Yes, the Academy Awards are coming up tonight and here are some thoughts about the awards and some recent great films and actors.

First, did you know that in the "goody bag" to be received by folks at the Oscars tonight is a spray called "Smelly Dog" meant to eradicate pet odors? Obviously, there will be more people receiving "Smelly Dog" than individuals who take home a coveted Oscar!

"My Left Foot" -- great performance...

** Only what's left of today is the LAST CHANCE to enter . . . as of this posting ~ 11 HOURS remaining before entry deadline for the WRITE PRIZE! ***

• ABLE MUSE WRITE PRIZE (Poetry & Fiction) - $500 prize each & publication
  Judges: John Drury - poetry; Ellen Sussman - fiction
  Deadline: February 15, 2012
  Read the guidelines & ENTER now!
  
  

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There was a good op-ed piece in the Washington Post by Eugene Robinson last week questioning what exactly Mitt Romney stands for. Apart from being able to sing "America the Beautiful" badly and promising to return this country to its supposed pre-Obama greatness, it's difficult to know what the former governor of Massachusetts stands for. Er, apart from the fact that he wants to replace Obama and insists that his business experience makes him fit to do so, because he can get the United...

** Just ONE WEEK before entry deadline for the WRITE PRIZE! ***

• ABLE MUSE WRITE PRIZE (Poetry & Fiction) - $500 prize each & publication
  Judges: John Drury - poetry; Ellen Sussman - fiction
  Deadline: February 15, 2012
  Read the guidelines & ENTER now!
  
  
• ABLE MUSE BOOK AWARD (Poetry)

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I purchased a copy of the January issue of Poetry magazine at Barnes & Noble in Union Station in Washington, D.C., recently. The veteran print magazine, founded in Chicago in 1912 by Harriet Monroe and published monthly by the Poetry Foundation, is celebrating its centennial. Check out the magazine website here.

The image of Pegasus on the cover of the January issue, a long elegant flowing...