LA Diary Days Two and Three

Ahead of the Oscars, RTÉ News Arts & Media Correspondent Sinéad Crowley writes from Los Angeles on a great week for the Irish and how Glen Hansard is handling the fame thing.
Read Day One here.

"Hey look - that's that guy from the movie! Seriously, over there!" The woman with the swingy blonde 'because I'm worth it' hair points, and I look over, my neck straining to see through the crowd who pack out the uber-trendy Sky Bar at the Mondrian Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. In the corner of the room Glen Hansard puts his arm around Markéta Irglóva's shoulder and whispers in her ear. His fan sighs. 

Glen Hansard? Oh yeah. In a town falling down with Oscar nominees, he's standing out in the crowd this week. He's even lost his last name - "Glen and Marketa are here" has been the sentence that has heralded the real start of the two major Irish parties this week, the Film Board bash at the Mondrian and the Oscar Wilde Irish in Hollywood celebration the following night. Nobody warned me there'd be days like these when I was going to Frames gigs in Whelans 10 years ago.

In fairness, I don't think anyone told Glen either. But at least this week he looks like he's really enjoying himself. When I interviewed him before Christmas he seemed to be on the verge of backing away from the whole fame experience. Being stopped on the streets of New York, having famous faces invite him to parties - the whole thing appeared to have left him reeling. But now he's found a way to put his own stamp on the whole celeb experience and it seems to be working for him.

Take the Oscar Wilde gig for example. Everyone back slapping and praising 'Once' and asking the duo to sing their Oscar nominated song... Hansard hopped up onto a table, grabbed the battered guitar and treated us to 'The Auld Triangle', inspiring probably Oscar week's first and only group singalong. Took us all back to the early days, the busking and the craic and the love for the music that inspired the film in the first place. Big grin on his face that seemed to say, 'yeah, this is mad, but I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.' Right attitude if you ask me. 

Because it is great craic, this pre-Oscar week in Hollywood.  A bit mad, particularly considering the amount of Irish that are in town. Take the Wilde Oscars, for example. A celebration of the Irish in film, this year honouring Fiona Shaw, Colm Meaney and honorary Irish man James L Brooks - who gave the best acceptance speech that will be made in this town this year. So there I was on the red carpet, TV3 News beside me, a friend from work in front of me and a woman I went to college with walking in behind. With the rain and the drizzle I pretty much forgot I was in Hollywood. Then Conor from 'Glenroe' walked past and I got genuinely confused.

But then, at other times, you remember you're in Hollywood alright. That's why the dinner at the Oscar Wilde's was an Irish stew margarita and the barman apologised to me when he wasn't able to deliver my order the minute I asked for it - a glass of water, by the way. The joy of the eight-hour time difference means you have to leave parties at 10.30pm to prepare for a 'Morning Ireland' interview at midnight. Now that's a twist on the jet lag experience. And that's why, when I went in to get my hair blow dried this morning, the receptionist took a quizzical look at me and asked - well, practically ordered - that I get my eyebrows plucked at the same time. And then muttered "its' a good thing I asked" when I took her up on the offer and admitted, shamefacedly, that I actually appear on television for a living. Ouch.

But I love it. I love being ordered to 'have a great day now' when I order a latte and I love the fact that the entire centre of the town has closed down for a week so pretty people can walk down a carpet and go to the theatre for a few hours, and I love the fact that even if you're only looking for directions to an ATM, everyone greets you with a massive smile. I don't even care if it's insincere. It's nice when people are nice to you. And by the look on his face while he charmed the crowd the other night, it looks like Glen Hansard has realised that too.