OSCAR NIGHT 2012

AspenSpin loves the movies. We live blogged the Oscars.  Random observations from the perspective of a powder hound.

The Artist. Winner for Best Picture 2012.THE ARTIST / Best Picture.  Yeah it was a pretty good film, maybe even great,  but i'm sick of all these pretentious French people acting all cool and sh*t.  Did you see the NY Times Style section today?  Do me a favor... please go back to France.

Clooney: Not so hot anymore.GEORGE CLOONEY: He's just not that hot anymore. He was perfect in The Descendants (which I loved) in which he played a middle-aged schlub.   He's to old to be hot..which makes me...pretty f#*king old...and his girlfriend...he can do better. At least she was dressed as an Oscar statue.

MERYL STREEP / Best Actress:  A class act all the way. I'm sure she deserved the little gold man. I did not see Iron Lady because I heard it was boring as sh*t, and I had already sat through J. Edgar.... so I skipped it.

BILLY CRYSTAL:  Meh.

Sasha Baron Cohen. Jumping the Shark.SASHA BARON COHEN:  The Dictator...you're trying to hard, bro.  It' looks like you're jumping the shark right in front of us...I hope you prove me wrong and it's a huge hit.

RYAN SEACREST:  He must be FB friends with everybody.

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER:  At 82 the oldest Oscar winner of all time.  He'd fit right in at the Aspen Film Oscar party, the perfect demographic.

The BRIDESMAIDS:  Those girls are funny.  Some of 'em are very hot and they know how to party.  No I don't wanna get with the big one. 

Are they robots? What about hygene? 

BRAD PITT and ANGELINA JOLIE:  My man...get a f#*king haircut, or at least wash that rag more often, or use conditioner or something. ANGIE...nice dress.  I think I got a glimpse of your kitty when you strolled onstage.  Nice posing??? did someone tell you to stand like that all night?...what drugs are you on?

The funniest Oscar moment, Jim Rash mocking Angie. 

JIM RASH: Oscar winning writer for The Descendants, posing like Angie was the funniest moment of the night. His Mocking pose was the funniest Oscar moment I can ever remember.   Way funnier than Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis.

THE YEAR in FILM:  It was a good year for movies, but not great.   The Artist, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, and The Help were my favorites...but I sat through a lot of dogs in between.  Hollywood seems to have run out of original ideas...and they think they can replace good stories with special effects. 

ELLEN DEGENERES: Who died and made her Oprah?

Hollywood has lost touch with reality.  Fame is a double edged sword, and some of the stars have obviously become deviants.  The stars are being given to much reverence for to little return. Who are you wearing?  Some of them are good looking, some are talented, some are smart and funny as h^ll, but all the pomp and circumstance, Really???   Maybe it's not a new phenomenon...but Hollywood is taking themselves a little to seriously.  And the Oscar for curing cancer goes to...

The Bridesmaids...know how to party.Meryl Streep...Winner Best Actress...and she can still rock the Ferragamo's

Aspen LOL's

Hippie man Kills in Aspen. Click 4 pix.Aspen loves stand-up comedy.  Back in the olden days Aspen hosted HBO's Comedy Arts Festival, a world famous stand-up event.  Huge stars used to come to Aspen to battle the altitude and show off their comedy stylings.

The Aspen Laff Festival, in it's 2nd year is filling the void left behind by HBO's departure.  Aspen Laff Fest presents 4 nights of first-class comedy at The Wheeler Opera House.  2 nights down, 2 nights to go and   it's been a blast so far.  The laughs have been fast and furious. 

ASPEN LAFF FESTIVAL. (click 4 pix).

COMEDY is DANGEROUS BIZ (Click 4 pix).

The opening night "snack pack", a FREE SHOW showcasing some of the new faces of comedy was hilarious. Then HippieMan returned to the Wheeler stage, where last year he was the triumphant winner of the New Face of Comedy Award.  This guy's unusual comic delivery was a BIG hit again in Aspen.  Just looking at Hippieman gave the rowdy, almost capacity crowd the munchies.  Opening night headliner Bobcat Goldthwait did not fare quite as well.  Bobcat..., most recently a TV director and star of such 80's cinematic classics as Police Academy 2,3,and 4 as well as Shakes the Clown did not quite deliver.  He tried...and he said some funny stuff...but he could not sustain the laughs.  He "almost got there" commented one disappointed audience member.  Bobcat got some courtesy laughs from the good natured Aspen crowd but his show was considered a bomb.

Comics on Money. click 4 pix.The second night opened with a bunch of comics, on stage discussing money and Wall Street.  Bobcat, whose flight was canceled ( which had nothing to do with his previous performance) actually chimed in with some good laughs and Phil Palisoul added some gut busting one-liners.  The panel discussion format led to some great ad-lib style comedy and allowed the comics to bash each other and the entire financial system of the United States of America. Hippieman admitted to being "off money for years".  As pointed out by a friendly 1% heckler...not one of the comics had ever taken an economics class.  Funny sets from Keith Alberstadt (Saturday Night Live) and Sarah Tiana kept the laughs coming.   Sarah...a demure Southern Belle surprised the 7pm audience with her blue material.  "C'mon people...we're talking about f#*king here".  "Parliaments and a 5 hour energy...it's what's for dinner".  Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show closed off the second night with tales of her Ob-Gyn and his decision to attend Clown School. 

Days 3  of the Aspen Laff Fest were jam packed with laughs.  The Wheeler was filled with people lookin' for levity.  Costaki Economopoulos and Phil Palisoul cracked up the audience with their brand of stand-up. Palisoul was "hilarious" according to a hot chick who wanted  her pic on AspenSpin. Day 3  headliner Ben Bailey, "The Cash Cab Guy" had it going on.  Bailey had to fend off some good natured heckling from the peanut gallery...but he handled it well.  His interaction with the audience was some of his best stuff.  Quick zings about retards, 1% ers and Aspen locals allowed him to dominate.

Oh Sh*t. Late night freestyle comedyDay 4 kicked off with the NEW FACES of Comedy.  Hosted by last year's winner Hippieman, 4 relative newcomers took the Wheeler stage.  Deacon Gray, Nora Lynch, Troy Walker and April Richardson battled for laughs.  Troy Walker of Denver came out on top to win the New Faces audience award.  Jimmy Pardo and Danny Bevins, both comedy pros revealed their best stuff and the crowd responded...by laughing.  The Laff Fest closed out with comedy legend David Brenner throwing it down for an hour and 45 minutes.  Brenner who holds the record for most Tonight Show guest spots of 158 first graced Johnny Carson's stage in 1969.  Generally credited for inventing "topical humor" Brenner gave it everything he had.  He assured everyone that he doesn't really have a huge nose..."I have a small face". 

In closing out Aspen Laff Fest., Brenner thanked producers Gram Slaton and Tom Simmons for keeping comedy alive in Aspen.  He stressed that  "Aspen can't lose the laughter".  If the 2012 Aspen Laff Festival is an indicator...Aspen will keep laughing forever.

David Brenner at The 2012 Aspen Laff Festival. "Never lose the laughter".

Bobcat Goldthwait : Sorry to say...he bombed at Aspen Laff Fest. click 4 pix.Sarah Tiana (still single) has a whole list of deal breakers. Click 4 pix.Bart the Dog, managing the Wheeler box office at The Aspen Laff Fest. Click 4 pix.

Aspen Laff Festival 2012

The 2nd Annual Aspen Laff Fest is upon us. Feb 22-25 at The Wheeler.  Aspen Laff Festival is one of the best events of the season.  Let's face it, every event at The Wheeler Opera House is great.  How often do you get to party in an legitimate historic structure ...built in1889.   In fact ASPEN SPIN guarantees that you will laugh out loud at Aspen Laff Fest. ....if not...the first 12 Pack of PBR is on us. *restrictions apply.

The Aspen Laff Festival kicks off with a FREE show tonight at 6 pm.

See the line-up and BUY TICKETS HERE:   ASPEN LAFF

Aspen Laff Festival 2012 at The Wheeler Opera House. Click 4 info and tickets.

Shiny puffy coats and The President's Wife.

President's Weekend in Aspen. Click 4 pix.The President's Day crowd jet-setted into Aspen with a fury.  It's as if Aspen's "1% switch" had been turned on.   It's just an observation, but President's Weekend might just be the most upscale weekend of the year in Aspen.  We're basing that on condensed nature of private school vacations.  Aspen Spin has not been past the traffic circle in a while, but we've heard the line-up of private jets at the airport is quite impressive.  There is a lot of private in town...and of course the secret service.

The people from the city show up and bring all their mishegoss with them. The shiny puffy coats on Ajax more than quadrupled over night.  Please note, shiny gear often has a negative correlation to actual skill level on the mountain (sorry Jet Set and Moncler).  The sheer amount of data being exchanged on Aspen Mountain must be incredible.  Everybody is measuring their verts, clocking their speed, clicking app's, facebooking, tweeting, going pro and live blogging every run. The real players have to whip out both an I phone and a Blackberry on the Gondola  to handle all their action. The on-mountain people-watching is a pure thrill ride of entertainment.  The mob scene at lunch is out of control.  Table saving, line cutting and who has the biggest.....checkbook are all the new black.   Lots of New Yorkers and Angelinos sprinkled in with Chicagoans and a few extras from Miami, Dallas and Houston and my homies from Detroit.  There is still a formidable International presence in Aspen from Australia, Brasil, Russia and Europe.  The First lady, Michelle Obama is in town having a "girls weekend" with her daughters.  If that ain't BIG Time ...I don't know what is.  She's facebook friends with the Crown's.

Click 4 pix.     Ajax Express    and  Spinning the Ballet

So we will continue spinning #winning and #linning in Aspen. Skiing every day (almost) and partying every night (not really) is A-Spin's way of life in Aspen.  We took a few sick pix on Ajax ( Click AJAX EXPRESS 4 pix) and we experienced some of Aspen's World Class Culture at the ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET ( click Spinning the Ballet 4 pix) and then partied at a BIG daddy mansion for Mardi Gras.  

As I write this post it's dumping heavily in Aspen.  It's supposed to snow all week according to our friends at Weather Aspen.   AspenSpin is taking the night off...with pay,  to play rec. hockey, watch Kenny Powers on HBO and get ready for a POW Day......We are #tebowing for POW.

Turns out President's Day was the best POW day of the seaz.(so far). 

Click 4 pix  PRESIDENTIAL POW DAY.

Opening Night at the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet with Exec. Director Jean-Phillippe Malaty (L) and Artistic director Tom Mossbrucker (R) and others. Cllick 4 pix.Mardi Gras at The Mansion. 20,000 sq ft of fun.

Dr. Kenneth Mark crushing it on Ajax. Click the AJAX EXPRESS pix. Share 'em, like' em, copy 'em.

Panic in Aspen.

Widespread Panic invades Aspen for 3 Sold Out Shows.There's a panic in Aspen this weekend.  It's not from the lack of POW (skiing has been pretty decent). It's not the surge in demand for 7000 sq ft penthouses in the core, it's not even the high school coach sex scandal.  It's WIDESPREAD PANIC, the popular Southern Jam Band.  Widespread Panic is playing 3 nights at Aspen's Belly Up Tavern at a general admission price of $350 (per night).   Tickets for the 3-night stand sold out in like 30 seconds...so it's clear that demand is high. 

AspenSpin has never experienced a WideSpread Panic show, and we won't this time either because at $350 per ticket (scalpers are asking much higher) we're gonna take a pass.  We won't be the only one's in Aspen who reflect for a moment to remember and honor our fallen friend, Adam Dennis.  Adam was one of the most fervent Widespread Panic fans around...travelling to shows all over the place. Adam is no longer with us, but he'll be looking down on Aspen this weekend and busting a RAD move, because it feels good to see a BIG man dance.

Other entertainment options exist.

The Wheeler Opera House presents folk singer and social activist Judy Collins tonight ( Feb 17).   Judy Collins is an iconic songstress who also happens to be a graduate of  The University of Colorado.  Her 1969 classic anthem BIG YELLOW TAXI is still relevant and rings very true today.  "Don't it always seem to go.  That you don't know what you've got til it's gone.  They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Click 4 tickets. JUDY COLLINS at the Wheeler.

The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) brings their eclectic dance stylings to the District Theatre at Aspen School Campus for two nights (Feb 17 & 18).  The world famous ASFB dance troupe will perform a triple bill of dances from three separate choreographers.  OVER GLOW, LEFT UNSAID and SQUARE NONE will mix classic, contemporary and improvisational styles in an evening that is sure to please.

Click 4 tickets.  ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET at The District Theatre.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at The district Theatre. Photo Sharon Bradfort / Courtesy AFSB