And to the extent that this year's Oscars will uphold this tradition, supplying a dash of sentimentality, sweet (those "Slumdog Millionaire" kids) or bitter (Heath Ledger), a spoonful of suspense (Mickey Rourke or Sean Penn?) and perhaps even a surprise (Melissa Leo!), they may exceed the low expectations that surround them.
At an informal gathering of Muslim men outside the house of Anwar Ali an upstanding clerk, who also housed your correspondent it was estimated that perhaps 40% of the village's non-dalit men upheld this ancient tradition.
Now in our preparation for the 2008 Games in Beijing, we are working toward upholding this strong tradition and making some history of our own.
Our desire to uphold this family tradition overpowered Mom's objections, but as with mothers everywhere, I suppose, the idea that the affair was in the good hands of her children did not inspire confidence.
But Mrs. Peabody upheld the tradition of social responsibility among the privileged as much as she did the tradition of glamour and aristocratic living.
Jerome ran a more modern, computerized agency, but he upheld the tradition of working with his relatives and forging close bonds with the models themselves.
The rowing correspondent for The Times described it as a "crushing defeat" for Oxford, stating that they were "completely outpaced" yet while Cambridge "upheld the tradition of skill", Oxford "upheld that of courage".
The value of Bayard's diplomacy was, however, fully recognized in the United Kingdom where he worthily upheld the traditions of a famous line of American ministers".
They want to uphold that tradition and to have this situation resolved soon".
This new series tries to uphold the tradition of Shakespeare by wearing it a little more easily than these monarchs wear their crowns, and the awareness of transience is what makes that possible.
