17 June 2006

MY EYES!!! MY EYES!! I just witnessed the worst piece of television in nearly 15 years of journalism. Connie Chung's painful and wretched rendition of "Thanks for the Memories" -- a pathetic and embarrassing end to the pathetic and embarrassing MSNBC show "Weekends with Maury & Connie."


"This half a year flew by

My Maury, what a guy!

Instead of asking 'who's the daddy?'

He could talk Dubai..."


The other thing that was totally crazy was the fact that the smiling young man at the piano didn't play a NOTE -- he simply pretended to play, his fingers moving across the keys, but not pressing any. So instead of hiring a piano player to TRY to keep Connie in tune, they got some kid to PRETEND like he was playing. Class act, all the way.

Note: Picture courtesy of MediaBistro.

16 June 2006

Ok, so I'm finished with one show --writing for another. And I just wrote (what we call in the "biz")-- a TELL. That's when the anchor reads a short script from the teleprompter. And I dare say, it's my best one yet. See, it's funny totally on its own -- but when I think about my 6'5" Texas-born man's man anchor reading it, it's all the MORE hilarious. Here it is. Enjoy:

"Sesame Street will kick off its 37th season premiere August 14th with a new character-- its first new female muppet in 13 years. The new character --Abby Caddaby--will use the catchphrase "that's so magic." The muppet is a pink "fairy-in-training" who uses rhyme and magic to express herself. A Sesame Workshop release described her as quote/unquote "a youngster who knows just enough about magic to get herself in a jam but not always enough to get out of trouble."

16 June 2006

Seeing is believing--Cher on C-SPAN. I love America. (Pics courtesy of Fishbowl DC.)

13 June 2006

Random thoughts today:

1) Those wacky Cubans. Fidel and his boys cut off the electricity to the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Havana. It's currently on generator power. Calls for electricity to be restored have gone unanswered. Check out the story HERE. Fidel is seriously losing it. Reminds me of a story recently in which Castro's personal physician says the dictator is on track to live to 140. Yes, 140. That's not a typo. Fidel will turn 80 this August and the CIA believes he has Parkinson's Disease. Remember when he fell off a stage a couple of years ago? Good times.



2) Believe it or not, Geno's Steaks in South Philly is now in the center of the immigration debate. At issue: Geno's English-only ordering policy: "They don't know how lucky they are. All we're asking them to do is learn the English language," said Geno's owner Joey Vento, 66. "We're out to help these people, but they've got to help themselves, too." According to a wire story, Vento-- whose grandparents struggled to learn English after immigrating from Sicily in the 1920s-- said he posted the sign about six months ago amid concerns over immigration reform and the increasing number of customers who could not order in English when they wanted a cheesesteak. At the risk of sounding un-politically correct, I agree with Joe. Check out the story in the Philly Inquirer HERE.



3) This press release was just emailed to me:

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHER JOINS C-SPAN'S "WASHINGTON JOURNAL" WEDNESDAY AT 9 A.M. ET

TO DISCUSS "OPERATION HELMET"

All of which means--Cher will be in my building tomorrow morning. FABULOUS!

Believe it or not, "Operation Helmet" is not about deploying hair stylists to our nation's local TV news anchors. It's a group that sends upgraded helmets to our soldiers overseas. You can learn more about the group HERE.

Somehow I don't think Cher will be wearing this "ensemble" to her big trip to Washington. But wouldn't it be fun if she did??
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4) For NO reason at all: HOFF INVADERS!

12 June 2006

Had a FABULOUS Pride weekend. The weather was glorious--sunny, breezy, mid-70s. (Usually Pride's are hazy, hot, and humid.) Sat outside FoodBar on 17th Street with friends--had some burgers and margaritas--and watched the parade. Floats, and drag queens, and shirtless cowboys, and leather daddies, and topless motorcylists, our gay marching band and every community group of every stripe. (Love the gay pacific islanders and the socialist gay group!) As usual the PFLAG contingent brought out one of the largest applauses (and the most tears.) There's nothing like seeing someone's mom wearing a boa and holding a sign that says "My gay son deserves to marry!" or "I love my gay daughter!" I've been blessed with a supportive mom--and I often forget there are MANY in my community whose parents DON'T support them. Even cut them off from the family--emotionally, spiritually, and financially. Anyway, we then went to two parties in the evening, and then the next morning after b'fast, we made our way to Pennsylvania Avenue for the street festival.

Here's some pics from the weekend: