Donna in Hollywoodland

George Clooney Tribute

I arrived at the Beverly Hilton Hotel a few hours early, for the American Cinemetheque Tribute to George Clooney.

Just in time to go into one of the other event rooms, and get my volunteer dinner.
Its the same every year - a sandwich, pasta salad, fruit salad, chips, soda and a cookie.
I joined about eight other volunteers as we sat at a table and chatted.

Then, it was off to the "Guest Check-In" table, right in front.
My spot was perfect for seeing all the arrivals.
I ended up handing the "E-F-G" part of the alphabet.

I was so amazed George Clooney was one of the first people to arrive.
He's the guest of honor, and I thought that showed alot of class and thoughtfulness for him to arrive so early.
Other celebrities that I saw walk passed:
Lindsay Lohan , Bonnie Hunt , Christian Slater , Danny DeVito , Julianna Margulies, and Noah Wylie.

James Franco walked up to the Guest Check In Table.
He said "Franco, first name James"
Like I wouldn't know who he was ....
He leaned so far over the table, as I was looking for his ticket, that I could have kissed him.
Of course, I didn't.
But I thought about it.

It got me alittle confused because the celebrities had an entirely different table for their check in.
But I found that I did have his ticket, and I told him he might want to stop off at the Celebrity Check In Table.
Then he said, "I have a guest".
Well, all night long all the guests had been listed individually by their own names.
I said "Oh, your guest would be listed under their own name."
He said Thank you, and went to the person handling that letter of the alphabet.
Soon, he came back and said "They aren't listed under their name. Are you sure you don't have a ticket?"
I looked again, and I saw I ticket "James Franco - Guest".
Well, I must have turned 20 different shades of red, and said "Oh, I'm so sorry, Its my fault, It is here."
He laughed and said thank you.

I was so embarrassed.

After all the Guests were checked in, they ate their dinner in the main ballroom.
So the volunteers had alittle downtime.
Then, we got to go into the Ballroom to watch the award ceremony.
The place was packed. Our seats were towards the back. But there were also large screen TVs so we could see the entire thing.

Once it was over, we had to collect the programs and any other items that were left behind in the Ballroom.
Then, we went to collect our Gift Bag items.
Well, I really wanted that Brunette Goddess by Bed Head.
I started trading with all the Blond people. "I"ll give you one of my other items, if you'll give me your Brunette Goddess."

One of my friends ran over "Donna, what did you get in your Gift Bag?"
She looked in - and I had like 8 bottles of Bed Head Brunette Goddess Shampoo and Brunette Goddess Conditioner .
She said "All you have is shampoo and conditioner!"
I said "yeah, thats exactly what I want !"

After dropping our things off in our cars, myself and a few friends were trying to meet up with some other volunteers.
We hung around the Beverly Hilton lobby bar for a while - but it was packed.
So we decided to walk over to Trader Vics.

We get to Trader Vics and it was packed.
I ask the Hostess how long will the wait be.
She replies that they aren't taking names for the bar area - I will just have to find a seat for myself.
Well, everyone is already packed in like sardines.

We see a table that is empty but has jackets all over it.
I say to my friends "Lets find out whats up with that table."
Another couple who were standing around said "We've been watching it for 15 minutes, and no one has come back."

I grab the waitress "That table has jackets on the seats, but no people have been there for 15 minutes."
Her reply: "They are probably at the bar watching the game".
I said "You let them reserve an empty table, and go stand at the bar - when you have more customers who want a place to sit?"
She didn't care. She walked away from me.

I grabbed a guy who seemed to be a Manager or staff person, and asked him the same thing.
He didn't care either.
I guess Trader Vics is so popular, and has so many customers, they can be disorganized.

My friends and I hung out for about another 10 minutes.
Then we decided to go back and try to Hilton Lobby Bar again.

Just as we are leaving Trader Vics, Paul Haggis and his wife are also leaving.
We are all walking in the same direction.
And there is a long hallway in between Trader Vics and the Hilton.
My three friends and I are walking down the hallway with Paul Haggis and his wife.

One of my friends strikes up a conversation. She says something about knowing his Accountant.
So they chat about the accountant.
Then Paul Haggis says something about wondering if it had been raining while we were in the Ballroom for the Award Ceremony.
I say a simple "Yes it did".
And another friend goes into this big long explanation about Weather Patterns and El Nino.
I had no idea that this friend knew so much about meteorology. I was impressed.

As they are talking about El Nino, one of my other friends asks me "Do we have a Parking Validation coupon?"
I said "Yes, it is in the envelope that had your Meal Voucher and Gift Bag Voucher."
Paul Haggis turned around and asked "They validate parking?"
I kind of stuttered and stammered "Um, well, um, yeah - for The Volunteers."
He laughed "Well, I'm a volunteer in a way too!"
We all laughed.

Paul Haggis went towards the parking.
My friends and I were still in search of a place to sit down and have a nice drink.

I looked at the Hilton lobby bar - and saw an empty table !
I ran to it, as fast as my tired feet could go.
We sat down. It still had old drinks and napkins on it.
We waited for a waiter. And we were so thirsty by now, we were dying.
No waitress.
So two of us went to the Bar and got our own drinks.

When we got back to the table, the waitress was there.
She looked mad, and gave us some Attitude.
We said "We waited and not one came to take our order."
She left, and no one came to clean up the dirty glasses and dirty napkins.
When we left the table, they were all still there.

We stopped off and visited a friend who had rented a room in the hotel.
But she was very tired.
So it was time for all of us to go home.

There are pictures from the event here:

The Arrivals
The Press Room