The Big Cheese

We had another big event last night for the DVD release of Ratatouille, held at Social Hollywood. It was actually a really cute, fun, and majorly expansive setup, far larger than I had anticipated. I was wishing last night that I had brought my camera to take pictures of the extravaganza, but it seems that I never have my camera with me at the opportune times. My coworker took a couple photos on her phone, so below is one of the inside bar area. In addition to that room (and all the delicious gourmet buffet food) there was a huge entry room that housed a "Cars" Blu-ray setup.

But by far, my favorite part was the French inspired patio where an all night tasting of high end cheeses and wines ensued. My god, was that fantastic. I definitely gorged myself last night... if you know me, you know how passionate I am about cheese. The top notch cheese that was being served was a triple creme sheep's milk that goes for over $100/lb!! The best part: the cheese server noticed how enthralled I was with their offerings so he packed up at least a quarter lb. of that triple cream, as well as some fantastic aged Gouda for me to take home. I have about $60 worth of delectable cheese in my fridge at home, all compacted onto one tiny plastic to-go plate. I got the cheese shop's card, and it turns out they are local (as opposed to the wine experts, whom I believe were not). However, I don't see myself heading to the valley to spend $25 on a slice of cheese any time soon... unfortunately.

Before I could enjoy the open bar and wine/cheese tasting, however, I had to help manage the red carpet. Notable names included Brian Dennehy, John Ratzenberger, Patton Oswalt, the Oscar winning creators of movies like Toy Story, The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille, and probably my favorite of all, Cheech Marin. No, I didn't shake any hands, but I did rub some shoulders, literally... it gets crowded on the carpet. Oh, and I also shared an intimate moment with THIS guy, who had the audacity to grab the glass of Cafe Boheme from my hands and take a taste for himself. Sure, I could have said 'no' but I have too many fond movie memories of him from childhood as 'that guy who's in everything'. I hold him near and dear.

The Early Bird wakes up before the hour that bars in New York close and then falls back asleep for too long, thus arriving late to work

So today I had to wake up at 4:30am to staff a two and a half hour Radio Media Tour (RMT, for those of you not in my line of work) for our client. Unfortunately we have to work on Eastern Time if we want to catch interviews on the east coast morning radio shows. I tried to be asleep by 10pm last night but apparently my body doesn't function that way. When it was all finished, around 8am, I went back to bed for a little nap... come 10:45 I wake up realizing I'm about to be two and a half hours late to work. So actually, I guess I was just leveling the playing field.

The RMT gives 15 different morning radio shows across the country a phone interview with the host of our client's American Idol recap/aftermath show. (I'm hesitant to actually give names of the host or the show; aren't people not supposed to make that stuff publicly available in their non-work related blog? Can't have anything working against me, ya know?). So because of this show I work with and these 15 interviews I have to prepare for, I am required to watch American Idol. I've never watched before, I've maybe seen 3 episodes total ever (including last night, which is probably the only one I've seen in its entirety). Of course, I know all about the controversies and gossip, simply due to listening to morning radio and checking TMZ occasionally for my job. But after last night I can understand how America is addicted. Some of these people are so much better than the others and by the end of the show I was saying, "I want Jordan to win, definitely. She's the best singer by far, and I can't believe this Haley chick and Sanjaya weren't eliminated earlier." And I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth. I'm pretty sure that Josh couldn't either, by the way he was laughing at me.

So this is what working in the entertainment industry does to me: The only things I have to blog about these days are celebrities and pop shows. Eek.

I'm taking notes on a "How to Blog Better" webinar right now for my agency and realizing that I am far from strategically savvy in blogging; apparently they're supposed to be interactive, not just one way... hey, who knew? So on that note, does anyone out there watch or have any opinions on American Idol? Actually, nix that, I don't really care about this topic... and this is all about me, right? (jk, jk, jk)