Feature
Interesting facts about Oscar
Mahmud-Ur-Rashid
 It's been called "the Academy statuette," "the golden trophy" and "the statue of merit." The entertainment trade paper, Weekly Variety, even attempted to popularize "the iron man." Thankfully, the term never stuck. Born in 1928, the Academy Award of Merit which we know as simply "the Oscar"
This is the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. Awarded annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1929 in Los Angeles, it recognizes excellence in motion picture making, such as acting, directing and screenwriting.
Academy Awards are granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), a professional honorary organization, which as of 2007 had a voting membership of 5,830. Actors (with a membership of 1,311) make up the largest voting bloc. The votes have been tabulated and certified by the auditing firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers and its predecessor Price Waterhouse for 72 years, since close to the awards' inception. The 79th Academy Awards was the most recent ceremony, took place on February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood
The Oscar
The official name of the Oscar statuette is the Academy Award of Merit. Made of gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, it is 13.5 inches (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight (rendered in Art Deco style) holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers and Technicians. MGM's art director Cedric Gibbons, one of the original Academy members, supervised the design of the award trophy by printing the design on scroll. Then sculptor George Stanley sculpted Gibbons' design in clay, and Alex Smith cast the statue in tin and copper and then gold-plated it over a composition of 92.5 percent tin and 7.5 percent copper. The only addition to the Oscar since it was created is a minor streamlining of the base.
The root of the name "Oscar" is contested. One biography of Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, bandleader Harmon Oscar Nelson. Another claimed origin is that of the Academy's Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, who first saw the award in 1931 and made reference of the statuette reminding her of her Uncle Oscar. Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick's naming and seized the name in his byline, "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'".
However it came to be, both Oscar and Academy Award are registered trademarks of the Academy, and are fiercely protected by the Academy through litigation and threats thereof. The Academy's domain name is oscars.org and the official Web site for the Awards is at oscar.com.
 Nominations
Today, according to Rules 2 and 3 of the official Academy Awards Rules, a film has to open in the previous calendar year (from midnight at the start of January 1 to midnight at the end of December 31) in Los Angeles County, California, to qualify. Rule 2 states that a film must be "feature-length" (defined as at least 40 minutes) to qualify for an award (except for Short Subject awards). It must also exist either on a 35mm or 70mm film print OR on a 24fps or 48fps progressive scan digital film print with a native resolution no lower than 1280x720.
The members of the various branches nominate those in their respective fields (actors are nominated by the actors' branch, etc.) while all members may submit nominees for Best Picture. The winners are then determined by a second round of voting in which all members are then allowed to vote in all categories.
Preparing the Envelopes
 Until the envelopes are opened, only two people know the results of the vote. The counting is performed over three days by six assistants sworn to secrecy, who are given random selections from each category. The results from each count are added together by the two assigned accountants of Price Waterhouse. Two "And the Oscar goes to..." cards are printed for every nominee, and the losers' cards are destroyed. The two sets of winning envelopes are sealed in a safe until the day of the Oscars. The two are then chauffeured by separate routes, so that if the worst happened to one, the other would still safely produce the winners. They then arrive together two hours before the ceremony and the envelopes are left guarded until ready to be given to the presenter of the award.
Awards night
The major awards are given out at a live televised ceremony, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent fashion designers of the day. Black tie dress is normally required for men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a bowtie, and musical performers typically don't adhere to this (nominees for Best Original Song quite often perform those songs live at the awards ceremony, and the fact that they are performing is often used to promote the television broadcast). It is estimated that over one billion people watch the Academy Awards either live or recorded each year (Levy 2003). If this is true, few other events outside of the Olympics and FIFA World Cup draw a higher global audience.
This is a breakdown of only major winners of 79th Academy Awards
(The writer is a DU student)
Reference: www.oscar.com, www.oscar.org
Jokes
Letters Trick
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe.
Dead Lawyer
A guy calls a law office and says: "I want to talk to my lawyer."
The receptionist replies, "I'm sorry, but he died last week."
The next day he phones again and asks the same question. The receptionist replies, "I told you yesterday, he died last week."
The next day the guy calls again and asks to speak to his lawyer. By this time the receptionist is getting a little annoyed and says, "I keep telling you, your lawyer died last week. Why do you keep calling?"
The guy says, "Because I just love hearing it."
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