Paint [the Oscars] Black...and Orange...
The Oscars are upon us, Tigers! I know you all would like nothing better than to waste all your waking hours on the NYTimes Carpetbagger blog (for the uninitiated, it's the Times's Awards-Season blog, and is frankly the best thing since sliced bread. Despite the fact that sliced bread has never seemed particularly awesome, but there you go.). However, midterms are once again upon us...which is decidedly not conducive to wasting time. Obviously. Why on earth would we waste time when we have tremendous pressure to get approximately ten zillion things done before spring break hits? Silly question.Anywhoo, Princeton is all over the current awards season, with two more nominations for consummate auteur Ethan Coen '79, of the Oscar-winning Joel-and-Ethan combo that brought you 2008 Best Picture "No Country For Old Men." The Coen Bros are up for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for their newest drama, "A Serious Man." (And, incidentally, the little redhead getting bar mitzvahed in the film, Aaron Wolff, is the cousin of Rachel Kogan '13. Wolff also went to music camp with me for two summers. But that's another story). Watch the trailer here.George Clooney's latest tour-de-force, "Up In The Air," also has Princeton roots; it's based on a novel of the same name by Walter Kirn '83 (whose most recent book, "Lost In Mediocrity," isn't exactly what you'd call a love letter to Old Nassau). Regardless, "Up In The Air" has taken off in the Oscars race as of late, and is up for six awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. It's also directed by Jason Reitman, of Juno hamburger-phone fame. Watch the trailer here.So this Sunday, pop some popcorn, take a load off, and enjoy some idle hours in the glitz and glamour of the Oscars--remembering to stop by by the epic-sounding party in Mathey Common Room, of course. In the meanwhile, while away the hours with some cool Tiger-themed Oscar mania, including this nifty graphic from PAW and JRN 422's Oscar Podcast. Keep on keepin' on, guys!