![[title of show]](http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/ShephardSummers/titleofshowsm.jpg)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Post Osc*r Post
NO CAMERAS ALLOWED.
F*ck.
How is a boy supposed to capture his very first Osc*r experience?? Sigh. Thank god for the low-res camera in my iPh*ne! Join me for a slightly blurry tour of our evening.
...which started with Champagne in the limo (thanks to our friend, Clark and his sister Courtney, our limo-mates...he's also the producer of the movie). The limo made its way to Hollywood's K*dak Theater, and once within fan-stalking distance, the streets were barricaded in a zigzag fashion to prevent any car from driving in a straight line. Windows were rolled down and trunks were checked, and it was confirmed that our limo was in no such posession of heretofore rumored plans to kidnap Mr. Affleck.
Even in the shot above, you can't see the beginning.... a LARGE tent that we disappeared into after de-limoing... what is inside the tent? airport-grade METAL DETECTORS. THEN we bottle-necked out onto the broad carpet, shoulder-to-shoulder with N*talie P*ortman and M*rissa T*mei and J*mes Fr*nco and R*bert D*wney Jr and B*yonce. Yeah. Strange. And I feel dirty just repeating it, like I'm name-dropping. lol But they were all there next to us, taking their turns in front of the same photographers and reporters.
I actually took this with my iPh*ne!! Surprised how well it turned out. But to be honest, at this point, I wasn't even sure I was allowed to, so I was being VERY careful. So noone of any renown is in this shot (on purpose).
Once you enter through the giant curtain....
...you proceed toward the big staircase. This area you're looking at is actually a 5-story mall when not in use by The Osc*rs. They hide all the storefronts with red curtains to make it look more like a theatre lobby! Again, wasn't even sure I was allowed to be snapping this, but if there's ever a next time, I won't be so careful. I promise. :)
...and back to a shot I snapped off the TV. I was actually getting texts during the show (which I only answered during commerical breaks), trying to tell people WHERE we were sitting. Several friends said they spotted us. But above, you can see us, we're exactly 10 rows back, dead center. And that's J*nnifer An*ston & J*ck Bl*ck during our category.
But it was easiest spotting us during the scr**nwriting cat*gory... if you knew what we looked like. I actually love this shot because it shows all the nominees and St*ve & T*na (one of our favorite parts of the evening). The entire br*adcast was one of the most enjoyable I can remember... being there during the musical numbers was a lot of fun. We really were swept up in the energy of it all. I have to say that LIVE, the musical numbers all sounded better. And H*gh was great... he'd come out and talk to the audience and tell stories during commercials. At one point, he brought his wife (3 seats in front of me) some cookies... he said she had texted him "Good job honey. I'm hungry" (lol). 
The evening flew by, and before we knew it we were at The G*vernor's Ball... governor as in B*ard of G*vernors for the Ac*demy, NOT The Governator of California (oy). This not so little venue sits ontop of The K*dak Theatre like a crown, it's own little building almost. Upon entering, I was given a choice... Champagne or a Cosmo (guess which one I chose, Sandra?).
The tables blew me away. The whole place had been redecorated from the last time we'd seen it (for the B*lt Wrap Party). Fresh flowers and beautiful lanterns for what the designer called an "East Meets West" motif. I've seen a lot of table decor... this was beautiful without being stuffy. Wanna see the menu? I thought you would.
(zoom in if you want to read) 
Asian Vegetable Salad ... almost too pretty to eat... and that's Maine lobster and caviar on top.
It was so pretty, I have two photos. My cell phone does NOT do the colors justice... it was very colorful!!
We had the Vegetable Risotto with Black Winter Truffles instead of the short-ribs, and it was fantastic. And I will also admit to traveling to the sushi bar for fresh sushi. :) The white wine they served smelled like sweet flowers... not kidding... roses maybe... 
This is dessert. All edible. All chocolate.
You open the sugar boxes to reveal sorbets and cookies and yummy things I couldn't identify. The Osc*r on top... solid dark chocolate dusted with edible gold paint.
Here's the one shot of part of the room that turned out... that's the bandstand and singers... high above everyone... and this shot was taken on the second level as well.
We weren't sure what to expect from The Osc*rs. I can tell you they are less personal and it's harder to actually see and interact with celebs than it was at The GG's. The GG's red carpet is much more fun. Oh, and sadly... it was proclaimed that there was no Osc*r Swag this year because of the EC (my eyes rolled back into my head when I found out the "economic crisis" already had a nickname). Well.. we did get a little turquoise box filled with cards.... each card respresented visually the nominations for the evening, which is a really nice idea. 
Well, this photo isn't from the Osc*rs, it's from the N*minees Luncheon, but you get the idea. We were pretty happy. :) More so to have shared the amazing evening with Clark & Courtney.
The evening flew by, and before we knew it we were at The G*vernor's Ball... governor as in B*ard of G*vernors for the Ac*demy, NOT The Governator of California (oy). This not so little venue sits ontop of The K*dak Theatre like a crown, it's own little building almost. Upon entering, I was given a choice... Champagne or a Cosmo (guess which one I chose, Sandra?).
The tables blew me away. The whole place had been redecorated from the last time we'd seen it (for the B*lt Wrap Party). Fresh flowers and beautiful lanterns for what the designer called an "East Meets West" motif. I've seen a lot of table decor... this was beautiful without being stuffy. Wanna see the menu? I thought you would. 
(zoom in if you want to read) 
Asian Vegetable Salad ... almost too pretty to eat... and that's Maine lobster and caviar on top.
It was so pretty, I have two photos. My cell phone does NOT do the colors justice... it was very colorful!!
We had the Vegetable Risotto with Black Winter Truffles instead of the short-ribs, and it was fantastic. And I will also admit to traveling to the sushi bar for fresh sushi. :) The white wine they served smelled like sweet flowers... not kidding... roses maybe... 
This is dessert. All edible. All chocolate.
You open the sugar boxes to reveal sorbets and cookies and yummy things I couldn't identify. The Osc*r on top... solid dark chocolate dusted with edible gold paint.
Here's the one shot of part of the room that turned out... that's the bandstand and singers... high above everyone... and this shot was taken on the second level as well.
We weren't sure what to expect from The Osc*rs. I can tell you they are less personal and it's harder to actually see and interact with celebs than it was at The GG's. The GG's red carpet is much more fun. Oh, and sadly... it was proclaimed that there was no Osc*r Swag this year because of the EC (my eyes rolled back into my head when I found out the "economic crisis" already had a nickname). Well.. we did get a little turquoise box filled with cards.... each card respresented visually the nominations for the evening, which is a really nice idea. We didn't care. We had a blast. And then we had to call for our limo. Oddly enough, once again, we were standing next to the two young kids from Slumdog waiting for limos, just like after the GG's. I guess we share the same party-threshold they do.
Well, this photo isn't from the Osc*rs, it's from the N*minees Luncheon, but you get the idea. We were pretty happy. :) More so to have shared the amazing evening with Clark & Courtney. After 2 weddings, 2 wrap parties, 2 premieres, 3 press events, a 2-week press-junket in Europe, 5 awards shows, a luncheon, a symposium and 8 manditory parties... all of which we had to have clothes for.... we're plumb tuckered!! But I sense that our life has now been returned to its regularly scheduled programming.
Farking Hallelujah.
~Shephard :)
Labels: Oscars, Post Oscar Post
posted by Shephard @ 