Party? Where's my party?

Why, on Oscar night, am I sitting here at my computer in my jammies, and not at some swanky-swanky party? Note to self: get invited to Vanity Fair Oscar party next year.

Oh yeah, and win the lottery. ;)

Namaste...

This is where we ended up standing for a while, and where we saw the most people. This is looking North on Highland Avenue, toward the red carpet entrance. The Kodak is up on the left -- cars and limos were let into this area one by one and shuttled into 3 lanes (the A-listers in the far left lane). As they stepped out of their limos (just before the building with the red band around it) you could hear the crowds in the bleachers overlooking the red carpet erupting in cheers and applause. Note to selves: next year, if we can't get tickets to sit in the bleachers (which go up for lottery in SEPTEMBER), we'll make sure to be on the OTHER side of the street so we can actually see people!!! We'll also set out much earlier so we don't get stuck next to the Right to Life/Million Dollar Baby protesters from Florida. Ugh. Anyway, fun, and only 2 blocks from home! :) 

It's Oscar day!!! I couldn't get close enough to actually see the stars getting out of their cars/limos, but I could see them driving by (and could see some folks inside if they had their windows down). This is looking West on Hollywood Boulevard past the valet line -- facing directly at the security tent and red carpet. The Kodak Theatre is on the right up around the tall white building. 

Oscar Day!

Just got back from star-gazing on Highland Avenue... watching all the stars arriving to the awards in their limos, dodging all of the freaks that took this occasion to stump for their assorted (and occasionally very bizarre) causes. I know we "saw" a bunch of folks, but through tinted windows (and most who had open windows were taking pictures, obscuring their faces) it's hard to tell... We did manage to catch Hillary Swank and Chad Lowe, Morgan Freeman (in an environmentally friendly Prius - good job!), Samuel L. Jackson, Imelda Staunton and Penelope Cruz. Whew! Now we're back home out of the cold, curled up on the couch and ready for the show! Stand by for a few pics....

Namaste...

Here it is... the entrance to the Kodak. Wheee!!! 

At the foot of the staircase.... ahhh... the wishes and dreams, huh? 

The grand staircase leading into the Kodak Theatre 

Looking out over Hollywood Blvd. from the complex 

Overlooking the red carpet - it's covered in plastic until the big day! 

Overlooking the red carpet from inside the complex 

Hollywood & Highland 

Media bridge over the red carpet... 

Setting up 

The entrance to the Kodak Theatre 

The Hollywood & Highland Complex 

Oscar! 

The beginning of the red carpet area... 

This gentleman spends his days on his knees lovingly cleaning and scrubbing each and every star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Wow. 

This hotel is a 1/2 block from my apartment... it's where they filmed the final scene from "Pretty Woman" -- you know... the one where Richard Gere overcomes his fear of heights to climb up and save Julia Roberts... and she "saves him right back." Awwwww.  

Almost Forgot...

Oh yeah -- whilst wandering around inside the Hollywood & Highland complex playing tourist, I passed Judy Reyes, Nurse Carla on "Scrubs" -- cool!

Oscars, baby, Oscars!!!

Ok, my darlings, it's the weekend you've been waiting for!!! Ok, it's the weekend I've been waiting for :) I"m so excited!! But first, a moment to reflect... One year ago tonight, I was dragging myself and a carload of stuff across the country by myself to a new life and my destiny... I drove 17 hours and crashed in a Sheraton in Albequerque. The next day, I made it a short driving day, and ended my travels in Flagstaff, a cold and wonderful ski town at the foot of a brilliant mountain. I got to town, found a hotel, grabbed myself a sub, some beer, and made it back to my room just in time for the Oscars opening monologue. The next day I drove through the Painted Desert and took in the magnitude of the world and what I had done -- I had made a choice to take on the world. I had made a choice to leave everything I knew behind. I had made a choice to not be afraid anymore, not live in fear of my situation, the unknown... nothing, ever again. Well, that's not true -- I still catch myself fearing the unknown and my career and my life and my future and my unborn child I still haven't conceived and my past and my job to pay the bills and my weight and my age and my hopes and my dreams going down the tubes... and then I catch myself. I'm strong. I'm fierce. I have an unbelievable man who loves me, and I can do anything. So take that.

Damn.

So, that said, I'm here in Hollywood, babies, and it's Oscar time. So, I took a walk over to Hollywood and Highland, home of the Kodak Theatre and the Academy Awards -- 2 freakin blocks from my apartment -- and took some pictures! Whee!!

I'll see what I can tomorrow, but for the meantime, enjoy! :)

Namaste,

HOTEL RWANDA

Go see it. NOW. I've seen all of the Oscar-nominated films in the last week, and I'm disgusted and appalled that this film was not nominated for Best Picture. Horrified. I've said all along that the genocides in the world have not been brought to light... that the atrocities in Africa and Eastern Europe have been swept under the rug. Finally, a brilliant, beautiful, tragic story of the massacres in Rwanda, and one man (think Schindler) who dared save the few he could... and nothing from the Academy. I honestly thought, until tonight, that Leonardo DiCaprio or Clint Eastwood deserved the Best Actor statuette - but no performance stood out to me more than Don Cheadle. Do yourself a favor -- go see Hotel Rwanda. It's an amazing piece of cinematic art that actually touches the humanity in all of us.

That said, Sideways is freakin awesome. Paul Giamatti not getting a nomination is just plain idiocy -- such a mannered, multi-layered actor. And don't get me wrong... I loved Million Dollar Baby -- and I really think Morgan Freeman deserves the Oscar for his performance. What else? I loved the cinematography in The Aviator, as well as Cate Blanchette as Kate Hepburn... but I'm really hoping Sophie Okonedo will pull it out for her blistering role in Hotel Rwanda. I seriously dug Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and am pulling for a Best Original Screenplay on this one. What about Ray, you say? Well, I enjoyed that one as well, but it just didn't blow me away. Not even Jamie Foxx, who for some reason, is Hollywood's golden boy right now. He's good, don't get me wrong, but he's no Don Cheadle.

So, that's that. How much does my opinion count? Squat, my friends. However, I'm livin here in tinsel town, and I've got to be informed, if you know what I mean. Everybody here, from the waiters to the grocery clerks, has an informed opinion on the Academy Awards. We're all actors and screenwriters, you know, just doing this to pay the bills. Ahem.

:) Namaste...

Gonzo!

I am truly saddened at the world's loss of the great Gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson. If you can take it, sit down, have a couple of tequila shots and watch "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." If you can't take the movie, have the shots and read the book. Or go back through your old Rolling Stone Magazines. Or just pretend the world hasn't become this idiotic quasi-fascist Bush-wacked playground... and that the liberals and the freaks and the free spirits still have some say in it all.

Either way, have the shots. ;)

Namaste,

My Surreal Life

So it's Grammy time here in Los Angeles, which can only mean one thing -- traffic. Ack. Up and down Sunset, all around town, there have been parties and performances and whatnot all week. It's over, but there's another little awards show sneaking up on us in two weeks... yup, kiddies, it's OSCAR time!!! You'll get a front-row seat from my front-row seat. As you may recall, we live right down the street from the Hollywood & Highland complex and the Kodak Theatre -- home of the Academy Awards. They'll be blocking off all of our streets for days, so I'll have nothing to do but wander around and take pictures for you!!!

That's in a couple of weeks, but I've got stuff for you right now... on my way to a verrrry early photo shoot on Sunday, I almost sideswiped a little man standing in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard taking pictures of Grauman's Chinese and the street around him. That little man? Moby, my friends, Moby. Wheee!!! Except it wasn't, as I now know by looking on Moby.com. Yup, just a little man who looked a hell of a lot like Moby. You know what? This is my reality, and in my reality, I saw Moby on the street in Hollywood. So there. (and in my reality I also saw Paula Abdul pumping gas out by the airport -- could be true, could be my sleep deprivation...)

Yesterday I sold my motorcycle :*( You know, the traffic here is so bad (and I don't mean volume) I just don't see myself trying to navigate this city on a full-sized bike. I have every intention of getting a Vespa scooter, but those are easier to handle -- especially when everyone drives like they're starring in their own action flick. So I took my little cash prize for the bike to my bank at the SAG building (that's the Screen Actor's Guild for the rest of you), where I have never once seen another actor I've recognized. Although I'm quite certain I've seen a bunch that I don't recognize... :) Walking past me as I entered the building were none other than "The Surreal Life"'s Adrienne Curry ("America's Next Top Model") and Christopher Knight (that's Peter Brady to you and me). They're a couple now, if you hadn't been paying attention to your cable reality tv. I had just heard them on Indie 103.1 that morning (the BEST radio station this side of KCRW -- seriously, at any given time I can hear Rob Zombie, Steve Jones - Jonesy's Jukebox -, Danny Masterson ("That 70's Show"), Dave Navarro -- or any number of other music/celeb personalities spinning tunes).

Well, I'm off to Kinko's to sort through some of my new pictures, as my wee little computer just can't take the heat. We're off today, finally, and have vowed to do nothing but play -- so I have to get my work done quickly!!!

It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood -- how about you? :)

Namaste....

Home Again, Home Again... and Bill Murray

Back home again, from Indiana... ok, some of you will think that's freakin hi-larious. For the rest of you, how ya doin? I spent my weekend in Indianapolis with my family, attending my Grandpa's funeral. A sad occasion, to be sure, but I was happy to see everyone after missing them at Christmas due to the weather. Speaking of the weather, the storm in the Southeast messed up my travel plans once again, and I barely made it back to L.A. on Sunday -- and I for sure didn't get to go to Atlanta and visit with Donna... :*(

Well, since I got diverted and had to go through Dallas, I did get to see a very curiously clad Bill Murray strolling through DFW... he was wearing a golf hat, reflecting shades, and very LOUD orange camo pants. Not a very low-key outfit, but I doubt I would have noticed him if it weren't for the pants. In fact, he shot me a look like "I know you know who I am.... don't. say. a. word." And I did not. Until now ;)

On the plane to L.A., I sat behind "Match Game" host Gene Rayburn. Yes, he's evidently still alive. Wheee!!!

Ok, I'm off to bed -- lots of interesting stuff to come in the next few weeks. The horror publicity machine is heating up!!!

:) Namaste, little ones....

ps -- kiss your Grandmas and your Grandpas... as much as they've always been there for you, I know you kind of take them for granted. You're gonna miss them like hell when they're gone.