I got out of work this morning and did something I haven't done in a long time; I looked at the stars in the sky. I just stood there (groceries in hand) staring at the millions of them. How great to live in the country where so many of them are visible.

Ok, so Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination for Supreme Court judge and Bush goes and nominates Sam Alito (or as he's being called Scalito). Why? Because he's being called a radical conservative in the same vein as Antonin Scalia. First the Republicans were decrying Miers and her nomination and now, I'm certain, the Dems will pooh-pooh Alito's nom. Here's looking at you Bush for yet another zinger!!!!

Non-Oscar video pick of the week: I finally saw the film House Of Flying Daggers; the artsy fartsy foreign language film starring Zhang Ziyi. The film follows Mei (played by Ziyi) as a blind showgirl who may or may not be the daughter of an honored fighter who was killed. She's also quite a fighter herself. She meets Jin, a member of the corrupt government who thinks he knows who Mei is and lures the government's men to her. Eventually the two fall for each other and instead of being on opposite sides become allies as they fight the evil general's men. Soon, however, Jin's betrayal is discovered and then the fates of Jin and Mei are sealed by another character. The film's colors and cinematography are lush and vibrant and the fight scenes are unbelievably mesmerizing. I don't use the term unbelievably lightly. It's a wonderful film and I'm looking forward to seeing Zhang in this year's Memoirs Of A Geisha.

That's all for now.

paul