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The secret to winning the Oscar pool is to get the technical awards right. Everyone flubs some of the big categories (I got both actresses wrong!), but if you can pick Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Makeup, Visual Effects, etc. you'll do well. I got all three Bourne Ultimatum awards right and no one else in my office thought it would win. I won just by one point though--my colleague Mark got 14 right to my 15. But one point is all it takes, so now I'm $125 richer. Tomorrow I'm gonna give it to the dentist. Oy.

I'm delighted to report that American Music Club has returned to form with their new album The Golden Age. It's slow and quiet, and somehow, somewhere Mark Eitzel found his voice again. And I mean that literally--he's singing nice melodies again. His lyrics are always strong, but I found the songs on the last album unlistenable. He sounded strident and hectoring. But on The Golden Age his vocal chords are given space and breath and the songs flow lovingly. There's still lots of angst, a bit more hope, and plenty of mounting tensions, but the melodies make me want to learn the words and sing along. And no doubt I will.

Speaking of strident and hectoring, has Hillary Clinton lost her mind? Saturday steam is jetting out of her ears as she accuses Obama of being Karl Rove, then on Sunday she's rolling her eyes and mocking him (and, more detrimentally, his supporters). Last time I checked the way to get people to vote for you is not to tell them they're crazy for voting for your opponent. What happened to Hillary the genius? This woman is so smart it's scary, so why is her campaign flailing all about? For someone who is supposedly going to be Ready On Day One, it looks like she's got to get some bed rest before inauguration day--'cause she sure as heck isn't ready now. Silly season indeed.

Work is stressing me out--it our busiest time right now--and one of our clients is really behind schedule and Mark and I are nervous about getting everything done. But then again last week's "work" events included a Tuesday night out drinking with a client, and then a fabulous Wednesday evening late supper with my staff at The Four Seasons. Wow. I have never had better foie gras in my life. I had venison as my main dish, and a cheese plate for dessert. The dining room is such a New York classic, and the service is old and warm. It was such a fun night, but such a long day that by the time dinner was over all four of us were really wilting. We took four separate cabs home.