11 February 2006

We caught the opening ceremonies for the Olympics last night. Like other opening ceremonies, there were moments of true beauty followed by moments of pure surrealism.
Among them: the inexplicable playing of disco hits from the 70s and 80s during the parade of nations. Nothing ilke hearing Donna Summers' "Hot Stuff" when the Iranian team was walking out. Also played: "YMCA", "I Will Survive", and "Funkytown." Surreal. Also strange: an unintelligible Yoko Ono -- dressed like an eskimo and sporting huge sunglasses -- reading an "ode" to peace. Nice thought, but her outfit and her strange diction was totally distracting.

P.S. Just found out our folks who have been traveling with the First Lady in Torino have to stay an extra night b/c of the snow here in DC. Nice!

11 February 2006

Mrs. K's -- a restaurant we're lucky enough to have at the end of our block --is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The Washington Examiner has the story here. Didn't realize Bess Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt have dined there. Hillary Clinton was recently there, too.

10 February 2006

And for no particular reason at all. A picture of Carol Channing and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts at my alma mater, GW, this week. Random. Meanwhile, I saw Carol Channing once -- she's like, 6 feet tall. No joke.

10 February 2006

Maybe it's the upstate New Yorker in me, but I'm psyched about the snow we're supposedly going to get in DC. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

9 February 2006

Ok, "highlights" from last night's WPCF dinner. In no particular order.

1) Chatting with my old boss and TV shoutmeiser, John McLaughlin, and McLaughlin then bragging to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) about how I used to work for him and now I'm a "bigtime" producer. He must be mellowing in his old age.

2) Meeting Miss America. Quite pretty. Not a thought in her head.

3) Being at a loss for words when saying hello to Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) who lost the
race to replace Tom DeLay as House Majority Leader last week. (Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.)

4) Meeting Fran Drescher. She's quite pretty. And still has an annoying laugh.

5) Listening to Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) tell dirty jokes.

6) Running into colleagues at other networks who keep trying to convince me to jump ship.

7) Colleagues (including myself) furiously blackberrying during dinner as the Russell Senate Office building evacuation was unfolding. (Authorities thought a nerve agent had been detected in one of the air ducts). 200 staffers about seven senators were stuck in the Russell parking garage for 3 hours. The rest of the senators were at the dinner.

The Washington Post's write up of the dinner is HERE.

8 February 2006

I'm on the board of the Washington Press Club Foundation and our annual "Salute to Congress" is tonight. The money raised goes to fund scholarships for journalism students. It's a bunch of media types and members of Congress and a smattering of "celebrities." I put that in quotes b/c the only celebrities I know are coming are Joe Pantolino (that guy from the Sopranos) and Fran Drescher. (I actually sat next to Fran Dresher at Ivy's Restaurant in Santa Monica one time when I was traveling with Chris Matthews. Who, by the way, has his own bobble-head doll. How wrong is that?) Anyway, just so you know, her crazy, annoying TV laugh is the SAME as her real life, crazy, annoying laugh. I'm sure I'll be hearing it tonight over rubbery sea bass and discussions of NSA wiretapping. The dinner's being broadcast on CSPAN. Too bad my mom's the only one remotely interested in actually watching it.

My only regret is that I'm going to miss Larry King Live tonight, who is hosting Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie Tanner from "Full House". Her "famous" line: "HOW RoooooooooDE!). Apparently she's a recovering meth addict. Fabulous.

8 February 2006

Thanks to my dear friend, Joyce, I'm now aware that Larry King Live did a program last night -- NOT about Coretta Scott King, NOT about government wiretapping, NOT about a cure for cancer, NOT about the spread of Islamic extremism. No, the show featured a reunion of the cast from "Growing Pains." Fabulous.

7 February 2006

Watching coverage of Coretta Scott King's funeral. It's quite moving. But I can't help but wonder: why the #&*(%#$ is Michael Bolton there? I know why Jesse Jackson is there. I know why Al Sharpton is there. I know why Stevie Wonder is there. I know why Maya Angelou is there. But Michael Bolton?

7 February 2006

She's just Hillary from the block. Loved this item from the New York Daily News:
"The state of Bill and Hillary Clinton's union is apparently strong -- at least judging by the mongo diamond that Hillary was sporting" 2/6. Sources say the ex-pres. "quietly gave the iceberg-sized bling -- thought to exceed 3 carats -- to his wife months ago," before their 30th anniversary 10/11. "But the sparkling stunner is so big" that HRC "has been nervous about wearing it" and "hasn't broken it out" until recently. All Clinton spokesperson Jennifer Hanley "would say": "It was a gift from her husband." I wonder what (or who) he did NOW!?