Jan. 15: A Little R & R
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I hope you all had a great weekend. Once again, my two days of rest and relaxation turned into a half-day of R-and-R. I was at a friend’s birthday party in Tribeca, which is for those not familiar with NYC, one of the southernmost neighborhoods on the island of Manhattan. You probably heard of it back in the 90’s — JFK Jr. lived there with Carolyn. It’s basically adjacent to the financial district which is where the World Trade Center area is. If you haven’t been there recently, it’s quite a humbling place. Still a massive hole in the ground, albeit now with a lot of construction going on. The strangest thing about that area, I think, is the PATH. The PATH is basically a subway that links Manhattan with New Jersey. It goes under the Hudson River and its first stop is Hoboken, where I live. But when you take the PATH to the World Trade Center stop, which opened not too long ago, be prepared for a somewhat disturbing but curious site. As you emerge from the dark tunnel, you come right out into what is essentially the belly of the WTC. They called it the Bathtub during the 9/11 aftermath. It’s almost like we shouldn’t be there, although I guess that’s kind of a moot point, since just feet away there are tractors and workers rebuilding the scene. I had no idea we would come out in the middle of such hallowed ground. It was a bit shocking, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. I wonder what the family members of victims think about that.
Luckily, and I say this totally tongue in cheek, the Jacksonville Jaguars did NOT win the other night because if they did, I probably would not be alive to enjoy the celebration. Mimi’s party was a blast, but Mimi and her husband Mark are from Boston; hence, die-hard Pats fans. I noticed that my screaming after each successful play was met with a not so happy look from Mark. Mimi was running around with a bottle of champagne in her hand so I’m not sure she really minded or even noticed haha. Just kidding — party was awesome and Mark was a great host.
I was also bummed to see the Colts lose because I’m a big Peyton Manning fan. His commercials did it for me, I admit. I like the family though — Eli lives in Hoboken. I’ve seen him around a few times (the ‘Boken is not that big — one square mile) at dinner with his fiancée, whom I believe was his college sweetheart. My makeup artist Daniela works with the Giants on a local television show and says Eli is really sweet, as are his parents.
So I’m rooting for the Giants to head to the Super Bowl. Next year, J-ville!
I was watching the new celebrity version of The Apprentice. Trump was on our show a few weeks ago, actually the day of the premiere. I had a chance to TIVO it — it’s great. It’s my favorite Apprentice so far, actually. The celebs themselves — well I’ll say this: Some are very likable and some are horrific. We’ve all known that Omarosa is a piece of work, but who knew what a creep Gene Simmons was. One of the best moments so far came on I believe Episode two. The teams were broken down into male vs. female. At one point, the gorgeous Ivanka (more on her in a second) walks in to check up on the guys. Simmons smarmily shuts her down when she asks a question. Then, he follows that insult up with a sexist comment about how she’s probably going to run back to the women and spill the beans. Ewwwwwwwwww he is awful. And what’s with that hair?! It looks like the kind of hair that you spray on out of a bottle. He’s become my new favorite TV villain.
Gene Simmons and his wife were on our show a while back. Not the most pleasant people. His wife Shannon, who is beautiful but ice cold, has the ability to turn it on for the cameras, and once the rolling stopped, turn it RIGHT off. I tried approaching her in the green room prior to the show and she blew me off.
Of course NOTHING compares to American Idol, which thankfully starts tonight. This writers’ strike is killing TV, it really is. And that’s why I think (and I’m not exactly going out on a limb by saying this) Idol is going to clean up because it’s fresh every week. Blake Lewis is back on Thursday to perform his new single. He’s a nice guy. The last time we saw him we hooked him up to a lie detector. I have a feeling his publicists will be tethered to him to make sure THAT doesn’t happen again. Only kidding — he was fine. Although he did give us a little scoop that he did “hook up” with another Idol contestant. We just don’t know who that was. Might have to do a little more investigating this time around….
As far as the Britney Fiasco coverage — it has lead our show for the past two days and honestly, I am conflicted about that. Viewers watch avidly — but on the flip side we get e-mails saying “enough with the Britney crap”. I never thought I’d quote Kevin Federline but… “I think the infatuation with the whole thing is that watching us go through things makes other people feel normal.” That’s a quote from the new issue of “Interview,” about the obsession over Britney’s drama. What do you think? I tend to agree, and I also think this is a society that loves to build people up and tear them down when they get too high. I will say — insiders claim she could have gone to the courtroom yesterday via the underground garage, yet did not. She could also move back to Kentwood, LA and go underground. Paparazzi may follow her there initially, but please, they’d get tired of normal, small-town America real quick if Britney didn’t give them fodder every day.
