The Oscars

So The Oscars are on tonight and awards will be handed out to the great and good of Hollywood who have been either great or good in a selection of last year's movies. The Oscars are an annual event but here are some little known facts about the awards:

1. The Oscars were started in 1774 by a soothsayer, Oscar Von Waffle, who foresaw the Lumiere Brother's invention. Oscar was seen as a better name for an award given for greatness in an as-of-yet-created medium than a Von Waffle. Oscar Von Waffle was later burned at the stake.

2. The Oscar statues given to the winners are made of chocolate and are wrapped in gold leaf. Meryl Streep has eaten at least half of her awards.

3. Anna Paquin won an Oscar at the age of 11, or so it was believed. She was actually 18 years old when she won but was just very small!

4. Oscar speeches are famously kept to but a few minutes in length as the music kicks in whenever an overly grateful recipient wants to thank everyone s/he knows. This practice was famously introduced back in 1953 after Humphrey Bogart, after winning for The African Queen, spoke for over 2 hours!

5. No dog has ever won an Oscar, although walruses have claimed three statues.

6. Finally winning an Oscar, in 2007 for The Departed, after being nominated six times previously Martin Scorsese described himself as chuffed!

7. Jack Nicholson wears his sunglasses every year to the awards so that he can have a nap if he gets bored.

8. The Oscars are quite obnoxious as it really is a bit much lauded all these incredibly attractive, talented millionaires. But yet we watch.

9. No Paraguayan actor has ever won, been nominated or even attended The Oscars. In fact no Paraguayan has ever heard of The Oscars.

10. The Oscars are on now so I have to go.