Slumdog Millionaire's night at the Oscars (with some NASCAR too)

-And the winner is... Slumdog Millionaire! A bunch of people come up on stage, after some initial hesitation, including the kids from the slum. Wow, what great television, the cute little kid is right up behind the podium. Christian Colson, producer, speaks for them all--"when we started out we had no stars, we had no power or muscle... but we had a script that inspired mad love."

A movie that almost went straight to DVD... doesn't exactly inspire confidence in Hollywood's ability to tell good stories, especially when the stories aren't filled with the same-old characters and faces.

And that's it, awards are all given out, 5 minutes shy of the clock striking midnight. Only appropriate that in the year of Barack Obama "Slumdog Millionaire" wins -- and of course, there is a connection.

Interesting, the montage at the end over credits is of upcoming releases; a great idea; makes me wish summer would hurry up and get here.

-Stephen Spielberg comes out, solo, to introduce a montage of past best pictures alongside this year's nominees. Wow, they do something really clever, using past best pictures intercut with clips from each of this year's nominees, like they're using documentary footage. Hardest with Slumdog.

-Best actor is next. The presenters get the standing O, all the old lions are there. I hope Frank Langella wins for Frost/Nixon, I saw him on stage and he was great. Robert De Niro says, "being a movie star can get in the way of acting; but not for Sean Penn." It's a great line, and captures Penn exactly--he wants to make films, not be a star.

Sean Penn wins, to big applause. Speech should be interesting. "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns!" is how he starts. At the end he tells those who voted for the ban on gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and those of their kids and grandkids if they continue in that way....

"I'm very proud to live in a country that's willing to elect an elegant man president," and a country that in all it's toughness creates the kind of artists it does, with a shout-out to Mickey Rourke, "who is my brother."

-Wow, Sophia Loren, among others, on stage to present best Actress. They all get a standing ovation, as well they should. Loren looks regal. I like this personalized presentation where each nominee gets a little speech from a previous winner; can be a bit cheesy and over-the-top, but is also just interesting to watch.

Loren does Meryl Streep; she doesn't look very good, too made up and too much surgery; but you have to keep watching, she has presence. Nicole Kidman does Angelina Jolie, who's wearing emeralds apparently.

And Kate Winslet wins, which is cool; I like how she's grown over the years. It's her first win after 6 nominations. Tells her dad to whistle so she can see where he's sitting, and he does, to loud applause; it's a great moment.

Thanks a lot of people, is a pro at this; but the emotion shows through, a little shriek at the end even.

-Reese Witherspoon oddly enough is presenting the Best Director award. Man, hope Danny Boyle wins, very curious to hear him speak. And he does win, jumps up and down on stage, in the spirit of Tigger he says. Thanks his kids and his wife, his dad and sister, bunch of execs; thanks the guy who choreographed the dance at the end of the film who was left off the film's credits.

And thanks Mumbai, "you dwarf even this guy," referring to Oscar. 7 for Slumdog.

-Queen Latifa sings "I'll Be Seeing You" as they roll the notable deaths from the year; ah, how times do change, she has a pretty good voice for this. Hate how they show the people on screens inside the auditorium, it's such a self-conscious technique. And you can barely see some of the names as the camera moves around.

Charlton Heston doesn't seem to get either extra time or applause, which is a crime given his place in Hollywood history; Paul Newman appropriately does, they end with him. Heath Ledger was in there I guess, I didn't notice.

-Japanese movie wins best foreign language film, Departures. "I am here because of films... and we will be back, I hope," says director Yojiro Takita.

-Wow, a bunch of Indian dancers all in pink run up on stage to perform the first of two original songs from Slumdog, Rahman takes the mike and sings. It's an amazingly powerful and important moment. Wall-E's song is next, sung by John Legend; it's pretty cool too, with African dancers and chorus. Curious what the majority of white Americans who voted for John McCain are thinking and saying watching all this.

They sing the second Slumdog song; it just busts out through the stage, as John Legend and Rahman mesh their songs into a duet.

And the winner is... Jai Ho! 6 for Slumdog tonight, how great is that. Rahman's just been on stage continuously for the last 10 mintues. Thanks everyone from Mumbai, as an emotional Danny Boyle looks on; "all my life I've had a choice between hate and love -- I chose love, and here I am."

L.A. Times' blog, of course, is still writing about Bob Hope..... Classy Hugh Jackman gives the performers another hand.

-Alicia Keys looks resplendent in a purple gown, sounds regal in reading the nominees--properly pronouncing A.R. Rahman--for best original score. And he wins! 5 for Slumdog. He's one of my favorite composers today; says God is great at the end.

-Eddie Murphy presents a special humanitarian award to Jerry Lewis, whose work with the muscular dystrophy telethon will outlive everything everyone in the audience tonight has ever done. He comes out to a standing ovation; really, who cares about Heath, this should be the signature moment from tonight. What a great guy; gives a heartfelt speech, classy words from a throwback to another era.

-My god, 10:30 already and we haven't even gotten to the big 6 yet. "Slum dog Millionaire" wins again, its fourth, for Film Editing. Chris Dickens says he had a great time working on this film; and thanks his sisters -- Sally, Allie, Lizzy.

-Best Sound Editing, "Slumdog Millionaire" is up for it, "Dark Knight" wins. Hmm, interesting. Sound Mixing, "Slumdog Millionaire" wins for this. Nice to see some non-white faces speaking; Resul Pookutty. Is clearly overwhelmed, mentions the two others up there with him. Dedicates it to India, "sincere and deepest gratitude" to those he worked with on the film, and all the sound mixers.

-They do a super-long montage of, no kidding, car crashes and chases. Really, it's just pointless. "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" wins for best Visual Effects, beating out "Dark Knight." Uh, okay. Cause making one guy seem old is more impressive than creating Gotham.

-"Smile Pinki" wins best documentary short, the filmmaker Megan Mylan, all in red, seems like a real person, is all out of breath after running up there. I like her right away; the film is about kids with cleft lips, she talks about the subjects of her film, including Pinki Kumari.

-Documentary filmmakers get a video montage where they talk to the camera, which is appropriate. Hmm, the video was made by Albert Maisles, Bill Maher tells us afterwards. Documentaries are our "windows to the world" Maher tells us, while promoting his own; hmm, odd thing to say, considering theoretically we live in the world--why would we only see it when framed through small holes cut by others?

"Man on Wire" wins, which is great, since I actually saw and liked it. And up runs Philippe Petit, who the film's about; the shortest speech in Oscars history "Yesss." Then he keeps on talking, amkes a coin disappear, balances the Oscar on his chin, makes it bow; the man's frenetic, and absolutely unique.

-The winner of Heath Ledger's award, Best Supporting Actor, is about to be revealed. I didn't see the film so no idea how much of this is sentiment, but he wins, of course. Everyone stands as his parents and sister come up. Hmmm, no wife? Let's see if they dedicate it to the fire victims in Australia.

Audience is pitch-quiet as his dad thanks people. It's a classy speech by the dad, Kim; now his mom says they're choosing to celebrate; and his sister says they accept the award on behalf of his daughter.

It could've been a moment for the ages--his death reminds us of the death of hundeds in Australia... but nothing like that.

-Somehow Cuba Gooding Jr. is allowed back on stage, makes fun of Robert Downey Jr. for playing Tropic Thunder in blackface.

-Matt Kenseth takes the Auto Club 500, 3rd driver in history to win Daytona and the next race. Nice job.

-4 to go, Gordon's right front tire is smoking announcers say. They've been on top of that for a while; NASCAR announcers are great, entertaining and knowledgable.

-6 laps to go, Kenseth and Gordon are about to lap some of the slower-cars, again....

-10 laps to go, Kenseth's lead looks to have expanded even more. Announcers think Gordon has one more run in it, Busch now 6 seconds back. Now just hope some idiot back in the pack doesn't crash for nothing.

-Oscars are doing some idiot musical spoof with Jackman and Beyonce, so I'm still watching NASCAR.

-Kenseth and Gordon are waaaay out in front of the rest of the pack, 3.5 seconds ahead of Busch. 19 laps to go. Wow, with 15 to go Kenseth has really put down the hammer, his lead is up.

-Toyland wins best live action short, continuing the well-known rule that if you wanna win an Oscar, make something about the Holocaust. Wow, the director says he spent "4 years of my life on this 14 minute movie."

-There's some sort of skit with white stoner guys making fun of a bunch of films, it's probably funny to certain frat boys but kindof weird given that the films are all up for Best Picture. It goes on waaaay too long and is just dumb; yup, they have time for this, but cut off Oscar winners halfway through their speeches.

-Oscars take a second to thank the winners of the Academy's Scientific and Technical awards, handed out two weeks ago without TV coverage.

-36 laps to go, still under yello; Kyle Busch trying to win his third race of the weekend, which would be historic, Matt Kenseth leading though, after taking Daytona; folowed by Jeff Gordon. Lots of big names in the top 10....

-Anthony Dod Mantle wins best cinematography for Slum Dog Millionaire; it was shot really well, he takes a wry British shot at Natalie and Ben, "I found that really inspiring". The audience at least has stopped laughing. I like Mantle, seems like a normal guy; thanks his "ma and pa".

-Whoah, Natalie Portman comes out with a Phoenixish Ben Stiller, with the wild hair and crazy beard and shades. She looks great in a purple dress. It totally detracts from the cinematography intro, the audience is just cackling. "You look like you work in a Hasidic meth lab," she says. It's really quite stupid and insulting as she starts cracking up and the audience too as Stiller wanders the stage as each of the nominated films is described.

-Hugh Jackman's been a boring host so far; it's like an extended presentation slot.

-Flip out of the Oscars' cheesy romantic montage or something back to NASCAR on Fox; the race is down the road from the theater in Hollywood, there's another yellow, lots of little rain delays tonight. Nice counter-programming.

-Domo Arrigato, Mr. Robot says Japanese filmmaker Kunio Kato after winning the best animated short for "La Maison En Peitits Cubes." (Of course the LATime's snarky blog, The Envelope, doesn't mention Kato's name or even the full name of the short--it only quotes a voter dumping on the film. Hollywood; where the establishment speaks for the rest of the world).

-Simon Beaufoy of "Slumdog Millionaire" wins Best Adapted Screenplay; hopefully this is a good sign for the film. Although my nightmare would be all the whites involved with the film winning and speaking, while the South Asians get shut out.

-Penelope Cruz wins for best supporting actress; she's one of my favorite actors, thanks Woody Allen in her speech for writing good roles for women.

Spinning racism as conservation

The New York Times has a startling article centering around a shuttering ice cream shop, The Great Divide, that unflinchingly presents the racist views of some residents of a rapidly-changing Queens community as some latter-day version of Jane Jacobs:

The closing of the beloved neighborhood spot strikes many residents as simply the latest sign of the death of old Bellerose. The bowling alley, another local hangout that some considered the beating heart of Bellerose, closed a few years back, to eventually be replaced by a Staples, among other stores. Several years ago, the nearby movie theater closed, and the building now houses a martial arts supply business.

There have been other changes, even more unsettling to some residents in this neighborhood, long a mostly white enclave of families of Irish, Italian and German stock. ...

The transformation has come as a shock to many of the neighborhood’s earlier settlers, some of whom say they wonder whether magazines tucked into seatbacks on flights between Mumbai and Kennedy Airport advertise homes in Bellerose.

And many residents are not surprised that the developers who plan to tear down the Frozen Cup are Indian immigrants. Some of the same developers recently opened a Quality Inn down the road in Floral Park, an establishment, Mr. Augugliaro said, that “stands out like the Taj Mahal.”

Nice start; nevermind that the shuttering of long-time neighborhood institutions is normal in all neighborhoods -- where was the Times when the bowling alley and movie theater closed. Or was that not a story because it wasn't bought by the same people who created the Taj Mahal?

And yeah, let's call it a divide and morally equate the people on either side; nevermind that one side is racist against the other. Let's just call it a he said, she said thing.

While New York is often praised as a gorgeous mosaic, ethnic tensions are hardly unknown in the city, especially in neighborhoods that undergo rapid demographic shifts. Sometimes tensions are expressed overtly; other times, they lurk under the surface, revealing themselves in conversations that can be heard in local bars and living rooms.

That is the case in Bellerose.

Yeah, racism is presented as two-sided ethnic tensions! And note the understated language -- "ethnic tensions are hardly unknown in the city". Ha! The killing of black kids by whites, the killing of Sikhs by whites, the killing of hipsanic kids by whites -- just tensions that are hardly unknown.

Harshad Patel, who lives with his family in Floral Park, immigrated to the United States in 1981. Before entering the hotel business, he worked as a restaurateur, a metal lathe operator, a water plant operator and a sewage treatment worker. He also ran an electroplating business.

He said he was perplexed by the veneration of the Frozen Cup.

“If they have so much feeling,” he said of the establishment’s devotees, “let them buy it. Let them run the Frozen Cup if they want to.”

But the business would not survive, he insisted. “Nowadays,” Mr. Patel said, “there are so many flavors on the market and so many places to go.”

To drive home his point, he made a public offer. If someone wanted to run the Frozen Cup for the next 10 years, he promised to sell the place at a $100,000 loss.

“Let me see,” he said with a grin. “Who is coming forward?”

See, Patel's views aren't the centerpiece of the article, because it's what some white residents think that really matter. So there's no response to what Patel says in the piece, the Times just quotes him and moves on.

As officers of the Queens Colony Civic Association and members of other community groups, Angela and Michael Augugliaro have been among the most vocal opponents of the plan to replace the Frozen Cup with a hotel.

But as they sat in their living room, they expressed unhappiness with what they see as other undesirable changes in the neighborhood: street vendors selling halal gyros; traffic congestion near the Indian and Pakistani grocery stores on Hillside Avenue; newly created mini-mansions, many of them occupied by extended South Asian families.

“They’re turning the neighborhood into a third-world country,” Mr. Augugliaro said. “We don’t want it over here to look like Richmond Hill or Jackson Heights,” he added, speaking of Queens neighborhoods with sizable South Asian populations.

As he spoke, Ms. Augugliaro shook her head in disapproval at some of his remarks, and he seemed to pick up on her unspoken criticism.

“I’m not a racist,” Mr. Augugliaro quickly added. In fact, he said, he was tired of the subject of race coming up so often. “What does race have to do with it?” he asked.

The couple later recalled a morning years ago when they saw an old man in an orange turban walking on the sidewalk with a curved sword slung from his waist like the one they remembered from the Ali Baba cartoons.

The man was a Sikh, and the object was a Kirpan, a sword carrying religious symbolism and worn by some adherents of the faith, though often a smaller version of the Kirpan is worn on a necklace under a shirt. The couple laughed as they recalled the scene.

“It was like a total shock,” Ms. Augugliaro said.

Yup, he's no racist.

Many of the South Asians who live in Bellerose have only good things to say about the neighborhood. On a snowy Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Francis Thomas, the Indian-born owner of India Kitchen, a restaurant on Braddock Avenue, stood at the counter and said relations between the races in Bellerose were good. “They’re tolerant,” Mr. Thomas said of the people of Bellerose.

Yes, because tolerance is the highest value we aspire to here in America; it's weird for the Times to insert this paragraph, when so much of the article shows the residents aren't tolerant, and that'd it'd be weird for any South Asians to think that.

Instead the Times takes ordinary politeness, an unwillingness on the part of South Asians to speak ill to a newspaper about their neighbors, as a 'there's nothing here to see, move along' sentiment.

Next door to the India Kitchen, however, at a pub called Fuzzy’s Bar, where a grill called Wolf Dawg serves burgers and “hot dawgs,” patrons griped about their immigrant neighbors as “Jeopardy!” played on two small television sets.

“Everybody wants to bring their country here,” said Bruce Holloway, one patron who lives in Bayside, Queens. “They don’t want to look like Americans, they don’t want to dress like Americans, and they don’t want to speak English.”

“But they do come for the benefits,” volunteered his drinking buddy, who gave his name as Franco and said he grew up in Bellerose and used to go to the Frozen Cup for strawberry ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. And of the South Asian grocery stores, he added, one of which opened a month earlier down the block and had the word “bazaar” in its name, “It’s not the kind of store an American goes into.”

Of the newcomers, a group he describes simply as “the Indians,” he said, “They change everything that’s been here.” And he wondered aloud, “Where the hell do they get the money from?”

This is one of the things that drives me crazy about the Times -- they habitually think it's okay to use white as an euphemism for American. So the article is structured so that quotes about how no 'American' would go into a store, that South Asians don't want to look like 'Americans', aren't juxtaposed by a different view, they just float by.

Imagine if the guy was saying Jews aren't Americans or no American would go into a Jewish deli; it wouldn't be buried in the midst of a paragraph, there'd be an expert talking about how this kind of anti-Semitism is engrained among certain subcultures -- there'd be some sort of overt recognition that this statement isn't normal or correct.

But for the Times, apparently it's normal and no cause for alarm that an established, declining ethnic group is racist toward neighbors who are saving their community.

Heck, maybe racism really is just the new family values!