I debated whether I should announce this, since a tragedy of this order might spark rioting in the streets, but I have decided that my obligations to factual reportage outweight my duties to public order. It is therefore with much regret, and no little trepidation, that I hereby inform the world: I won’t be watching the Oscars live this year.
This is the first time in my adult memory that I’ve missed this important religious ceremony. Catching it has been trickier since I moved to Greenwich Mean Time, which is eight hours later than Pacific time, meaning that a broadcast which goes out over the airwaves at 5 PM in LA arrives in London at 1AM. We’ve therefore had a hard time getting Londoners to stay up with us–only our friend Courtney has been adventurous enough to camp out on our floor with us–but we’ve created virtual Oscar parties by connecting with our US-based friends via Internet chat, in a stirring union of film geekery and computer geekery.
That was back in the glorious multi-year period when the Oscars were broadcast on the publically-funded BBC. This year, they were outbid by pay-cable broadcaster Sky Movies–a channel we don’t receive.
At 1AM this monday, if there is rioting in the streets of London (or, at least, the hallways of our flat), you will know why.