Stuff for Saturday

DARMSTADT, Germany - A European spacecraft was on course to zip past Mars on Sunday, a crucial maneuver in its meandering, 10-year voyage through the solar system to make the first soft landing on a comet.

German scientists are taking great care to be sure that the spacecraft doesn't hit Uranus.

LOS ANGELES - A classic Hollywood cliffhanger will conclude Sunday's Academy Awards, and organizers hope the suspense of an up-for-grabs best picture race will be enough to keep TV audiences tuned in through the finale.

I think TV has lost track of the American worker. I live in the eastern time zone, and my alarm goes off at 5:30am on weekdays. Awards shows and sporting events can keep me up well past midnight, depriving me of much-needed rest. I'm not enough of a nut about it to hang out until 1am while Alec Baldwin reads from a note card. I figure that's what newspapers and the Internet are for.
I suppose there's suspense over the best picture race, but since I've only seen one of the nominees, my unqualified pick for the best picture Oscar this year is ...

Little Miss Sunshine

They'll give Scorcese his "lifetime achievement" Best Director Oscar. He didn't win one for Raging Bull or Taxi Driver, so they figure that they owe him one, I think. I didn't see The Departed, but I can't imagine that it was his best work.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
The King of Comedy
Goodfellas
Nothing.

There's a film planned for 2008 called The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt that he's directing. Looks interesting. It's being developed for Scorcese and Leonardo DiCaprio, who's turning into quite the star these days.
I also think that they'll give Peter O'Toole one for his breadth of work. Never won an Oscar and getting older every day. Otherwise, who knows? I don't go to movies. Although, it's amazing that Meryl Streep is nominated again. The 14th time.

And, has anyone ever seen one of those "Short Subject" films? Me neither. I don't go to movies. But even when I was going, I never saw one. Fifteen minutes of previews, twelve minutes of commercials and that slide telling me to turn off my cell phone. Just don't try to take my iPod away...

I know at least one of my faithful readers will shudder a bit as she reads this:

PHILADELPHIA - A high school teacher was assaulted by two students and hospitalized with broken vertebrae after he took an iPod away from one of them during class, officials said.

Frank Burd, 60, was in a hallway at Germantown High School shortly after 11 a.m. when he was confronted by the 17-year-old who brought the iPod to class, officials said Friday.

A 15-year-old student joined the confrontation and either punched or helped trip Burd, who fell and hit his head, said Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for the Philadelphia School District.

Burd was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center with two broken bones in his neck, said Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive officer. The teacher's injury does not involve paralysis, Vallas said.

The two students, who were not named because of their ages, were charged Friday night with aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, police said.

Vallas said they will be expelled.

Expelled. Great. Two more losers cast into society. We'll be paying for their upkeep for the rest of their lives.
I don't think we should live in a society where teachers are afraid that they will be accosted in their workplace. Maybe it's because people are reared without proper respect for authority? I don't know. Meanwhile, a teacher is in the hospital.
That makes good nonsense.