Oscar Oscar

It's weird knowing that this year when I watch the Oscars, it's actually taking place only 20 miles away. It's also weird that it starts at 5:00 p.m.  I'm used to late night viewing parties or when I was really little, struggling to stay awake to hear who won Best Picture as my mom and I lied out on the pull-out coach in the living room, which we only did that one day each year. I remember 17 years ago when I finally stayed up past my mom to see Dances With Wolves win in 1990.  First of all, how can 1990 be 17 years ago? Crazy. 

Last year I had a chocolate fondue viewing party at my apt in NYC, this year we have a projection screen TV to air the red carpet in true cinema style.

I'm looking forward to seeing Ellen host the awards, she's done the Emmy's, so I'm sure that will help her. I still miss Billy Crystal's song and dance numbers though *sigh*.   

Not sure if I mentioned it but I have an Academy Awards tribute page that is in need of updating, but it has some great trivia and information, Tara's Oscar Page.  Also if we ever met and you told me your year of birth, 95% of the time I can tell you which film won Best Picture that year :) just one of the many useless party tricks that I have up my sleeve.  Enjoy the show.

Ash Wednesday

To me religion is a personal experience, at least it is for me. But Ash Wednesday is the one time of year that I can't escape wearing my faith on my sleeve, or in this case, forehead. Especially since the ashes I received were so dark this year.

After a client meeting at their offices, I stopped into a church (and the Mamas & The Papas song California Dreamin' which recites similar lines and LA too was playing on the radio just as I was parking, freaky, no?) for the last half of mass and to receive ashes before going back to work to give an educational session on Chris Andersen's economic theory The Long Tail. 

As usual, I received a lot of stares in the lobby and in the elevator. I felt like the ashes were making others uncomfortable, or maybe that's how I was feeling. I also got the joke, you have something on your face bit. The last two years getting ashes in NY was worse though, since people would openly stare at me on the streets and subways. Anyway, I'm lucky the Catholic church doesn't require women to wear babushka's and the like, so I think I can deal with the one time of the year that I have to stick out a bit for my faith instead of just celebrating the fun holidays like Christmas.
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Client quote of the week:

"I don't want it to seem like we are putting lipstick on a pig." Um OK, got it, me either! lol

Gate 4 of the WB lot

I was invited to attend a press screening of the upcoming film The Astronaut Farmer starring Billy Bob Thornton for a review at Film School Rejects. I was also invited to the press day event where I could ask questions to the stars of the film, but it's during the day while I'm at my real job. No matter though, I'm always excited to see films in general, never mind for an advanced showing or for free. In the past, I had been able to see Crash and Little Miss Sunshine before mass audiences this way too and a couple of others.  

So last Thursday, after work I headed up to the Valley, which is a big hike from West LA, especially during rush hour. It took a little under two hours to go like what was probably 20 miles total. I took some windey back roads to avoid the highways though and only got lost once when I had to enter someone's HUGE driveway and turn around. When I finally arrived, I was told to pull up to gate 4 and provide security with my details since my name was on their list. Meanwhile, gate 4 is iconic, it leads right to their famous WB water tower shown in their branding, logo and of course in Animaniacs. I started to get a little star struck by the lot itself and it's history. I've been to Sony recently to see a taping of King of Queens, but there's something very old school Hollywood about Warner Bros, as if I could hear the score from Casablanca playing in the distance and Katharine Hepburn peddling a bike past my car. Check-in and parking went smoothly and I snapped a picture of the water tower with my camera figuring it would be too dark to appear correctly but it did. 

The theater for the screening was basic and was on the second floor above regular office space, although James Cagney screen shots were framed along the corridors, otherwise you'd think you were about to watch a school lecture. So far the best screening room I've ever been to was at the bottom of the Tribeca Grand Hotel to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (the seats were like LaZ Boys. Anyway, I digress, the event was well attended with press filling the non-elevated theater. I didn't mingle but read the FAQ and materials I was given on the credits and back story of the film.  Then the movie started, minus coming attractions and I scrutinized and enjoyed. I originally had no intention of seeing this film in theaters, but was surprised to find that it was quite enjoyable. 

You can read my full film review at Film School Rejects--The Astronaut Farmer.

Speaking of films, I also finally NetFlix'd Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which was pretty powerful and interesting, albeit depressing. It's up for Best Documentary at this year's Oscars; I'm rooting for it. 

In other Web appearances, check out my little rant on my office's blog about Public Relations is in need of some PR—myths about our field. 

Forgive me for I have sinned

According to the “Top 10 Sins of blog Usability,” #10 is sending mixed messages. The article by Linda Bustos and sent via SiteProNews reads, "the focus of your blog should be decided before your first post and then committed to. Random blog entries about a melee of topics might work for a personal blog read by friends and family, but is not a good approach for a serious, professional blog. The lifeblood of any blog is in its loyal subscriber base. And readers are more willing to subscribe to blogs that talk about their area of interest on a consistent basis. Or start a separate blog on that topic and cross-link your blogs."

I guess When Tara Met Blog has committed a sin then since my site jumps from being a travel blog to a food blog to whatever I'm doing or liking blog. I guess that’s ok since it’s not technically a professional blog, but I do have a professional degree in writing and my blog has been around for over 2 years with a good deal of traffic and attention, so shouldn’t it be considered a 'professional' blog? It's just one covering unprofessional topics. Anyway, for those who’ve been here before know that although my blog topics can be considered random they do have my personal touch to them. I generally describe my posts as a telling of adventures, mishaps and observations in my life.  Enjoy.

Only angels have wings?

Not any longer. The fashion world has angel fever and wings are appearing on clothes, purses and in jewelry.

I've been wanting some wings ever since Jennifer Aniston sported some throughout the film The Break Up. So, I just ordered a very pretty Guardian Angel gold plated necklace ($16.50) and earrings through SimplyMyStyle.com. They also have them in silver, but being Italian I love gold ;)

 

The founder of SimplyMyStyle, Angela Blair, says The Guardian Angel set is also a favorite of hers. The site has many new jewelry styles at reasonable prices and the personal customer service that I experienced when ordering was really awesome and the set came in a cute plastic Chinese take-out box.