This year was different. Not only because we won, but because this year my Dad entered both him and me into the drawing.
On September 22, 2010, I got an email titled "Oscars Red Carpet Bleacher Seats" that said,
"Congratulations!
You have been selected as a winner in our online drawing for bleacher seats at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards."
At first I didn't think it was real, but then I called my Dad and asked him to check his email. He also received an email, but it was a rejection notice. The reason we got tickets, was through me.
When Dad came to visit that weekend, we both got our passport photos taken at AAA. Then on November 10, we received emails saying we had passed our background checks. That next week we booked our hotel and got plane tickets.
Cut to this morning, when Jon drove me to the Logan Express bus drop-off point in Framingham. I took the bus to Logan Airport and was soon on my way. I had a direct flight which meant once it was wheels up, I didn't have to worry about missing a connection, but almost wish I had a connection because I discovered 4 1/2 hours to be seated on a plane is a long time.
Dad arrived in LA the day before and picked me up from the airport. When I landed, I had a couple of texts saying he was with a video crew which was doing work for NECN, my employer. Turns out, NECN hired a producer at KCET, the PBS station, as a freelancer, and she then hired a crew, to interview Ben Mezrich, Massachusetts resident and the author of The Accidental Billionaires, on which The Social Network is based. (I haven't read The Accidental Billionaires, but his Bringing Down the House is much richer than the film on which it is based, 21.) He was on the same plane that I was out of Logan, and the crew was waiting for him. Long story short, Dad and I ended up meeting Mezrich when he came off the plane.
Our hotel, Quality Inn Hollywood, was just a couple of blocks from the Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are held) and right off Sunset Blvd.
Although it was sprinkling, we decided to go check out the sights. Before long, we were in the midst of some dressed up characters (superheroes, a really good Michael Jackson) and in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The theatre is famous for its handprints, footprints, and other prints in the cement outside. This tradition of honoring film actors began in 1927, when silent film star Norma Talmadge stepped into wet cement while the theatre was being built. The prints of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. were added when the theatre opened.
Seeing all of these actors was even more incredible than seeing the Hollywood Walk of Fame also outside this theatre and the surrounding blocks, because of you could see their signatures and literally walk in these stars' shoes.
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| Cher's feet are tiny, but aren't the tiniest footprints represented in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. That distinction would belong to Jeanette MacDonald, whose footprints measure 6 1/2 inches! |
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| Only film actors are immortalized in the pavement; Frank gets a pass because he acted in movies too. |
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| Those are wand prints above the cast of the Harry Potter films |
We found out you couldn't get tickets for the theater tour until the day of (they assured us they don't sell out, so we decided to check out the Kodak Theatre. While we were on the way, someone on the sidewalk gave us free tickets to a Dr. Phil taping on Monday. Everything at the theatre was covered up because of the rain but we were able to get a few photos, including a shot with Oscar before the security guards showed up and surrounded him.
Also, cool - signs commemorating each Best Picture winner, and room for this year, and several years into the future.
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| On the (covered) red carpet |
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| Thumbs for Roger Ebert |
We bought tour tickets for LA City Tours' "Movie Star Homes & Hollywood Sign tour" tomorrow morning, checked out the lobby of El Capitan Theatre, where we would be watching the Oscars Sunday night, and then wandered down to see if the Egyptian Theater was open. It was not, but while looking at a map I saw a listing for the Hollywood Museum, which happened to be right there, kitty corner from the Kodak Theatre, in the old Max Factor building. We went in, but it looked kinda cheesy and pricey ($15). I was going to walk away until the cashier said we could both have the senior rate ($12), normally reserved for those 65+.
Most of it was costumes - some from movies that I hadn't heard of as well as TV shows like a cheerleader outfit from "Glee." (It always strikes me how SMALL these actors are!) Several misspellings within one exhibit made the place feel fake and cheesy beyond belief and I didn't really need to see several nude photographs of Marilyn Monroe (although her family history was really interesting - no one to this day knows for certain who her father is), but the area that was on the first level, showcasing Max Factor's makeup rooms and famous clients Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Lucille Ball. Displays talked about how just because Max decided Marilyn looked good as a platinum blonde and Lucy as a redhead, that harsh studio lighting highlighted the fact the hair didn't go with their natural skin tones. So he had to give them makeup to make them look like they were natural. In the basement was a tribute to horror and featured the prison corridor from "Silence of the Lambs" and Hannibal Lecter's jail cell.
We were both hungry, so we stopped next door at Mel's Drive-In for an early dinner. It's a 50s/60s diner, but the diner's website says it's been open since that year of yesteryear, 2001. Still, my meatloaf sandwich, potato salad, and lemonade were great.
We then went back to the hotel before swinging by a get-together some other Bleacher Fans had arranged on Facebook. There weren't a whole lot of people there and, although I had slept on the plane, I was exhausted so I asked Dad if we could head back to the hotel and call it a night. -- POSTED BY COLLEEN
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