85th Academy Awards Sunday, February 24

[No Elephants]

Host

Seth MacFarlane


Official website

http://www.oscars.org/


Get thee to a film!

If there is a nominated movie or actor that you want to see before the show, you still have a few days and most of a weekend.

Lincoln will probably be a big winner, although Argot is a possibility, too. Hollywood seems angered at the snub by the Academy of Ben Affleck as best director, for which he has not been nominated by the Academy. As a result, he and/or Argot have won award after award this season and, who knows, the Academy may also get a rap on the knuckles in its own backyard.

Other good bets: Zero Dark Thirty and Django.



The Show and Pre-Shows

E Network starts pre-shows very early, well before arrivals begin, with fashions, jewelry, moments from the past and lots of cheery chatter. I think the TV Guide Network does as well. I am not sure about times. E pre-shows may start as early as 4 pm, with arrivals starting later, but, as stated, I am just not sure.

ABC carries the official Oscar arrivals show, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Oscars/

I think the Oscars themselves start at 8 pm and will probably run past 11 pm.

Plan your meals and snacks accordingly!



Confluence With Things Chinese

Sunday will be either the last day or next to last day of Chinese New Year 2013 (Year of the Water Snake). And Chinese food seems to be the traditional Oscar watching food, maybe as a nod to Grauman's Chinese Theater, later Mann's Chinese Theater and now, thanks to a purchase of naming rights for $5 million, the TCL Chinese Theater. In front of the theater are many footprints, hand prints, etc. of actors. (Whoever got the bright idea of calling them "stars" anyway? Get over yourselves!)























Chinese Food Suggestions

If you have not had your Chinese meal this Chinese New Year season, Sunday might be a doubly good time for Chinese take out (or frozen) that you can enjoy while watching the red carpet coverage and/or the award show itself.

Supposedly. lucky Chinese foods are noodles (unbroken is best, so wind around your fork), whole fish (head on) and foods that are golden in color, preferable shaped like a gold bars.

I'm guessing this would include things like scallion pancake, egg roll, spring roll, fried dumplings, etc.






Other Food Suggestions

If you can't get Chinese food readily, maybe try for some oven baked French fries or Italian pasta?

Oranges are considered good luck too. Something about how the word sounds in Chinese. Sweets, too. So, there are your fall back lucky foods.



Sets, Costumes and Props

Gold and red are supposedly a lucky colors for Chinese New Year and, of course, Oscar is gold and the red carpet is, um, red. So, red and gold would be a perfect color scheme.

If you want to deck yourself or your home in some gold and/or red go for it. If I had a gown or a faux feather boa, I'd wear that while I watched! Too late this year. Maybe I will get one before next year's broadcast. (Go ahead. Call me names. I don't care.)


At Christmas, on realizing that I had no decorations for the bedroom, I grabbed some Christmas wrapping paper, wrapped it around a clear glass vase and stuck some spare evergreen branches in it.

Martha Stewart did something similar with a vase on the Today Show this morning. She put shiny gold paper halfway up a clear vase. That would be an easy and fun (and inexpensive) way to introduce gold to set the scene for Oscar viewing.

Good to know in general: She also mentioned that you can get gold paint at the craft store that, once applied properly, is dishwasher proof.

Paper Chinese lanterns or lanterns, if you have any kicking around would be fun. Fans, too.


Push comes to shove, take the chopsticks you got with takeout meal and stick them in your hairdo! Voila! You're ready for your close up.




Do you watch the Oscars or any of the pre-shows? If so, do you have any Oscar traditions or particular foods or snacks you enjoy while watching?