Jan. 23: The Death Of Heath Ledger
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Hi.
I’m sitting here at my desk in my (still messy, non-remodeled-despite-my-many-not-so-subtle-hints) office. I love love love dogs but holy mama, the dogs on set today killed my allergies. Thank goodness for the new med I’m taking — Cingulair. I sound like a spokesperson, trust me I’m not. But I’m telling you this stuff has totally helped me out. Poor Mike (actually, poor EVERYONE) has had to deal with over five years of sniffling, blowing, coughing, gross tissue paper wadded up in little blobs on the couch, the floors, etc. I think this stuff is actually clearing me up. I’d tried everything, but this is the only thing that seems to be working for me. Yayyyyyyyy!!!!
So, like every show, we started off with the death of Heath Ledger. I could not believe it when I heard he’d died yesterday. I remember interviewing him for “A Knight’s Tale” back in the day, when I was working in Los Angeles. First, I recall thinking “WOW he’s gorgeous.” Plus, I’m a sucker for Aussie accents. But he was very charming, just seemed like a nice guy. How horrible things must have become for him that he was surrounded by a cocktail of pills. God knows what else was there. It’s going to be interesting to see how this unfolds once the toxicology and autopsy reports come out. The whole Mary Kate Olsen thing seems a bit shady to me. Supposedly, the masseuse called the bodyguard of MK, who lives nearby and she called a private security firm… That’s the rumor at least; who knows if it’s actually true. But if it is — it makes me wonder why they chose NOT to call 911 which, as I know all too well (see yesterday’s entry), is what you need to do when there’s an emergency the second that emergency breaks out. Those passing seconds are critical; it’s a hell of a lot more important to worry about THEM, than worry about whether there were drugs lying around. I’m not suggesting there were drugs; but of course it is a theory when you look at how things appear to have played out.
The worst is the news that his poor family found out through the media. That’s the price of fame, but what a crappy price it is.
In lighter terrain, did you happen to watch American Idol last night? I still love the show, but I have to say I’m not sure why they spend so much time on the back stories of the people who wind up coming in and performing horribly. I’d much rather hear the stories behind the people who we’re going to care about down the road.
There seems to be some awesome talent this year, although as usual, they all over-do it with the wobbly-voice routine, as my makeup artist friend Jasia refers to it. That’s when they take a note and totally belabor it for five minutes with all sorts of Mariah Carey-esque techniques. Why can’t anyone just sing with simple emotion anymore?
Speaking of things that bug me… There is one thing that has become epidemic here in New York City and I cannot understand how I’ve been able to hold my tongue. Customer service is really tanking. I’m so tired of walking into (INSERT ANY STORE, COFFEE SHOP, PLACE WITH A COUNTER HERE) places, going up to the counter with my purchases, saying hello to the checker and having them not only not respond, but not even look up. It is SO freaking rude. And the manager is standing right there half the time. Is this ok???!?! Now, I will say that there are a lot of rude customers out there who berate checkers, servers and other service industry people, but I’m not one of them, and neither are my friends or family. I don’t think it’s necessary to ask me how my family’s doing, but at least acknowledge that I’m standing in front of you.
Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. The dogs on set for our Pet Personality segments were great, although the German shepherd wasn’t too keen on the other dogs, including Felix’s (Mike’s and my stylist) dog Fabby. He also didn’t like the lab. I thought labs got along with everyone, huh! Huh!?
And finally, the Master Cleanse. Ok, maybe I was (once again) a little emphatic in my support for the person with the medical degree on set but I have to tell you, I’m tired of people with no medical background telling doctors about medicine, health and nutrition. Our guest, who authored the first book in 30 years on the Master Cleanse, though a polite guy, got very aggressive with our doctor, Marc Siegel. You just lose me when you try to pummel people who have spent years and years and years studying the human body and how it works. Dr. Siegel is an internist, no less so I’m going to listen to him over someone who lacks a medical background, and I’m going to do everything I can to remind viewers that they’re listening to someone with no medical credentials attack a person with many years of medicine behind them.
As Cindy Adams, the gossip columnist says, “Just saying…”
