Gold Statuettes

Time once again for that congratulatory exercise - the Academy Awards! King Kong, of course, was up for 4 awards - VFX, sound mixing, sound effects editing, and art direction. But, perhaps more significantly, it was a chance to throw a party (a tradition started by the Treasure Island Mafia - thx John and Bryan) and invite some friends and rarely seen associates (thx Joe, Jody and Micki). We ended up with an invite list of over 50 folks. Had fun planning, shopping (Bonnie knows how complicated that was), even made a prize package - 1st Prize was an Annie Proulx collection; 'In Cold' Blood', and a bottle of champagne (small enuff to sneak into a theatre); 2nd Prize was the Crash songtrack and a box of Red Vines ('Twizzlers' to those back east); and trivia prizes (candy) during the commercial breaks. Caught the opening scene and Jon Stewart intro, but ended up not seeing a lot of the show (chatting with pals). I was called into the room for the hilarious Ben Stiller-announced Best Visual FX award. And the Oscar goes to ... King Kong! (Had no doubt, but I still thought Star Wars shoulda been on there). It was great seeing Joe and Christian up there, congrats to all the crew! Those of you who've been following my blog know all about Kong... So, thought Jon Stewart did a good job hosting (loved the Judi Dench attack ad segment), and overall thought the show moved along well; had good bits and presenters - Lliy Tomlin & Meryl Streep, Stiller, Jaaaaaack; kept the schmaltz and montage fillers to a minimum; and was highly palatable at 3 1/2 hours. Agreed with most of the acting awards, and was pleased to see Wallace & Gromit take it!, but it was a somewhat surprising win for 'Crash' as Best Picture. And the winner of the night - (I had the most # right, but was ineligible) - Ed got the top prize ( he and Nina won a lot of the trivia prizes, too), but he opted for the King Kong production diaries, which I had an extra of, and Aidan and Beth's brother Ben got the other prizes. Fun evening overall, glad the peeps could make it out!