Usually they have...in years past. Historically, the Lakers are a good road team; always above. 500 on the road. But this year they are a poor 10-19. That is not going to get them in the playoffs. They have 12 road games left...they probably have to go no worse than 9-3 in those games to make the playoffs.

Works and looks great from my end. Bravo Sam! One tiny request...can we get silver and black as colour options?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! To whom I can sincerely say are two of my favourite people on the forum: Nutrocker: I love your passion and enthusiasm for 1977. Those of us who were there thank you. Sorry I'm not the best and promptest at returning PMs, but again, thank you for 4/30 and 7/17. May you celebrate your day with a montage of all the 77 Nutrockers. Cheers mate! April: My fellow Pagette-in-arms, you know what I wish for your birthday...a certain JP for you to have your way with. Unrealistic, perhaps...so, I'll also wish you plenty of birthday cake and ice cream...and for the sun and spring to come around and put an end to your shivering in the snow and cold. Happy birthday! Cheers!

If the Lakers are going to catch anybody, they're going to have to start playing much better on the road. They have a bunch of road games coming up.

Poor gal. Fatigue? Mild cold? Or something more serious than a hot cup of tea can fix? Sending you my love, K.

Here's a headline you don't see every day: Baltimore beats the Yankees and the Red Sox on the same day!

Saw them at the Hollywood Bowl last October. You're in for a treat, JTM...a very loud and rocking treat! Awww, that's sweet. Happy birthday to the Grand Dame.

Yeah, he took having to come out pretty hard. This could be his last chance to make The Show. Didn't the Cubs draft Willis to begin with all those years ago? He won Rookie of the Year in 2003? 2002? To Rick: VIN SCULLY IS STILL ALIVE! Believe me, if had died you would have heard about it...it will be a National Day of Mourning when Vin Scully passes away. Vin Scully called the game yesterday and I was merely noting how I had missed hearing his voice over the winter.

With Argo beating Silver Linings Playbook, the Academy has spoken... When the Levee Breaks>What Is and What Should Never Be

Just watched Ronaldo score an amazing goal. In other shocking news, the sun sets in the west, the Pope is Catholic and Rick likes to wager a bob or two.

Too too many to mention, let alone try to narrow down to just one. But in the interest of adding to the discussion...his solo in 'Over the Hills and Far Away" from June 22, 1977 surely ranks up there in Jimmy's personal Valhalla. BEST. OTHAFA. SOLO. EVER. Unfortunately, nobody has uploaded the song to youtube...maybe Conneyfogle can make it his next project?

I'll see your 'to' and raise you an 'o'. Never had seats that close to the stage where he would have seen me, redirtuo. Usually my seats were in loge or the colonnade sections...if I was on the floor, it was in the middle or the rear. I think the closest I've been at a Jimmy Page concert was around the 6th or 7th row. Now, Robert on the other hand, might recognize me. I have been front row at several of his concerts.

Happy birthday Aquamarine, wherever you are!

Late dinner tonight of two duck tacos and a cactus salad, with a glass of red wine. As a public service for chillumpuffer, and anyone else who lives in an area deprived of good Asian markets and/or restaurants, I hereby am providing a recipe for you to make your own Sriracha sauce. Recipe: Sriracha-Style Hot Sauce Makes about 1½ cups sauce Note:This sauce is best prepared at least one or two days before using. Cane vinegar and palm sugar can be found at select well-stocked cooking stores, as well as Asian markets. Capsaicin is found in the inner ribs, or veins, of chilies, not just the seeds. To minimize the heat, remove the ribs with the seeds. And when working with chilies, be careful. The capsaicin in the oils can burn your hands and eyes. Wear gloves when handling the hottest chilies, and work in a well-ventilated area. 1 pound mixed fresh red chilies (such as red Fresnos or jalapeños), stemmed and chopped 2 to 4 cloves garlic ¼ cup cane or rice vinegar 1½ teaspoons sea salt, more if desired 2 tablespoons palm or light brown sugar, more if desired 1. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the chilies, garlic, vinegar, salt and sugar to form a coarse paste. 2. Transfer the mixture to a nonreactive saucepan and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the aroma softens or mellows a bit, about five minutes. Remove from heat. 3. Blend the sauce again to form a smooth paste, thinning as desired with water. 4. Strain the sauce, pressing the solids through a fine mesh strainer with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Taste the sauce, and tweak the flavors as desired with additional salt, sugar or vinegar. Remove the sauce to a glass jar or bottle and cool completely. Refrigerate until needed.

Even Vichyssoise? Have you tried braising them with carrots, ginger and garlic?

Rick, you continually boggle my mind. You have posted here repeatedly complaining about Popovich resting his starters and keeping them out of games. I believe you even bet on an earlier Spurs game this season, only to find out that Popovich had sent the starters ahead to the next city, playing the bench instead. So, given all the evidence of not only this season but in years prior, I think it is fairly obvious that Popovich DOES NOT approach every game like it is Game 7. Trust me, his Spurs will be well-rested come the playoffs. I don't think the Clippers want to face the Spurs in the playoffs. They're hoping somebody knocks off the Spurs in the first round...maybe the Lakers? Yes, I cannot believe I said that...but the Lakers look like they are starting to play up to their potential. The problem is is this too little too late?

Watched my first baseball game of the year today. Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers somewhere in Arizona I imagine. Oh Vin Scully...how I've missed ye. I see one of those 'vaunted Angels prospects' from years ago, Dallas McPherson, is trying to make the Dodgers squad. He came up with the bases loaded and one out...and struck out. The league is littered with 'vaunted Angels prospects' that were a bust. I saw enough of the Cubs to see that their pitching is a disaster. The Dodgers scored THREE RUNS without getting a hit in the 5th inning...a few walks, hit batters and not one, but TWO BALKS was all the Dodgers needed to score. Then in the 8th inning, the Cubs bring in relic Dontrelle Willis(remember him?) and he walks a batter and then promptly injures himself on the first pitch to the second batter! Can there be anything worse than being a Cubs fan? I used to think a Clippers or Cleveland Cavaliers fan had to suffer the most...but I think the Cubs fan suffers more. Dodgers won...but it's only spring training.

Well, I made it up on the spot. But given that there are billions and billions of published words over the millenia, I wouldn't be surprised if those words were uttered in some way before. Yeah, Walter...just how do you do that? Do you go with Feb. 28 or March 1? Are you trying to prolong the 7- year itch? As leap year is every four years, your 7th anniversary won't occur until your 28th year of marriage. Winternationals, Groundhog Day, Lincoln's and Washington's birthday...and the beat goes on.

Why apologize for leeks? I'm happy for a number of reasons...mainly that it was such a glorious beautiful day outside and I managed to finish this task I needed to do involving the bureaucracy of Los Angeles much sooner than expected...I was finished by noon. Then I received a nice and unexpected treat from the mailman that made my day. Watched my first baseball of the year...Cubs @ Dodgers...and realized I missed baseball more than I realized. Or maybe it was that I missed Vin Scully. The Dodgers won, too. Took a nap afterwards and now am watching the Kings vs. Ducks hockey game, and enjoying a glass of wine.

^^^ Not as tacky as your incessant whining about the Obamas and need to insert your politics in every fucking thread. If that had been George Bush or Sarah Palin you would have been jizzing all over the television screen. I concur with CP's Rioja appraisal...a good region to explore. But I'm curious CP why New Zealand wines are so expensive in Blighty...I've been able to find some NZ bargains in California. Maybe it's the distance. Thanks E, looks like I'll have to try that Tempranillo. Lots and lots of wine was drunk last night at the Oscar party...the wine helps the show become more entertaining, wink wink. Mostly red zinfandels and pinot grigios.

Sounds like an opportune time to go camping in the great wide open? My best to your daughter and B.

Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh have essayed Anna Karenina...Garbo actually did it twice: in the silent film "Love" and then in 1935's "Anna Karenina". But not Barbara Stanwyck. Keira Knightly will not make anyone forget Garbo. Actually, Rick, since you mentioned watching only the red carpet, I was asking who you liked 'fashion-wise', not in regards to the actual nominees. Besides, we've known ever since you saw it that Lincoln was your favourite. There certainly was no doubt that Daniel Day Lewis was going to win Best Actor...and deservedly so, for he really inhabits the role of Lincoln. Maybe he should do a series of movies about our Presidents...President Polk...President Taft...President Wilson. You mentioned "Age of Innocence", which was good if you didn't mind Scorcese doing Merchant & Ivory. But some other great Daniel Day Lewis movies you should check out are "My Left Foot", for which he won his first Best Actor Oscar, and "My Beautiful Laundrette", an early Stephen Frears gem. Daniel Day Lewis now has the most Best Actor wins(3) in history...more than Brando, Spencer Tracy, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, John Wayne, Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins...and Keanu Reeves, whoah dude. Robert DeNiro hasn't won an Oscar in 32 years, and it doesn't appear his drought will end soon. Unless Scorcese gets over his man-crush on Leonardo DiCaprio and writes DeNiro a juicy role, he appears destined to ride out his golden years in Meet the Fokkers sequels and harmless comedies. Who doesn't like Sally Field? We all like her...we really really like you, Sally! Anne Hathaway's win over Sally Field in Best Supporting Actress was one of the more egregious mistakes of the night. Sally's Mrs. Lincoln was an essential part of "Lincoln", especially in how the portrayal of their marriage and relationship humanizes Lincoln for us. He appears as flesh and blood instead of some stone statue. That is very important when doing a biography on a well-known historical figure. Take Anne Hathaway out of Les Miz and the movie wouldn't be any different...you wouldn't miss her at all, for she's hardly in it to begin with. All she does is sob and warble her song hysterically. Poor Sally is still paying the price for that "You like me!" acceptance speech all those years ago. While I enjoyed to varying degrees "Argo", "Zero Dark Thirty", "Lincoln", "Skyfall" and a few other nominees, the movies of 2012 that affected me most deeply and touched my heart and soul were "Amour", "Moonrise Kingdom", "Rust and Bone" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild". So I was supremely happy that "Amour" won Best Foreign Film, especially after being denied previously for "The White Ribbon". But goddammi...would it have killed the Academy to honour Emmanuelle Riva with Best Actress? It was her 86th birthday ferchrissakes...how perfect a story would that have been? Jennifer Lawrence is young...she'll have plenty of opportunities ahead. Rick, the Lakers played in the morning yesterday...and it was in Dallas. Are you telling me you didn't bet the game?

So who did you like? What was your favourite dress? Worst dressed? Kristen Stewart needs to fire her stylist...if she has one. She looked like "trailer park trash" in the astute judgement of one of my friends. She even had the mandatory trailer park trash bruises on her arm from her abusive alcoholic boyfriend.

I think most people figured why bother posting a list as anyone who was interested was already watching the awards and seeing who won. Posting the winners here would be superfluous.