I’ve been laid-low with a head cold for the past few days, but I’m headed out to Jersey this afternoon to listen to records with my friend Stein anyway. Be back in time to watch the Oscars tonight. Funny, but I like watching them in the same way I like watching the Super Bowl (at least the Super Bowl offers the potential for surprise and excitement). But I don’t get upset about who “wins” and “loses” at the Oscars, mostly I like to talk a lot of trash, bust all the stars’ chops. It seems so ridiculous to give out awards for artistic merit anyhow. Aside from that, the whole thing is so corny and political, you’d have to be crazy to let it bother you. That said, why then do I let the baseball awards get me nuts each year? Go figure.

I figure they’ll give Scorsese a lifetime achievement nod tonight and give him Best Director for “The Departed,” a movie that I found highly entertaining but far from his best. For the record, my favorite Scorsese movies are: “ItalianAmerican,” “Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” and his segment from “New York Stories.”

Here are a couple of few links for a cool Sunday in New York:

Pete Abraham has a nice piece on Mike Mussina, who has become something of an avuncular figure for some of the younger Yankee pitchers.

Tyler Kepner profiles Colter Bean in the Times, while Jack Curry examines the increasingly important role that intrepreters have in the game.

Joel Sherman is blogging about the Yankees over at the Post this spring.