"Ratatouille"

"Surf's Up."

11. Art Direction:

"American Gangster,"

"Atonement,"

"The Golden Compass,"

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,"

"There Will Be Blood."

12. Cinematography:

"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,"

"Atonement,"

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,"

"No Country for Old Men,"

"There Will Be Blood."

13. Sound Mixing:

"The Bourne Ultimatum,"

"No Country for Old Men,"

"Ratatouille,"

"3:10 to Yuma,"

"Transformers."

14. Sound Editing:

"The Bourne Ultimatum,"

"No Country for Old Men,"

"Ratatouille,"

"There Will Be Blood,"

"Transformers."

15. Original Score:

"Atonement," Dario Marianelli;

"The Kite Runner," Alberto Iglesias;

"Michael Clayton," James Newton Howard;

"Ratatouille," Michael Giacchino;

"3:10 to Yuma," Marco Beltrami.

16. Original Song:

"Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova;

"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz;

"Raise It Up" from "August Rush," Nominees to be determined;

"So Close" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz;

"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.

17. Costume:

"Across the Universe,"

"Atonement,"

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age,"

"La Vie en Rose,"

"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

18. Documentary Feature:

"No End in Sight,"

"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience,"

"Sicko,"

"Taxi to the Dark Side,"

"War/Dance."

19. Documentary (short subject):

"Freeheld,"

"La Corona (The Crown),"

"Salim Baba,"

"Sari's Mother."

20. Film Editing:

"The Bourne Ultimatum,"

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,"

"Into the Wild,"

"No Country for Old Men,"

"There Will Be Blood."

21. Makeup:

"La Vie en Rose,"

"Norbit,"

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

22. Animated Short Film:

"I Met the Walrus,"

"Madame Tutli-Putli,"

"Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven),"

"My Love (Moya Lyubov),"

"Peter & the Wolf."

23. Live Action Short Film:

"At Night,"

"Il Supplente (The Substitute),"

"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets),"

"Tanghi Argentini,"

"The Tonto Woman."

24. Visual Effects:

"The Golden Compass,"

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,"

"Transformers."