2000

Best Picture: american beauty

This was the year, out of the goodness of my heart, that I started to include cassette tapes (remember them?) with the invitations that contained all of the Best Original Song nominees and selections from all the Best Score nominees, just to level the playing field a little bit in the Oscar Pool. (I won anyway, breaking a streak that had carried Steve Emhe to victory the previous two years.) In those pre-iTunes days, this meant buying the entire album on CD just to obtain one track. (Anyone want a slightly used copy of the soundtrack to "The Red Violin?") It was worth the expense, though...weren't you glad you got to hear N'SYNC perform "Music of My Heart" before you cast your vote?

This was also the first year that we filled the highly coveted Oscar Gift Basket with five goodies, each of which were thematically tied into a Best Picture nominee. Lucky Adam Rifkind is the winner this year, and takes home a red rose ("American Beauty"), an apple pie from Linvilla Orchards ("The Cider House Rules"), a Beanie Baby mouse ("The Green Mile"), a package of candy cigarettes ("The Insider") and a Beanie Baby ghost ("The Sixth Sense"). (Adam wins the basket by merit of having the worst score of the evening in the Oscar Pool. Way to go!)