I'd Like to Thank the Academy

Check you calendars people, it's time for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. I am live-blogging the event, or as live as being thirty minutes behind on the dvr gets.

I achieved my goal of seeing all 10 Best Picture nominees so I feel very well informed going into tonight's Oscar telecast. 


The awards ceremony is being hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco, two of my favorite actors, but not necessarily my first pick for Oscars hosts. Generally, awards show hosts are comedians or comic actors. But they are definitely trying and while I wasn't really into Anne's rendition of "On My Own" I did feel that James nailed it with the cross-dressing Charlie Sheen joke.


The moving full orchestra busting out the Star Wars theme and "Tonight, Tonight" from West Side Story was one of my favorite parts of the show, thanks Oscar directors for that one. And I loved how Jeff Bridges & Sandra Bullock personally addressed each of the Best Actress nominees like they were calling coffee orders at Starbucks. Do they do that every year and I'm only paying this much attention because of the blog?

I realize that most people who blog about the Oscars will talk about the red carpet fashion but let's be honest, that's just not my thing.

this post is undoubtedly going to be long because I am including the entire list of award winners in the order in which they were won, even the ones that people always forget about the minute the winner walks off stage.

And the Oscar goes to... Achievement in Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland

Achievement in Cinematography
Wally Pfister- Inception

Best Supporting Actress
Melissa Leo- The Fighter

Best Animated Feature Film
Toy Story 3


Best Animated Short Film

The Lost Thing


Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin- The Social Network

Best Original Screenplay

David Seidler- The King's Speech


Best Foreign Film

In a Better World (Denmark)

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale- The Fighter

Best Original Score
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross- The Social Network


Achievement in Sound Mixing
Lora Hirshberg, Gary A. Rizzo & Ed Novick- Inception


Achievement in Sound Editing
Richard King- Inception

Achievement in Make-Up

Rick Baker & Dave Elsey- The Wolfman

Achievement in Costume Design
Colleen Atwood- Alice in Wonderland

Best Documentary Short Subject
Strangers No More


Best Live Action Short Film
God Of Love


Best Documentary Feature Film
Inside Job


Achievement in Visual Effects
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley & Peter Bebb- Inception


Achievement in Film Editing
Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter- The Social Network


Best Original Song
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3

Best Director
Tom Hooper- The King's Speech

Best Actress
Natalie Portman- Black Swan


Best Actor

Colin Firth- The King's Speech

 Best Picture

The King's Speech

In case I have a few readers who are mathematically challenged, Inception & The King's Speech tied with 4 Oscars, followed by The Social Network with 3 awards and The Fighter, Toy Story 3 & Alice in Wonderland which each picked up 2 Oscars. 

And in case you're competitive like I am, check out how many of my Oscar predictions came true (it was 5 out of 9) on this blog post.

For those of you who watched the Academy Awards telecast, the Six Degrees (or less) of Kevin Bacon from James Franco to Scarlett Johansson and Matthew McConaughey are as follows:


James Franco was in Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts who was in Valentine's Day with Bradley Cooper who was in He's Just Not That Into You with Scarlett Johansson.

James Franco was in Date Night with Mila Kunis who appears in Family Guy with Matthew McConaughey.

And hey, it's my fiftieth (that's 50th) blog post and I'm so happy to dedicate it to the Academy Awards. Thanks to all my friends and followers who read this thing and make me feel like a writer for a little while :)

Kids Say The Darndest Things

If you're reading this blog, it's clear that you already know how hilarious I am.
Did you know that my comic abilities were hereditary? I wasn't sure there was a gene for being funny but it's been proven over the last few weeks. Side note: Adam could possibly claim some credit for reed being a funny little guy but let's not jump the gun here. The kid already looks exactly like him.

 Am I wrong?

here's some proof that my little man is pretty damn funny.

 After discussing how Ellie & Robyn are sisters and Buck & Theodore are brothers: "Mommy, I don't want a baby brother, I want a baby sister. Now!"

About his newest friend, Ryan, my friend Alexis' daughter: "We need to go see Ryan. I need to tell her that I love her."

While we're sitting at the bar at Starbucks waiting for Adam, an older lady came up to reed & introduced herself as Robyn: "Hmmmm. No, you're not Robyn. Mommy, where is Robyn?!?"

After apparently watching a little too much Thomas the Tank Engine: "Take me back to Sodor at once!" 

Sitting at his Thomas activity table: "This is my nice, quiet place. Mommy, hush."

Now, I realize that other people aren't going to find reed as adorable and charming as Adam & I do but even those people that aren't quite into kids have to admit that he's pretty cute.

I have some mom followers and I have a few followers with much much younger siblings- do the kiddos in your life say hilarious things? Tell 'em to me!

So What Do You Do There?

I've been at a loss as to what to blog about and my dearest Elspeth is convinced that people would find reading about my internship interesting. So if you get bored, blame Ellie. 

As a refresher, I'm an intern (currently the only intern) at 96.1/107.5 The Q, more specifically on the morning show with Maney, Riley & Alexis Grace.
I get to do some technical stuff like the timing of the commercial breaks that isn't that easy to describe without a bunch of radio jargon that I barely understand myself. So if my day seems light, that's the stuff I'm leaving out.

A big part of what I get to do is topic gathering for the show. Any ideas, blog readers?

 I've also been learning to edit the audio clips that we use throughout the show, like the movie clips Maney plays early in the morning or the American Idol clips we play on Thursdays and Fridays. Or I've edited the promos where Maney & Riley talk about the next days show, which is probably the most complex bit of editing I've had to do thus far. And a big thank you to my wonderful teacher, Riley, for showing me how to do that.


My favorite thing to do is to write the E! on the Q! blog since it's more my niche, clearly. Though it does come in handy that I tend to agree with Riley on the celebrity gossip since it is a first person blog written from her perspective. So if you're bored at work and want to read a raquel-blog and I haven't updated this one, mosey on over to there. And clearly, I am only talking to Robyn when I say this. 

Other than the above, I do a lot of typical internship tasks: getting coffee, making copies, running to the printer, answering the phones.

Btw, some shameless promoting right here: listen to the Q next week, Alexis Grace has a commercial out for her new apartment at Centennial Gardens and I helped her write it! And the T-I-G-E-R-S spell out at the end is me & Alexis.

Also it should be noted that while I love what I get to do at the radio station and the opportunity is priceless, I'm pretty excited that I've found a friend and reed's future wife out of the deal. Official blog shout-out to Alexis & Baby Ryan :)

And now I'm off to get ready for the Memphis Premiere Bridal Show. A perk of my internship? Getting to go all of these events.

It's Playtime in Memphis

I said in my last blog that playtime options are limited due to the winter weather here in Memphis. If you have checked the forecast, it will be warmer this coming week but spring is hardly here, despite what groundhogs and their shadows have said.
I believe the bulk of the blog readership is sans children but here's a little something for those that are parents. And to my kid-free friends, let me know if you'd like to join reed & I on any of these adventures :)

Here are some things you and your kiddos can do:

Children's Museum of Memphis.

The whole museum is a blast for kids toddlers-preteens but there is a new exhibit this month that Reed & I will undoubtedly be trying out. It's called Out On A Limb and it's open from now until May 15th for kids ages 10 and under. The Children's Museum website describes it as a "whimsical place for unstructured play" but really it's a bunch of indoor tree houses for kids to play in. Basically, it's awesome.

The Peabody Hotel Duck Procession
Okay, it sounds weird and I wouldn't drive all the way downtown just for this but if you're out and about in the west end of town, it's worth a stop-in. Every week day at 11am the ducks are processed downstairs to the Grand Lobby and then at 5pm the reverse is done as they are marched back up to the roof. If you have a toddler-aged child, such as reed, they are likely to be fascinated. Bonus- it's free!

Story Time at the Public Library's
depending on your neighborhood, they are on varying days but tend to be in the mid-late afternoon. Check the Memphis Library website for days and times in your neighborhood library. If you are a midtowner or an east memphis-er, definitely hit up the Main library on Poplar over the Highland or other branches; the kids area is much larger and they don't care if your child runs around in circles.

And to all Memphians, don't forget that Muddy's Bake Shop is open today for a special Valentine's Day treat. I always want Muddy's on Sundays & Mondays when they are traditionally closed so take advantage of the rare opportunity.

Happy Valentine's Day to all but to my love & husband Adam in particular. Thank you for asking me to be your wife one year ago today. I love you :)

I don't know about Samtana, but here's what we've been up to

Yesterday Robyn chastised me via text message about not updating my blog so here I go, despite a lack of inspiration. Hopefully, I won't bore you readers.


Lately, my life has consisted off my school, reed, adam (barely, sadly) and my internship (which i love). Sleep, a social life and blogging have taken a backseat. The only way I've kept up with the television shows that I watch is my need for background noise while I do homework. Side note: fellow Glee fans, Finn & Quinn again? Sam & Santana (heretofore referred to as Samtana)? Really, Ryan Murphy?


Anyobsessed, here's a look at what the Hinson's have been up to recently:

Reed & I went to Muddy's. I loved the look on his face in the picture. 

Our goods. The Frankly Scarlett on the left was Reed's, the Tomboy was mine.

Pajama Day at Reed's school.

I posted this picture on Facebook and it's the background on my phone but on the off-chance that I hadn't thrown this picture in someones face, I figured they needed to see it. Those are Thomas the Tank Engine jammies, though the top is covered by his sweatshirt, tucked into cowboy boots and topped off with a cowboy hat. The kid has style. 

Baby Ryan & Baby Reed.

 My new friend Alexis and I have had a few playdates with the kids. As I expected, reed promptly fell in love with the older woman (Ryan just turned four) and followed her around asking to shower her with attention, hugs and kisses. Ryan, being the independent girl that she is, will hug reed when she feels like it but would rather he respect her personal space. If there was ever any doubt, male-female relationships are complex from birth.

Reed got way too much stuff for Christmas so we tried to space out the opening of presents. However, it's snowed a lot this winter and when it's not snowing, it's bloody freezing so playtime options have been limited. This week, we cracked open the Lego's and Adam built reed the tower he kept asking for, though we have no idea where he even learned that word and it's relation to Lego's.

And lastly,

The beginnings of this week's snowpocalypse. 

This was the worst snow so far. While the first one of the winter stuck around a little longer, the ice that followed was awful and nerve wracking to drive on. Next winter, I'll be needing a Valium prescription before I attempt to drive again.

Happy Weekend All :)