It’s 3:00 in the afternoon and I started my day only a couple of hours ago.
Last night was the 2nd Annual SAGIndie Karaoke Night at the American Pavilion hosted by Michael Badalucco (The Practice, O Brother Where Art Thou?). 
We did this event last year and I was almost positive it was going to be a bust. I was surprised to find out that college kids really love karaoke and last year’s party practically blew the roof off the tent.
This year’s was even better. The crowd was bigger, drunker (I might have to take some of the blame for that), 
and more into the audience participation aspects of karaoke. Co-Host Walter Harris (one of the student mentors) kept things moving along, from Becca and Jody’s (the Business Center Manager) rendition of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” 
to the boys’ interpretation of “Y.M.C.A.”
As I watched everyone perform I realized that I couldn’t come up with the minimum number of drinks that I would have to ingest before someone could get me up there to sing. I also realized by the end of the night that I probably came pretty close to that number. I started the evening with scotch, moved on to vodka, and by the time the party moved over to an Irish Pub down the street, Guinness. 
At one point I sat there with a pint in one hand, an unfiltered French cigarette in the other and realized that there was no way this evening was going to get any better… and was very close to getting worse. So I walked home and made the rookie mistake of going to sleep drunk. The next thing I remember was waking up with a terrible hangover thirty minutes before I was supposed to meet Ellery and Becca to pack everything up to ship back home. As we sat in the Pavilion nursing our free market coffee I had to ask myself why I gave Darrien the day off when she was the only one who didn’t get wasted last night…
I think our participation at Cannes was very successful… a visit to WireImage makes it look as though practically everything that took place here was sponsored by SAGIndie. We’re nothing if not publicity-whores.
A final thanks to everyone who helped out; Darrien, Rene, the American Pavilion Staff and Students, all the industry professionals, and the people of Cannes.
Oh… and a special thanks to the gals (I hope they’re girls anyway) who participate in all the Benjamin McKenzie Fan Sites/Bulletin Boards. Thanks for all the kind words and for assuring me that you aren’t crazed Ben stalkers… or at least that you’re aware of your own crazed Ben stalkerness.
This will be my final post from Cannes, as I assume Darrien will be taking her computer home with her. I will be in Italy on vacation next week and will try to do at least one post if I can find an Internet café.
A presto!