Ellen Wimped Out

For someone who "came out" on national TV to tons of controversy, Ellen sure played it safe at the Oscars. I was looking forward to some biting, funny jabs, but witnessed nothing but softballs. There were a few light moments, like making Steven Spielberg re-take a digital pix with Marty Scorsese. With the country in chaos over the Iraq war and the "who's your daddy" saga, surely there could have been some hilarious zingers, but zilch. As for the awards, a couple of suprises like Alan Arkin for Grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine, which he did such a wonderful job in. Eddie Murphy did a real star turn in Dream Girls, but you know he's gotten so much attention for years it was nice to change it up a bit. The heartfelt speeches from Jennifer Hudson and Forrest Whittaker made you happy to see them win. I was a little disappointed they gave Scorsese both best picture and best director, director would've been enough of a reward in my book. Plus I really wanted to see Sunshine win best picture. It was a suprise to see it get best original screen play though. Now the dresses did have a few zingers. Seems this year it was home runs and strikeouts and not much in between. What was Nicole thinking? Not that red doesn't become her, but that bow! A parrot on her shoulder would've taken up less room. And Jennifer Lopez with that gaudy jeweled mess around her neck with the cutie pie hair, yuk! And after playing a true fashion diva Meryl Streep comes looking like a baggy bohemian. And Kirsten Dunst? It was the dress that had everything, and therefore nothing. Now there were a lot of knock outs, not the least of which was Helen Mirren, what a dress! Other winners, Cate Blanchette with a slinky body hugger, Kate Winslett in a celadon number, Byonce in the red performance number only, (the one with that jeweled arrangment across her chest was too much), and how about Reese Witherspoon? What a classy look, I guess single life agrees with her. Also looking very uptown was Gwyneth Paltrow with that sleek hair pulled to one side. She was as gorgeous as I've ever seen her, and she's had a few misses, remember that pink number from a few years back? On the male side, Leo, Ryan Gosling and Clive looked very sharp. It's always fun to see the stars dressed to the nines, and the truly international flavor added another dimension not usually seen at the Oscars. I do hope this is Ellen's only outing though. Hell her American Express commercials are more entertaining.

Halfway There

Well yesterday the Montana State Senate passed SB 306 to abolish Montana's death penalty. Vote was close, 27-22. Now on to the House, which is republican controlled. I do believe the winds of change are blowing nationwide regarding death penalty. So many states have recently been looking at the legality of lethal injection and in fact if our death penalty is not repealed this legislative session, a suit challenging the legality of our protocol will be filed. We already know from a ruling last summer that the procedure used at Montana State Prison is not the one spelled out in statute. The cruel and unusual factor may be the turning point as another state with our same procedure has already ruled it unconstitutional. All those who argue against abolishing the death penalty use emotional, illogical and often religious arguments. Recent testimony included "this is not a matter of vengeance" and "it's not an economic issue" both arguments of course are false. It reminded me of junior high girls who would say things like "not to be mean or anything" or "I'm not trying to be a bitch" which of course mean they were exactly trying to be mean and bitchy. Death Penalty is about vengeance and it is about our tax dollars being wasted on costly appeals which means all Montanans are subsidizing state sponsored death, like it or not. The most compelling argument I heard was the simple fact that if it's not a fair and just system, equally applied to all regardless of color or income or the ability to hire a great lawyer, the system needs to be changed.