My so-called FABULOUS life: Networking on the red carpet

My so-called FABULOUS life: Networking on the red carpet


An interesting read to be sure.  Below is my comment to her post about her attendance at the 2008 Oscar Night in Boston to benefit the Ellie Fund. 


2/28/07
Kitlat said...


I am glad that you attended one of the "Oscar Night in America" events. This was created and sanctioned by the organizers of the Oscar ceremony. It is much in the spirit of the "Broadway Across America" series except that it allows charities to host Oscar themed viewing parties that will raise money for the charity that hosts it.

http://www.oscar.com/oscarnight/?pn=ona



The charity that hosted the event was the Ellie Fund. They have hosted this event for a while. The proceeds goes to support their programs, which support breast cancer patients and their families.



The Ellie Fund

http://www.elliefund.org/



I was there also. I was one of the volunteers that helped out. I monitored the Auction tables. I also helped stuff the gift bags earlier that day.



Many of the media present were local media-including access tv stations. Many people do watch the access stations religiously and since this was the only official Oscar party, I am not surprised that there were people that were trying to provide a viewing experience similar to what they see on regular broadcast tv. Hence, Joan Riveresque interviews.



Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were asked as far as I know from the organizers if they could attend (especially since Jennifer Garner was here filming with Matthew McConaughey a few days before) but as you could see on the telecast, they were needed elsewhere...Ben Affleck also grew up in Cambridge, not Boston.



Networking is tough-especially for women I think in some arenas because we still get messages that it's better not to be "pushy" or "forward." We also downplay ourselves whereas sometimes guys will not just gild a lily-they will dip it in chocolate and keep selling you on the fact that it is gold.



Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Don't ever sell yourself short. We all are somebody special.

Greenwashing

Well here's a practice that I am just hearing about, but am not surprised to know takes place.

Greenwashing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing#Six_Sins_of_Greenwashing

Tuesday

Today is one of many super Tuesdays in the circus that is American Politics. We see whether Obama will outlast. I see this as the first two qualifying rounds in figure skating competition. The primaries are the short program and the November election is the long program or the free skate, which despite the name is never free.

Obama triumphed in a state not known for his diversity and it looks like he may do it again.

Monday-not quite so blue, but not real colorful either

I'm counting down to my birthday, which is a milestone birthday and what it will mean this year.

This will be a year where I can be "careless" with money on my birthday. This will be marked by getting a modest laptop, which will free me in so many ways from my internet existence as it is.

I was listening to the On Point Archives today and heard a show about Gen Y and couldn't help but feel as if Gen X was the generation that got hosed until we started producing the mini-miracles and then got skewered for the dot.com bust while our parents, who for the most part to my thinking we more boomers than the war generation, have seemed to run the country into the ground...I am reminded of two things I saw on tv-one recently and one a while ago. Recently, I saw 'Rebel Without a Cause.' There was a scene with Natalie Wood as Daughter Judy and William Hopper (son of Hedda and was Paul Williams on 'Perry Mason') as Father who would not talk to Daughter Judy and had these expectations and found time and energy to nurture and love son Beau.

There was the episode of 'Dharma and Greg' where Abby was talking about how she and Larry where going to raise the impending baby differently than Dharma because now they had a second chance to do it right-inadvertantly throwing Dharma into a philosophic crisis since she was raised according to the principles that Abby and Larry are now going to reject. (The funniest line I remember is Abby saying to Dharma, "I mean c'mon, we had Timothy Leary as your babysitter...")

Both are how I see the difference in how sometimes Gen X and Y are treated. Then again, for the most part I see the labelling of generations as a marketing thing.

I've had Steve Winwood's song, "If you see a chance, take it" running through my head all weekend. And that, is today's lesson.

This and That

A new year with a lot of old goals.

Let me say up front that I am not into "New Year's Resolutions." I was as a child, since we had write ours in grade school. I then somehow saw them for what they are for most people-empty promises that people make because they feel they are supposed to, but don't accomplish because they don't want to. I don't like making promises I can't keep.

I will re-evaluate what I have done and look into making it better or look out over a year and figure out what I need to accomplish. I don't need January 1st to start me on that and I think that others should consider that.

Blogging is near the top of the list. Today has been taken up with updating the Blogger Meetup site and with thinking up topics for the new year.

I've been to BlogHer, which has had some interesting conferences coming up:
http://www.blogher.com/blogher_conference/conf/

I also found a blog post about the upcoming political shennanigans in the US that echoes a lot of my sentiments about how women voters are reached:
http://www.blogher.com/women-bloggers-presidential-candidates-stop-ignoring-us-and-dont-pander-if-you-want-our-votes

I did some more writing and 'mourned' the passing of Georgie Jones (General Hospital) in the past few days.

I also completed the volunteer coordinator gig at the Resolution Ball, which was tiring, but rewarding. Event plannin' and coordinatin' iz tough-don't let anyone think or say different. I learned a lot this time out, if nothing else, how to be even more vocal and forward about things even if it's "not my party."

Day 365

Here we are. Day 365. On the cusp of the new year and saying goodbye to the old.

On the whole for me, 2007 wasn't the worst year, though it was not a great year.

There are still times where I haven't figured it all out yet and I don't want to be an adult.

I said goodbye to some activities (like chorus and participating in Showa Boston) and picked up new ones.

I am learning more about myself through the relationships I have and how I need to be a better everything.

Science has called me back and I am working on pursuing that.

I wish I could say that I have next year all mapped out but I don't. I just have January, complete with its milestone birthday and great volunteer projects.

Tonight, the Resolution Ball which supports the Ellie Fund and the laughter and the drunkeness and tears.

Goodbye 2007 with you Iraq and Faluja, your Obama and Oprah and TomKat and Benifergela and war and shotgun health insurance. Welcome 2008 with more of the same.

What work of art (film, book, record, whatever) changed your life?

What work of art (film, book, record, whatever) changed your life?
The Question of the Day Submitted by bodhibound at VOX.


Films


-Film: Say Anything
It was the first film that I can truly say that I fell in love with John Cusack

-Film: (TV)
I don't Like it here Anymore
A film that starred Talia Shire and Burt (Adrian and Paulie from the Rocky movies) that introduced me to the concept of death and that kids can die if they run out in front of a car...

-Film: (Holiday-TV)
Dark Night of the Scarecrow
The first tv-film that truly gave me nightmares. I still find it creepy today as desensitized to gore as I am these days.

-Film: (Holiday)
The Amityville Horror
The first film that truly gave me nightmares. I still remember my mother being upset with my aunt for taking us wee ones to it. I also remember finding out that Siskel and Ebert of then "Sneak Previews" said that this was not a film for children and so being a long love affair with the reviews of these two gentlemen, who sadly have been hit by cancer-Gene Siskel succumbing to it and Roger Ebert battling back to it.

I also have to mention Scrooge, starring Albert Finney. The songs in this are plain fun but they also speak to Dickens' themes more than any other production I have seen.

-Animated Film (US): The Rats of Nimh
Don Bluth hit it out of the park with this film that introduced me to the voice at least of John Carradine, David, Keith and Robert's dad. A story simply told with a mom (albeit a mouse) as the hero and not shown nearly enough. It does justice to the book, which is Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. When I look back at the animated movies put out by the US that were and are good, this one comes to mind immediately.

-Animated Film (US): The Last Unicorn
I saw this recently and it still holds up (though I can see how the soundtrack by the group 'America' could get on your nerves if you are not a fan of folk/filk/soft rock). Peter Beagle, the author of the story the movie is based on, did the script and it works well alongside of the compelling imagery. This was one of if not the best of Rankin-Bass's fantasy output (those guys who were responsible for the holiday cartoons that we skewer every year along with things like the Thundercats, which a work like The Last Unicorn foreshadows a bit as a signal for the direction this company takes in the stories it decides to tell-less holiday and music groups and more fantasy and action). This is the other film I hold up when I say that there were some good animation of the 80s from the US. I always remembered one of the themes of this movie, which is that people see what they want to see and not what is really there. I've been better about seeing what is there.


-Animated Film (Japan): The Wings of Honnemaise
I saw this as a young adult. It was made in the 80s and had a lot to say about faith and science. People generally cite "Akira" as the great Japanese animated film of the 80s, but I think that people should look at this one too.

I also have to mention here the Robotech series as it is known in the US. There had been other Japanese imports before and since but if there was ever one that could play with the big dogs in terms of sweeping tv miniseries epics, it's this one. More mature than anything shown on broadcast tv at the time and somewhat since, this series focused not just on the battle and good vs evil but on all the thorny issues that foreshadowed the writing on series like Firefly, some episodes of Star Trek: DS9, and the rebooted Battlestar Galactica.

One of the biggest strengths of the writing in this series are the little moments. To this day, one of my favorite scenes is when soldier Scott Bernard blushes as he zips up the dress of the beautiful and quiet Marlena 2.0 (she was given the name Marlena after his dead fiancee when she was found. She later turns out to be an alien and one of the enemy and her name is Ariel-aren't they all named Ariel?) in a sequence that leads up to what becomes a romantic outing for two of the last people that you'd suspect would be attracted to each other.