the oscars!

Well, my theoretical Oscar bash turned into a very mellow gathering of five.  Ballots for some, "There Will Be Blood" milkshakes for all, and we all had a fantastic time.  

Mom has blogged about this, but I thought I'd expound on my love of all things Oscar.  Part of it is that it's such ritual in our house, but part of that is because it's so much fun to take part in something Dad is so involved with.  Even though I missed -- with the lack of TiVo and high-def TV! -- Mom's hair on the slim bit of the Sci-Tech awards, I still get a kick out of it.  It's one of my connections to LA, so I hold it tight.

In memoriam came on, which included cinematographer / babysitter extraordinaire,Lazlo Kovacs.  I don't know what to say that hasn't been said more eloquently before me, but I was so glad I got to see him a year or so ago in Los Feliz, abeit briefly.  His story of his escape from Hungary always boggled my mind -- filming the tanks rolling into Budapest, then hiding the film in a field to retrieve later, and then making their escape.

My favorite part is that he and his friend Vilmos (also a cinematographer!) got drunk on Coca-Cola when out of Hungary, because it symbolized everything about freedom and the West.  How wonderful -- and even better: we found out the professor I worked for during college and adore, Gabor Boritt, had almost the same experience the moment he got out of Hungary as well (in his son Jake's documentary: From Budapest to Gettysburg).   I love that two men that mean so much to me had such similar experiences.  It makes the world seem smaller and more connected.