Oscar Night

Tonight was one of the most fun family evenings we've had. Kirk, Katie, Payton and I spent most of the evening eating, playing cards and watching the Oscar broadcast. We rarely watch the entire show - we just tune in for the last half hour or so for the best actress, actor, director and movie awards ... if we watch it at all.

This year was different because Kirk's sister Kelly got to attend! She called and said she was sitting in the fifth row from the stage and was wearing a champagne-colored dress, sitting next to a woman wearing a red dress and another wearing a pink dress. After that tidbit of information, our evening turned into an insanely goofy game of "Where's Waldo" with us searching her out every time the cameras panned the crowd. We were all searching, chanting "Pink, red, champagne ... pink, red, champagne ... pink, red, champagne..."

We were most likely to get a glimpse of her when the award-winner was walking up to the stage and the camera was panning across the audience behind them ... the utter insanity of our evening was evident when we all started shouting at the poor winners to "Move! Get out of the way!" and craning our necks to see around them ... because they were blocking our view of the audience behind them. Completely and totally mad, I know.

I am proud to brag and report that I won the first round of "Find Waldo-Kelly", and then every one else "won" too. Kirk and I both realized it seemed a lot like the scene in "That Thing You Do" when the drummer's family sees them on t.v for the first time and they're all pointing and shouting like idiots. Yes, that was exactly what we looked and sounded like.

I'm also a bit embarrassed to report I'm going to have to clean the t.v. screen first thing tomorrow to get the fingerprints off from all of us pointing her out. From what we we able to see, Kel - you looked gorgeous!!

And now for something completely different .... (thank you Monty Python) ... I can't just brag about my family member and not share my opinion of the show itself.

As far as the program itself goes - I just have to rave about the host. Kirk and I have watched The (A) Daily Show forever and think Jon Stewart is one of the funniest people on the planet. Like I said, we rarely watch the Oscars but if Jon is hosting we usually tune it. The Academy should sign him up to keep that Oscar gig until the end of time. Normally we don't have any inclination to watch any awards show but if Mr. Stewart is going to host I'd watch an award show on the Fishing Channel. (I don't even know if such a channel even exists - but I just had to choose an example that normally makes me gag or fall asleep - or both.) Seriously, the man is smart, quickwitted, snarky as hell, and a writer. That puts him at the top of the class in my book. THEN ... add the fact that the lucky son-of-gun got to work with Kevin Smith, for heaven's sake. I don't even know how to rate that high ...

... seriously ... Kevin Smith !!