Annie's Favorite Things About LA: Facebook at the Upright Citizens Brigade

The "Facebook" show at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Hollywood is hands down one of the greatest things in Los Angeles.  Every Wednesday, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, Chad Carter, Owen Burke, and Seth Morris do incredibly hilarious improv skits based on two audience members' facebook profiles.  They are often joined by amazing surprise guests like Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, and the guy who plays Kenneth on 30 Rock.  Here's the cast giving a nice little explanation of their brilliant show:





As you might have guessed, I go to this show often.  A few weeks ago, I had the exciting and unique experience of being one of the audience members they chose to interview. This is how that choice is made: willing audience members raise their hands and give a one-sentence pitch about themselves that would entice the guys to choose them.  The range of these pitches runs the gamut.  I've heard everything from something lame like "I'm Jewish" to hilarious winners like "I was pepper-sprayed by a transvestite on a bicycle" and "I am a recently retired professional figure skater."  Usually the guys pick the best pitch, but occasionaly they choose stupid ones. (Like the time I bravely raised my hand and said "I participated in a tomato fight with over 50,000 people in Spain last week" but they chose a fool who said "Jim Carey yelled at me once."  I was a bit bitter about that.. can you tell?) After that experience I vowed to never volunteer again.  Until....


As the unofficial "social chair" of my community group (a.k.a. 'small group', 'Bible study', etc.), I suggested that we all go to this show for a fun and laughter-filled social night (although I warned them it was definitely not rated PG).  A big group of us went.  The first girl they picked to interview was a complete and total skank. Most of their skits were based on the little biatch's promiscuity, and therefore, were pretty uncomfortable to watch with my community group.  I decided to capitalize on this awkwardness; I raised my hand and said, "I went to the Oscars last month and I'm here with my entire Bible study right now."  They were astounded by this and called me up immediately. 


To give you an idea of how the interviews/skits work, I'll explain what they did with my profile. First, I signed into my FB account which is displayed on a big screen for all to see. Paul Scheer then asks questions...things like "So why did you go to the Oscars?" "Who was the biggest biatch you saw on the red carpet?" "Who was the nicest on the red carpet?" "So, you're in charge of the red carpet bleachers? What are some crazy things the bleacher fans do?" "Why is your Bible study here??" "Why is 'She's the Man' your favorite movie?? etc..."  I answered all of these questions and more with little anecdotes.  


After about 10 minutes of perusing my profile and interviewing, they begin making up skits based on my profille including but not limited to: Red Carpet bleacher fans looking for the restroom and accidentally stumbling onstage at the Kodak Theatre as the Best Actor Oscar is being announced; George Clooeny being insanely friendly and shaking everyone's hands (as he did with the bleacher fans at the Oscars) until he loses Best Actor and then bursts into a fit of rage; an overly enthusisastic "youth group" of 20-somethings planning a social night at a highly inappropriate place; a movie rental place called "She's the Video Man" that only carries Amanda Bynes movies; etc.  I obviously cannot give these hilarious skits any sort of justice in writing, but hopefully this gives an inkling of their geniusly inspired improv.  


If you live in LA: go to this show!!
If you don't live in LA: come visit and go to this show!!
It is an absolute must.
And if you're feeling moxie, think of a cool pitch, and who knows, they just might pick you!






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Meeting in the Middle

Wow... it's been almost a whole MONTH since my last post. I apologize for my horrible procrastination and tardiness. I have so many great ideas for posts and not enough time to write them. I will try to improve the lag time between posts, I promise. (Because I know you're all just waiting with bated breath for the next one, right..??) ;-)

A couple weeks ago, fate smiled down on us and Mary and I were accidentally simultaneously both in our sweet hometown of Duncan, Oklahoma. She was in town 36 hours (or less?) for her wonderful grandmother's surprise 80th birthday extravaganza, and I was in town about two weeks to visit fam and help my mom get ready to put our house on the market (did I ever mention that my dad got a new job in Houston and my parents are moving there? It's true...and so strange to think that Duncan won't be 'home' anymore. Crazy). Since Mary's visit was a mere blink of an eye, our time together was very short, but sweet nonetheless. It's definitely fun to visit each other in our fun new places of residence, but there is just something so cozy and familiar about being together where we spent our entire childhood and youth being best friends. (Yowza... sorry for the sappiness overload...I'll stop now). :-)

Now it's time for a slight rant: People need to STOP wearing PAJAMAS on airplanes. On my flight back to LA (which left at 1:45 PM, mind you, so these fools didn't even have the excuse of it being a super early or overnight flight), there were three extremely obnoxious girls in straight up PJs, slippers and all.  (Much like these young ones only less fresh-faced and more trashy): 

Newsflash you lazy bums: airports and airplanes are public places full of other people who do not want to see you in your sleepwear.  I definitely understand the need for comfort, especially on longer flights, but there are a plethora of comfortable clothing items meant to be seen in public.  These annoying girls were also having extremely loud, awkward and inappropriate conversations that the entire plane could uninvitedly hear, but inappropriate public conversations is an entirely different rant altogether.  Lesson: just because you are flying on a form of transportation that you probably don't take all-too-often and it's way up high in the sky does not eradicate the social norms that clearly deem pajamas only appropriate for private home use.  < end rant > 


Wow, I feel a bit lighter after getting that off my chest. ;-)  Back with more (less rant-y) posts soon, my loves.  

Hail to Thee My Alma Mater.... and All That Jazz.

This week I had the lovely surprise of being featured the University of Oklahoma's homepage (number 3 on the scrolling headlines).  

From OU to the Oscars – 2008 public relations graduate Annie Terracina shares how she came to work the Red Carpet

This link led to a feature story on my job at the Academy.  I had originally been approached and interviewed for this story over a year ago, but it was never published.  I thought it might have just been lost forever, but I was re-contacted for an update interview a few months ago.  Still, I had no idea when or if the story would ever see the light of day, so it was a very fun surprise indeed when it surfaced this week!  There are a few fact errors (For the College Watch Party Contest, actual Oscar Watch Parties from college students were judged and awarded prizes, not simply a "party plan".  Also, I interned at The Regan Group, not "The Reading Group").  But oh well, other than those minor deets, a very well-written article!  

It really means a lot for my beloved OU to acknowledge my post-graduation achievements.  In a student population of more than 30,000 students, I know that I was viewed and cared for as an individual...not simply a lost face in the crowd.  I think this just further solidifies that I am "Sooner born and Sooner bred, and when I die I'll be Sooner dead."  ;-)  Boomer Sooner indeeeeed.  

In other news, I saw Chicago at the Pantages this week!  We had great seats and Michelle Williams (formerly of "Destiny's Child...ha) played Roxie.  It was a jazzy sassy good time.  Those who know me will not be surprised in the least that I have been listening to the soundtrack non-stop since the viewing. My favorite song is "All That Jazz" (such a CLASSIC!), but I am  also very much enjoying "When You're Good to Mama" and "We Both Reached for the Gun."  

I think the 2010-2011 season at the Pantages was tailor-made for me. HAIR, Spring Awakening, Rock of Ages, Phantom of the Opera, AND West Side Story?!?!  I am so excited, I can barely contain myself.  Who wants to go with me?

And finally, how funny is this street sign?  I saw it on Fuller and Franklin I believe (at Runyon Canyon) and it made me laugh a lot.  Whoever did this, I want to be your friend.  

Far From Home...

                                    

The beautiful skyline of my new 'home'

The Chisholm Trail Memorial, the  most monumental thing in my 'home home'

I've known since approximately age 3 that I wanted to live in a big city by a beach one day.  In fact, I often used to beg my parents to move from the mundane, close-minded 20,000-population-town I grew up in (no offense, Duncan), but to no avail. 


I tried out living in LA the summer of 2007, and I knew it was going to be sink or swim in this huge, fast-paced metropolis.  As you can probably guess, I definitely swam.  :-)  Within days of arriving in this gigantic place where I essentially knew nothing and no one, I was hooked.  I knew if I didn't move here after graduation, I would not be fully satisfied.  


Now that I've thoroughly explained that LA is undoubtedly the place for me right now, let me talk about what sucks the most about it: being so freaking far away from home.  





Limited funds and vacation time cause me to miss a plethora of fun events at home. Last summer, I was invited to 8 weddings in 8 weeks (which I fully realize sounds like the title of a Lifetime Original Movie), but out of this merry matrimonial marathon, I could sadly only attend one that just so happened to be in Cali. It is sad and disappointing to not be able to make it back for the joyous occasions like this, but it's the absolute worst to not be able to make it home for the hard times.

In February, my grandpa had a stroke and just last week my Uncle Gary unexpectedly died. I desperately wanted to go home to grieve, support, and heal with my family, but sadly work and expensive flights made this impossible. :-( I am really lucky to have some great, caring friends out here who definitely helped and encouraged me, but it's not the same as family. No one can truly empathize and comfort you like your family can during times like those. Since that wasn't an option, I did the best I could (which involved a great deal of crying, calling home, writing in my prayer journal, reading psalms 34:18, hugging friends, and spending some quality time on the beach).

I thankfully am feeling a bit better since Uncle Gary's sudden passing away, but it really made me realize how hugely importantly my family is to me. While I truly do L-O-V-E Los Angeles, I think eventually I will move somewhere closer to them. (Austin, perhaps?) There are only so many happy/sad occasions I can bare to miss... plus I never really liked the notion of having a fam and growing old in LA... bleh. But until that time to move comes (likely in the semi-distant future), I will deal with hard times as they come, visit my family as much as possible, cherish my sweet friends here, and continue my love affair with this great city.

Amazing New Artist Alert

The first post-Oscar blog is a toughie.  It is admittedly a bit daunting to follow up one of the most surreal and exciting days of my life. 


That said, I think a worthy topic for this slightly-procrastinated post is my dear friend and extremely talented musician, Alex Rhodes. 

I first experienced Alex's incredible Norah Jones-esque vocals at my wonderful church where she sings on the worship team. I then experienced her sweet friendship as we went to the same weekly community group and began hanging out on a semi-regular basis.  She quickly became not only one of my favorite singers, but also one of my favorite people in Los Angeles. :-)


Alex's musical prowess doesn't end with her voice; she is an amazing songwriter, guitar player AND piano player.  I mean... wow.  I would be thrilled to possess merely ONE of those talents.  Ha.  Her intelligent lyrics are meaningful and relatable.  Here are the lyrics to my very favorite Alex Rhodes song.  When she played it for me in her room last spring, I had just experienced essentially the exact same situation.  It truly felt like she had taken all my crazy mixed up emotions and expressed them poetically to music... probably one of the most cathartic musical experiences I've ever had! (In fact, I think I made her play it like three times in a row...haha). It's called "Honestly"....


Don't play with me.
Finish what you started
When you gave your seat
Looked straight in my eyes
Until i could not breath, oh

I'm crazy now
Fine before our conversation
Took me down
You caught me like a hunter
Do I wait it out?

Unclench my fists
Wrapped around the signals
That I must have missed
All the boxes checked

I'll throw away that list, oh

But honestly
Why'd you go and light up
Like you wanted me?
This is not the way
I'd like my heart to be, oh

I hope that little lyrical preview whet your appetite. Luckily, Alex's debut EP is coming out soon!  Until then, do yourself a big favor and check out her lovely tunes here.  You can thank me later.  ;-)  

Annie's Oscar Notes

One week has passed since the Oscars, a.k.a. the longest, craziest, most surreal day of my year. While not enough has passed for me to catch up on much needed sleep (I am still so very exhausted), enough time has passed for some of my initial amazement and awe at March 7th's dreamlike event to start to wane.  Parts of it are such a blur!  I figured I should record and relive my favorite Oscar moments here before any more magical details escape me. In sequential order... 

1.) Seeing my mom, brother and camp counselor from when I was 12-years-old in the red carpet bleachers. That's right... my darling old counselor, Marissa, signed up to win bleacher seats after seeing it on my facebook and legitimately won! (That could be YOU next year if you sign up on www.oscars.org in September...)


2.) Being mere inches away from George Clooney as he signed autographs and shook hands with the bleacher fans.  He is truly even MORE dreamy than you imagine... WOW.  Here's a photo of me taking a photo of Mr. Clooney on my phone so you can see his extreme proximity to me. Ha! 







3.) Walking the red carpet with Mar.  It was so much fun to share this beyond-surreal experience with my best friend.  As we made our way to the grand staircase of the Kodak Theatre, we walked alongside Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Sandra Bullock, Stanely Tucci, Gaborey Sidibe, etc.  During my stroll down the red carpet, I also told Chris Harrison (who was in between red carpet interviews) that I loved The Bachelor and he said thanks. ;-) 

4.) Being at The Governor's Ball.  It's honestly a bit unbelievable to be in such a beautiful setting for the official Oscar after-party.  The decorations, the lighting, the set up...everything was simply breathtaking.  To make it all the better, I was joined at this gorgeous party by all the Oscar winners, nominees, and other VIPs. My "job" was to stand at the top of one of the staircases and ask these beautiful people if they wanted to do the press line. Umm..okay. Don't mind if i do. Here's a glimpse inside the beautiful ball (featuring none other than my Meryl...) :-)


5.) Getting called 'baby' by Mo'Nique. When I asked the new Oscar winner if she wanted to do the press line, she sweetly touched my arm and called me 'baby' several times as she held her new shiny prize. I found this to be very funny.  Get it girl. 

6.) Interacting with Chris Pine.  Holy hotness. This extremely handsome guy said "hi" to me as he came up my staircase.  It may seem insignificant, but my stomach definitely fluttered since HE spoke to me first, even if it was just one syllable. ;-) We then proceeded to make really great eye contact for extended periods of time on numerous occasions. A favorite Oscar moment for suuure. Yowza...

7.) TALKING TO MERYL STREEP. This is my #1 ultimate greatest most favorite Oscar moment.  The heavens smiled down on me when my (and the world's) all-time favorite actress came up my staircase.  As I spotted her at the foot of the stairs, I tried to calm my racing heart and play it cool.  I think (slash hope) I was successful in this as I said "Hi, would you like to do the press line?" To which she sweetly replied, "Oh no, I wouldn't."  To which I replied, "Okay, no problem! You look so lovely tonight... enjoy!" To which she said, "Thank you!" and I can't be sure because this is such a blur, but I think we shared a brief arm/hand graze in the midst of this. She is absolutely exquisite. I want to BE her. So amazing. And with that all of 3 second interchange, I'll never be the same again.  :-) 

8.) Making Rachel McAdams and her sister laugh. These two lovely ladies also came up my staircase, so I asked my standard question.  After Rachel said, "No thanks," I asked if they were sisters because they looked so much alike. They indeed were and seemed very happy that I noticed and asked.  Rachel then asked me, "What should we do now?" to which I replied, "Well, there's a bar there, there and there (as I pointed them out), so you really can't go wrong..."  They both laughed.  In retrospect, I should have taken this golden moment to ask if they wanted to be my new best friend and hang out on a regular basis, but I refrained.  ;-) 

9.) When staircase arrivals were over, I walked around the glorious Governor's Ball and called out great photo ops over the walkie-talkie if I saw one.  Tough job, right? :-) As I did this, I saw one table that made me chuckle. It was Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper, Gerard Butler, John Travolta and several other actors I can't recall... and the sole female in the midst of these heartthrobs?  Barbara Streisand. What??  So very random and odd to me.  Ha.  As I continued walking around the ball, Bradley Cooper accidentally ran into me (literally) and then I made aaamazing eye contact with Ryan Reynolds.Yow-za he is beyond GORGEOUS. I could relive that moment all day long. Ha!


Well, there you have it. Some of my favorite moments from my one of my favorite days.  I suppose an appropriate closing would be, "I'd like to thank the Academy..."  :-) 


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Happy Oscars Eve!

As I sit in my room at the lovely Renaissance Hotel preparing for the 82nd annual Academy Awards tomorrow, I am excited, exhausted, anxious, and wondering "how in the world did I get here?" This is my second year working in the marketing department of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, so my nerves are significantly less than they were at this time last year, but they are still alive and well, to be sure. 


Here is a brief run down of how my day will go tomorrow:
4:47 AM-- Wake up. Pray for no rain. 
5:30-7:30 AM-- Report to the bleacher area lining the Red Carpet (my co-worker Lorrin and I are completely in charge of this) and make any last minute preparations that must be done.
7:45-10:45 AM-- Welcome the 705 eager bleacher fans (who are coming from LITERALLY all around the world). 
11:30 AM-- Go upstairs to my hotel room for hair/make up/wardrobe change. Pray for no rain. 
1:30 PM-- Come back down to the bleachers. Attend to all the fans. Wait for Lorrin to get ready now. Pray for no rain. 
2:00 PM-- Check on the amazing Oscar viewing party we are hosting for the fans at the El Capitan Theatre. 
4:15 PM-- Walk down the glorious red carpet with my super hot date (Mary!!).  Take many photos.  (Look for us on the pre-shows!) 
5:15 PM-- Say bye to Mary briefly as she gets seated in the Kodak Theatre.  Go back to the bleachers and help execute the filing out of bleachers. 
6:00 PM-- Make sure all bleacher fans are out of stands. Drop off supplies in our hotel room. 
6:10 PM-- Finally make it to my seat in the Kodak for the OSCARS.
7:30 PM--  Report to the Governor's Ball, the official Oscars after party. 
8:00--9:00 PM-- Stand by the staircase of said ball and ask the nominees and winners if they want to do the press line.  (IE: "Hi Mr. Clooney, would you like to do the press line?")
9:00-12:00 AM--walk around the ball and 'spot' the stars.  (IE: "Meryl is talking to Sandra at table 32"). 
12:00-2:00 AM-- eat, drink, dance, and be merry at the Governor's Ball to properly end the craziest, longest, most surreal day of my year.  


Yowza.