Nascar and Oscar Weekend

This is a big weekend in the world of sports and entertainment.
Nascar makes it's 2013 debut at the Daytona 500, and the movie industry has it's biggest night of the year with the Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night.

I don't follow Nascar, but appreciate the sport, and am fully aware of how popular it is.
Most of my immediate family are obsessed with Nascar, which I have no problem...with one exception.
Whenever I make a rare visit to see my family (my siblings live in Western NY) during the warmer months of the year (usually on a Sunday), they will inevitably spend the better part of an otherwise beautiful sunny day, sequestered inside, eyes glued to the boob tube, watching cars go round and round and round for what seems like hours on end.
Again, I have no problem with Nascar, but if they must watch, maybe haul a TV outside so we can at least enjoy one of the few precious days of warmth and sun that are blessed upon us each summer.
Am I asking too much?

On to the Oscars.
My favorite part is the opening monologue.
Will the host hit a home run or fail miserably?
If it's the latter, I feel sorry for them because it will become fodder for the press for days, months, years to come.
Why would any entertainer want to take that chance.
This year it will be Seth MacFarlane hosting - the mastermind behind 'Family Guy.'
He's a funny dude, so I'm hoping for the best.

As for the movies up for best picture, is it just me, or have you too also wondered what the hell are most of these movies?
For the most part, each year the movies nominated are ones I've never seen, let alone even heard of them.
This year's movies include:
Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty.
I am familiar with 4, have seen 0.
Am I just out of touch, or is the majority of us in agreement?

Anyway, enjoy your car race and award winning actors/actresses patting each other on the back for 3 plus hours (not to mention the endless thank you's!)
Cue the music.