Well, isn't that the pelican's pouch!

Many of 4th and 5th Estaters panned the Oscar night performance of Chris Rock, a black stand-up comedian who tends to perform blue, for his frequent use of the word "ass" and his singular use of the word "damn."

Adam Buckman of the New York Post wrote that "Chris doesn't rock"

The Irish Examiner exclaimed: "Chris' jokes hit rock bottom"

And Eleanor O'Sullivan, movie writer for the Asbury Park Press, called Rock's use of "ass" in his monologue "naughty," but noted she didn't deem the usage offensive.

Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle enjoyed Rock's performance, saying it was good but not great, and speculated the comedian won't be asked back by the AMPAS Awards producers. (Chris Rock was relatively clean, so I'm guessing he hopes to come back. I don't know who Goodman prefers but I'm personally hoping for George Carlin -- he knows the seven dirty words you can't say on tv or radio, so there would no excuses whatsoever for him!)

As previously announced, ABC put the Oscars on a 60 second delay just in case something happened. I had half expected to hear the staccato sounds of the Morse Code of censors' bleeping coming from my set .-... ..., .- ... ..., -.. .- -- -., but heard no such thing. Two-thirds of the way through, the network started posting a viewer warning that the event was rated "M" for mature audiences because of language. It was too late. Any children still awake had already heard the "A" word -- though they'd probably first heard the word in bible study class.

I expect that warning must have been posted because of Rock's use of "ass" and "damn." I say this because no one picked up on the sly reference dropped by award winner Andrea Arnold, who won the award for Best Live Action Short for her film "Wasp." In accepting the award Arnold, at an obvious loss for words, exclaimed something to the effect of "I don't know what to say. Well where I come from we'd say 'Isn't that the dog's bollocks!'" I could find only one internet reference for anyone who was canny enough to have caught this slip, theindependentfilmweblog.

(That's not to say there aren't any more blogs or newspapers that caught it, it's just that with my short attention span, lazy nature and the time constraints imposed upon me as a professional truck driver, this is the only one I've found. It's not like I have Carol Muller helping me out or anything, or that you guys are paying me to write this! I've got a life too, y'know!!!)

Apparently the censors -- as well as most 4th and 5th estaters -- are unfamiliar with this particular Anglicism because they probably would have bleeped Rock if he said it. "Dog's bollocks" is English slang for "dog's balls" or "dog's testicles," if you will. Although I've never travelled to England, I know the phrase is something akin to "Isn't that the bee's knees!" or "Isn't that the cat's pajamas!" Different time, different species, different place, obviously a different part of the anatomy I guess. Well isn't that the pelican's pouch!