7:53 p.m. Honorary Oscar winner Robert Boyle, 98, takes almost a minute to be escorted onto the stage. Asked what he misses about show business from his era, Boyle gives a thoughtful, if grumpy-old-mannish, answer: ''I'm an absolute dummy with a computer...so I can't speak to what's happening today so much. But I do miss the community that we had then. People seemed to work together more in those days. They are more separate these days.... I think you have the tools now that you can do anything. Unfortunately, very often you do everything. Discipline in art is also very important. The things you don't say are sometimes as important as what you do say. And if you do too much, you destroy the point you are trying to make.''
8:11 p.m. The Once winners come backstage. Markéta Irglová explains quite matter-of-factly that she didn't realize the mic was cut when she went up to give her acceptance speech, but once she got backstage, she was assured she'd get a chance to say thank you. She's so low key, it's hard to tell if there's more of a story there. Her professional and personal partner Glen Hansard is equally down to earth. Asked about whether he'd go back to busking (i.e. singing on the street), he answers that he was just doing that a few months ago in Barcelona: ''It's a great way to get to know a city.''
8:22 p.m. Now that's some refreshing, if not exactly flattering, honesty: Robert Elswit, Best Cinematography winner for There Will Be Blood, steps up to the stage just as an Academy official asks ''Are there any questions for Best Cinematography?'' Elswit says under his breath, ''God, I hope not.''
8:47 p.m. The show's over, but my job's not. Mysteriously, Javier Bardem, Diablo Cody, Daniel Day-Lewis, and the Coen Brothers all have yet to make it back here from the Kodak Theater.
9:02 p.m. A grinning, easygoing Diablo Cody finally comes backstage, and unlike so many other winners, her answers are rapid-fire fast. No, she's not going to name her statue anything other than ''Oscar.'' No, she wouldn't have anyone else write her life story, because no one would believe it. No, she isn't wearing million-dollar shoes (as had been reported elsewhere) — ''if I had a million dollars, I'd help people.'' No, she didn't mean to make a statement about pregnancy when she wrote the film — ''it's Juno's story, hence the title.'' Yes, she's always been a writer, but no, it was only recently that she even thought about screenwriting — ''you grow up in the suburbs in the Midwest, you don't know any screenwriters, so it just doesn't seem like a realistic career possibility.'' And no, she has no opinion about pregnant teen Jamie Lynn Spears — ''I'm not going to kick her while she's down.'' If this is coming off as negative, that's more a result of the kinds of questions thrown at her than her demeanor, which couldn't be more upbeat.
9:11 p.m. The Coen Brothers and Scott Rudin step to the stage blank-faced, but a reporter finally gets some words — and, even better, a broad smile — out of Ethan Coen, when she asks how Roderick Jaynes (i.e. the pseudonym the Coens take for their editing work) is taking his loss. ''He's elderly and unhappy,'' jokes the younger Coen, ''so probably not well.'' Otherwise, he was predictably taciturn.
9:18 p.m. And, at long, long last, Javier Bardem, the night's first acting winner, is one of the last folks to make it back to the press room. But — darn it! — his first, second, third, and fourth questions-and-answers are in Spanish! If the promise of Daniel Day-Lewis and his swoon-worthy eloquence weren't looming, I'd so be out of here.
9:28 p.m. Finally, some questions for Bardem in English! (No disrespect to Spanish speakers at all. It's just that I got Cs in Spanish class and feel helpless to report what he's saying.) And, man, I'm glad he's speaking in English. He's currently unspooling some terrific praise for his fellow nominees: ''Casey Affleck, the whole journey is a piece of [pause] jewelry. Jewelry? Like every piece [was] on time in order to create a spectrum of a ghost.''
9:33 p.m. Perhaps because his role in There Will be Blood is the most richly, darkly serious in a group of five serious Best Actor nominees, most of the questions to Daniel Day-Lewis are almost determinedly light-hearted. Have you been offered a lot of complimentary milkshakes? ''I'm very much looking forward to all the milkshakes I'm going to have over the next 25 years.'' What do you do for a laugh? ''The great thing about that is I don't have to talk about it. I'm not telling!' Oh, why not? ''Because it's none of your f---ing business!'' (He says this with a wry smile.) Are you aware how big the milkshake line has become? ''I am completely aware of it. I think it's fantastic. I mean, if people absorb something that you've done, if that gets absorbed into the culture in such a way that people can make something else from it, that's delightful to me.... We call it ''slagging'' in Ireland, taking the piss in England.'' Why did you kiss George Clooney on your way to the Oscar stage? ''Because George has been there for me, and he was the closest fellow nominee.... George is just so incredibly generous. He's a great guy, really. I had to kiss someone. I kissed my wife, and in the interests in parity, I kissed him too.''
9:45 p.m. Daniel Day-Lewis has left the stage, and with that, my time here is at an end. By my count: six statues for the brothers Coen; five languages spoken (French, Spanish, German, Italian, and English); four foreign-born acting winners; three major unexpected wins (Best Actress, Best Documentary, Best Supporting Actress); two Coke Zeros consumed; and one set of tired fingers. Good night!
