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The Oscars... My commentary through the show.

I absolutely LOVED Hugh Jackman's opening song/dance. What a cute little addition by having Anne Hathaway join in! Brilliant, as usual, Mr. Jackman.



Awards...



I like the way they're doing the presenting this year, though I have to ask Goldie Hawn about her dress... her breasts are not fitting in the dress and are squished off to the side, near her armpits. Weird. She's a beautiful lady, just definitely that wasn't the "look" for her.



Congratulations to Penelope Cruz. Please don't faint. The vintage dress of hers is beautiful, she saw it first EIGHT years ago... and went back to get it- and it was still there!



Set...

I have to say I really like the set this year. Being that I'm a huge fan of the whole 1940s big band era, I love the fact that the band isn't shoved in the pit, that the stage is so close to the audience and it's a very cozy setting for a great show. Beyond that, it's simply gorgeous.



Screenplay:

Great presentation by Tina Fey and Steve Martin. They're always funny.



Congratulations to Dustin Lance Black, for MILK. Wow, I didn't realize he was so young! What a great story and acceptance speech.



Adapted Screenplay:

Congrats to Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire. Funny, he looks a lot like my friend Danny Wells.



Animation:

Jennifer Aniston and Jack Black presented. Hahaha at the Oscar in the old fridge in Wall-E.

Congratulations to Andrew Stanton for Wall-E. Great speech and hey, I like his kids names! Ben and Audrey... well, I like his daughter's name especially! Hehehehe.



Best Animated Short Film:

Congrats to Le Maison en Petits Cubes and Kunio Kato. He was struggling so hard through his speech with his English and made everyone laugh with the Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto. Hahah, nice touch!



Commercial Break Thoughts: I just decided to do this since sitting here with the computer seemed like a good idea at the time. Hey, if you watch something, you might as well offer a commentary, right? I'm sitting at home and the shower has to be fixed tomorrow morning, as it's currently leaking water into my kitchen if I turn it on, so I haven't showered today and I don't feel like going anywhere or doing anything until I shower. For some reason, unbenownst to me, I have a case of dry mouth. I think it's left over from the whole cold/fever thing... it's been here a few days. I keep drinking water and all that happens is I have to pee more, but the dryness has stayed. Also, I had such dry skin from the heater running, that somehow i managed to have a chapped lip on the crease of my mouth and I split it open, which has made eating and talking and anything that requires my mouth open enough to bite something, painful. I guess I could make smoothies, but I've been dousing it with split open Vitamin E capsules instead and fighting the urge to put my tongue on it which I know only will make it worse. Ok, back to the Oscars for now.



Oscars:

Sarah Jessica Parker and Daniel Craig (he's so hot) present the awards.



Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume Design: The Duchess - Michael O'Connor

Makeup Artist: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button



I don't have much to say about these, usually... as I haven't seen either movie, so I can't comment based on personal experience.



Amanda Seyfried and the guy who played Edward in Twilight presented a Romance movie montage. I should probably know his real name.



Commercial Break Commentary again:

So I should get up and refill my drink, I should also yell at the kids that aren't sleeping yet, and my friend Brian called and wants to go sing Karaoke. There is a contest tonight at Spurs, it's the whole Karaoke Contest from Crazy Chris, grand prize is $500. I don't really want to go. I'm more interested in sitting here and doing nothing. Besides, if I went anywhere, I know where I'd be.



Oscars:

Hugh's back on. Cinematographer. Natalie Portman and Stiller presenting. Ben's wearing some sort of weird beard and chewing gum, acting all disinterested, while Natalie is presenting. Ben's just walking around and the audience is laughing. Natalie is struggling to keep from laughing herself.



Cinematographer: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire. I can't be sure, but he looked like he was wearing sneakers with his suit.



Commercial Break Commentary:

Only two.



Oscars:

Jessica Biel presenting an honor to the guy who masterminded the digital effects used in all animated movies now... and back to commercial.



Commercial Break Commentary:

I can't believe that I'm still here on the same channel. I don't usually watch anything for this long. I have a horrible attention span. Either way, I'm ok with that. I know Brian's gonna start calling. I still don't feel like going anywhere. Especially with my mouth all chapped, I would rather stay home.



Oscars:

Comedy movie montage. Included a piece of the Reader... they laughed. Did the whole pineapple express character thing. Laughing at Doubt. Cute little bit... it was funny. Seth Rogan is so hot.



Jochen Freydank just won for a movie I've never heard of, I think it's a short movie.



Commercial Break Commentary: Brian called. I told him I don't think I'm going anywhere. He asked for me to call him if I change my mind. Um, no. He's a nice kid, but that's all I can see him as, and nothing more. He's been desperately trying to get closer to me, but I simply can't even begin to think about going there with him. He's 21. I mean, my brother will be 21 in April. My I changed my brother's diapers and babysat him. So you can understand how no matter what, mentally I cannot get past that. I have no idea why he finds me so interesting, or why he thinks we should go out together. I have not one thing in common with him and have blown him off since meeting him about a month ago. Bless him for trying.



Oscars:

Hugh singin' and dancin'.

Beyonce joins. Amanda Seyfried joins in too? And Vanessa Hudgens. I think... in the background as one of Beyonce's singers... they even do a whole HSM thing. Mamma Mia. Overall, enjoyable.

The musical is back, he proclaims. I agree. Everyone loves a musical.



Commercial Break Commentary: Mia Called, so I'm listening to her. Will catch up on the blog in the next commercial break.



Oscars:

Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Heath Ledger. Of course. The speech from his father and sisters was so absolutely beautiful, teary eyes were in the crowd. I was a huge fan of his, so I'm happy he got the win. The Dark Knight was amazing.



Documentary Feature: James Marsh



Documentary Short Film: Smile Pinki



Commercial Break Commentary: Still on the phone with Mia.



Oscars:

Action Movie Montage.



Will Smith presents an award for Outstanding Visual Effects. The Oscar goes to The Curious Case

Sound Editing: Dark Knight



Got involved in the conversation with Mia, so I saw Slumdog win a couple more... and then went to eat something downstairs, and then now just saw Slumdog Millionaire win for Original Score as well. The corner of my mouth hurts, as I just opened it to eat the leftover sloppy joe. Any bite of anything breaks it open again. Ow.



Oooh, cool Original Song dance.. I love indian dance. Hollywood has officially gone Bollywood with the huge wins for Slumdog Millionaire! Costuming is awesome. Cool song from Wall-E. Again, I'm loving the costuming and the ethnic diversity in the song. This one is almost bluesy, soul and slightly african in drum beat. Now we're back to the Slumdog song, the one where they all dance at the end. It ended with a really cool compilation of the two songs.



Original Song Oscar, Slumdog Millionaire, for the Jai Ho song- the popular last one. I like this guy... great quote. "All my life I've had the choice between hate and love. I chose love, and I'm here, so thank you." - A.R. Rachman.



Commercial Break Commentary: So I called Brian back after I hung up with Mia and bowed out of going out officially. He's out at a local bar nearby. He lives in the neighborhood. He might finally be getting the message that I'm just not into him. I should send him the movie ticket.



Oscars:

Best Foreign Language film goes to Departures, from Japan. I enjoy the acceptance speeches from people who barely speak English and are so excited for the win.



Commercial Break Commentary: I ended up talking with Mia till she was ready for bed, and I'm glad that she's feeling better than earlier. I ended up talking a lot about my life, as we hadn't caught up for a while uninterrupted. I'm surprised by some of what came out of my mouth. That new McDonald's Filet O Fish commercial with the fish on the wall is hysterical. I don't know why I like it so much, but it's good.



Oscars:

Queen Latifah does the remembrance bit. I always enjoy this part of the process. Oh, beautiful choice. "I'll be seeing you"... Cyd Charisse, Bernie Mac, bud Stone, Ollie Johnston, Van Johnson, J. Paul Huntsman, Michael Crichton (I didn't know he had died), Nina Foch, Pat Hingle, Harold Pinter, Charles H Joffe, Kon Ichikawa, Charles Schneer, Abby Mann, Roy Scheider, David Watkin, Robert Mulligan, Evelyn Keyes, Richard Widmark, Claude Berri, Maila Nurmi, Isaac Hayes, Leonard Roseman, Ricardo Montaban, Manny Farber, Robert Doqui, Jules Dassin, Paul Scofield, John Michael Hayes, Warren Cowan, Joseph Caracciolo, Stan Winston, Ned Tanen James Whitmore, Charlton Heston, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Paul Newman....



I can't believe they left Heath Ledger out of that montage! What the hell?



Commercial Break Commentary: I got nothing.



Oscars:

Reece Witherspoon presenting Best Director. I'm pretty sure this is going to be another Slumdog Millionaire win, because it was SO awesome. I was right. Haha on the receiving it in the spirit of Tigger. Great speech.



Now here's the good stuff... coming up Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Film.



Commercial Break Commentary: I am in the mood to songwrite, but I don't have the energy to do it right now. I'd rather go to bed after the Oscars. I have some lyrics in my head, I'll end up putting them on paper to develop the idea further when I poke around on the guitar again. My jaw hurts, not sure why.



Oscars:

I really am enjoying the way they put all these past winners up for the presenting. Very cool.



Best Actress goes to Kate Winslet for The Reader. She was amazing in the movie. I really enjoyed it. She had a great speech as well. I loved that she asked her dad to whistle! Awesome!



Best Actor goes to Sean Penn for MILK. I didn't see the movie, but part of me wished for Mickey Rourke that he would have won. Nevertheless, I am sure that Sean did a wonderful job in the film, as he's a great actor. I'm interested in seeing the movie. It's on my list! Sean's speech was wonderful.



Steven Spielberg presents Best Film. And the Best Film goes to Slumdog Millionaire. That was expected, and cool.



Hope you enjoyed my Oscar related blog. I look forward to heading to bed now. Madelyn is up, and I just put vicks on her chest, she's still got a remnant cough from that cold...but she woke up with a nightmare... so I'm happy that I'm able to have her curled up with me.

Bedtime for mama.

Bro Code - Lesson # 658

As quoted by Joey, to Frankie- after an altercation where Frankie grabbed Joey's shirt when he was pissed at him.

"Don't you ever BREAK MY SHIRT! You can punch me, you can push me, you can hit me, but don't you EVER break my shirt!"

There ya have it folks, Bro Code lesson #658.

Valentine's Weekend, Etc.

I know I still have to finish up my birthday blog. It's a long one, and I'll get to it.

Just wanted to blog about this past weekend. It was fun, with the exception of getting sick- what the kids had all week. Ugh.

I could kill for a good cup of coffee right now.

Of course, I am once again single for Valentine's day, not that I really mind too much. Sure, having someone to share that whole romantic day with is great. What's tough is being alone through all the sappy romantic movies they play, and being tired/worn out enough to only feel like sitting there and watching TV.

Sore throat, coughing, fever.... gotta love it.

The kids had a good time this weekend because they had run of the house for the most part.

I ran into Jim at Spurs when I popped out for a bit, he turned around and ran in the other direction, then I saw his friend/"sister" and she asked me if I was with anyone, I said, no. I am back to doing things on my own again. I think he asked her to find out if I left him for someone new. Nope, I didn't. Just didn't feel the same way as he did.

Jon called me on Valentine's day, twice. Once I talked to him, and he wished me a Happy Valentine's day, we talked for a little while, then I guess he called again, long after I was asleep, announcing that it was his birthday on my voicemail (His birthday is the 15th). He called again on his birthday during the day to chat. Odd for me, to suddenly have him calling again. I was a little on the optimistic side when he mentioned that him and Melissa broke up- I said, oh, don't worry, I'm sure you guys will patch things up for another go of it soon enough. I don't think he was expecting that response. Burn me, I won't get burned again.

Had a fun night last night, was able to escape for a happy hour drink with Keith, though I stumbled in on "Man-date" night. Well, I was invited to join, not realizing it was "man-date" night. Still fun, played Chug21 at the little bar and won high score on the machine, much to Keith's chagrin. Got to hang out with Stu and Nick too. They're always a lot of fun.

Got a phone call from Mark yesterday, saying that TT was all mad about the MySpace message I left for him, telling him basically that if he knew anything about my camera, he really needed to let me know... how does one get angry about a post like that unless they're feeling guilty?
I should probably just refer him to the police report and let him know that if he has any questions or answers regarding the camera and shoes episode, he can talk to the detective.
I am really pissed but I have a feeling I'll get my stuff returned, at some point. Let's face it, married guy goes out with a harem of women, runs into an ex-friend/girlfriend for a second, and then someone takes a picture of them together... yeah, well, might not bode well for said married man who doesn't take the vows seriously. Thankfully, I want nothing to do with him in that department, didn't even want my picture taken with him, but obliged once the camera was shoved in my direction. Even was told I had to get closer. Sigh... then the camera disappears ten minutes after the picture was taken. Yeah, something doesn't add up. Oh, and the shoes too. Make sure that she knows it's a personal attack, take her shoes.

I know my stuff will be returned. I know it.

Ok, kids are driving me up a wall here, the girls are late for school because Kate flipped about her pants... and I put new ones in the dryer. Now she can't find the ones that are clean in the dryer and I am about ready to scream. She also can't "find" one of the several hairbrushes I just re-stocked in this house. Of course, she's complaining about not being able to find it while laying in the hallway, so that should explain her level of searching for both said items. Gotta go be tough mom for a bit.

Catch ya later, gonna have a good week. :)

Happy Birthday To Me....

My birthday was a few days ago, but I was not here, I was in Nashville, celebrating my birthday weekend with my friends. I can't believe I'm officially 31. That sounds old. I'm not old! Ha!

I had a ton of pictures, taken with a camera that was my birthday gift to myself. It was lost/stolen the last night of my trip. I'm still hoping it's on its way back to me... I really miss the thought of all my pictures gone.

Anyway, on Thursday, I had the car packed up and left town mid-morning right after dropping the kids off at the bus stop and having breakfast at the truck stop with Keith. It's a 12 hour drive from here, so I planned on just making it into Nashville around 9pm CST.

The drive went pretty smoothly, with the exception of me having to pee like constantly - which pissed me off because I normally have a bladder of steel. When I finally rolled into town, I parked right at Losers and went in to celebrate Erv and Steve's birthday. It was their birthday party that night, so I knew that some old friends would be there for sure. I was right! I even got to meet some new friends, including a wonderful man named Randy. The pictures from Thursday were funny and goofy.

On Friday, I woke up early and Mark and I drove through Jack In The Box so I could have a quick breakfast before meeting Cari and heading to the hair salon. Renee was doing my hair for me as a birthday thing, so I was headed to Music Row so that I could get all beautified. Renee did an awesome job. I only have a picture of me in the chair that I took with my cell phone...

Then when I was finished, I had to rush over to Las Palmas, for my birthday lunch celebration. I was running a few minutes behind, as Renee was straightening my hair and making sure it was perfect. But it ended up working out just fine, and I quickly had the biggest birthday "party" I've had since I was probably like seven. I think there were 10 of us at the table. I took pictures to show my family for proof. Damn, I am pissed those are missing! Hahaha! It's a running joke about me and parties.

At the lunch, I was able to meet Brent in person and hand deliver the sweethearts gala painting. We took pictures of us smiling and it glistening in the sun. Again, gone.

So then, Cari and I decided it was time to do a little shopping around town. She needed some things, and I was more than happy to check out shoes at Off Broadway. I ran into my friend Earl Clark upstairs in the offices, when I went to go find Mark (he didn't want to go shoe shopping). I ended up picking up three pairs of shoes (all clearance!)- a pair of hellacious red stilettos, a pair of cute mary jane type shoes and some comfy bearclaw boots (lined).

We took Mark back to his apartment, and Cari and I went to her place to change for the evening. We had been invited to meet up with Brent for happy hour, and this way I could sign the back of the painting (which I hadn't done before) and put all my information on it. We met Brent and his friends at Tin Roof, had a birthday drink, and then we parted ways. She was headed home (her car was in the lot there since the morning) and I was planning on heading downtown.

It was still early, so I stopped into Losers to see if I could see any of my writer friends that liked to hold their afternoon meetings on the patio. When I walked in, Erv, GR, Steve and Randy were all there, and I was quickly invited to join them. A few more birthday drinks and I started thinking about how dinner would be a good option. I guess Randy felt the same way, because he asked me if I was hungry and told me that he'd love to take me to dinner. What girl turns down a nice dinner with a great guy? Not this one!

The weather was beautiful, so we walked the three blocks to this new restaurant, called Giovanni's (supposedly a Nashville version of the New York establishment). It used to be a bar/club called Layla Rul so it was kind of neat to see the transformation of the space. Dinner was fantastic, and Randy was such a gentleman. We had an amazing appetizer that was their "mixed fried seafood and zucchini with marinara sauce", and we popped open a bottle of cabernet. For dinner, I had the "marinated rosemary chicken breast served with polenta and asparagus". It was divine. I can't say enough about it. It was simply to die for. My taste buds were in heaven. For dessert, Randy arranged a bit of a surprise. I picked their chocolate dessert (can't remember what it was called) and it came out on a plate, that had "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate. We smiled for pictures (missing!), and dug into the most decadent chocolate dessert I have had in a long time. I thanked Randy for such a wonderful dinner and such a great night of getting to know one another.

Conversation and the red wine ended up being enough of an evening for me, so I decided to not go downtown after all, and just call it a night around midnight.

The next morning, I woke up early and headed out of town to go see Todd out in Nolensville. He'd moved out to the country in an effort to get away, and I had promised him I would come see him. So, I drove the half hour to his place and we caught up. I played and sang my new songs for him, and he LOVED the "God Help Me" one. Told me we need to get that demo'd and pitched. We spent the majority of the day together- him, me and his son Wyler. We went back into town, had tacos at a roadside stand, to Friedmans (hunting store) where they got boy things, ICON Midtown, then we had a late lunch at Kalamatas before I took them home. I had been craving that gyro for over a year. MMM. It didn't disappoint!

When I dropped them off, I had talked to Laura about trying to get together and plan our night for later. I also talked with Cari and told her I would meet her down at the Eric Heatherly show at The Listening Room Cafe around 8:30. I popped my head into Losers and ran into Randy Houser who had just rode in on his bike, hadn't seen him in a while but he was exhausted from being out of town. He stuck around for a soda and then headed back on the bike. I laughed with Tony and Phil for a while then decided I should change into whatever I was going to wear for the night and head out.

(I'll finish the rest later- got some stuff to do....)

NEW Pieces of Art.... by me! :)

This is the painting that I did for the Sweethearts Gala.

It's 24" x 24" Acrylics and Mixed Media on gallery framed wood

"I Believe In A Thing Called Love"

1 of 4 in the What Is Love? Series

You can get this painting by bidding on it at the Sweethearts Gala, link in my previous post.



This one is the second of the series.

It's 24" x 24" Acrylics and Mixed Media on gallery framed wood

"Crazy Love"

2 of 4 in the What Is Love? Series

This painting is available currently, for $450, which includes shipping within the continental US.


If you'd like to see more of my artwork currently for sale, you can view my Facebook Album. I also accept commissioned work.

Thanks!

-Audrey