©AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill9:12 p.m.: I get the first crack at the night's big winners: No Country for Old Men's Joel and Ethan Coen. Noting their success, I ask how Roderick Jaynes, their alter ego, was dealing with "his" loss in the editing category. "We haven't talked to him," says Ethan. "We know he's elderly and unhappy, so probably not well."
9:14 p.m: "It's a good thing he's a writer," a nearby reporter cracks as Ethan, who wasn't all that chatty on the telecast, stumbles, stammers and finally gives up on answering a question.
9:16 p.m.: Between them, the Coens won six Oscars tonight, covering their shared wins for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and yet I don't see a single one on stage with them now. I guess they needed a third Coen brother to handle all the hardware.
9:20 p.m.: Unlike virtually every other winner back here tonight, Best Supporting Actor champ Javier Bardem is not speaking in French. He's speaking in Spanish, which I studied for three years in high school. And then forgot.
9:23 p.m.: Muy! Bardem just said muy! That means very.
9:24 p.m.: I'm not going to lie, that'll be the extent of my translating work tonight. Unless Cotillard runs back in and shouts oui! In which case, I'll be happy to tell you that that means yes. (Don't mention it.)
9:25 p.m.: "You know, I said some pretty good things there in Spanish," Bardem jokes when he at last fields a question in English.
9:27 p.m.: Bardem is delivering quite a beautiful soliloquy about all the things he loved in his fellow nominees' performances. In case Casey Affleck is interested, his work was likened to a "piece of jewelry."
9:28 p.m.: Bardem uses more humble imagery when it comes to his own achievement. "This is a lottery. I won," he says simply. "That doesn't mean I am better than the rest, that's for sure."
9:34 p.m.: Best Actor winner Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't seem nearly as scary-intense as his There Will Be Blood character, so I feel safe in asking him whether he expects to be comped with milkshakes in the near future. "I'm very much looking forward to all the milkshakes I can drink for the next 25 years," the good sport says.
9:36 p.m.: Another reporter asks the esteemed thespian, who doesn't strike one as an individual who spends a lot of time on YouTube, if he's aware of the "I drink your milkshake!" phenomenon. "I am completely aware of it," Day-Lewis says. "I think it's fantastic."
9:38 p.m.: There's a simple reason Day-Lewis kissed George Clooney after he won. "George has been there for me," Day-Lewis says with a somewhat straight face, adding, "I had to kiss someone. I kissed my wife, and in the interest of parity, I kissed George."
And with that, I'm kissing the 2008 Oscars goodnight.
—Filed by Joal Ryan