Nov. 26: Go Mizzou!
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Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and aren’t too, as Mike loves to say, bloated.
I had a great time! I went to Doug’s (boyfriend) mom’s house with MY mom, who is staying with me temporarily. My brother John was working (he’s a writer at Fox 5 in NYC) so it was just the two of us. Rather than stare at each other across a table at some random restaurant in the city or cook our own Thanksgiving dinner for two — we took up the gracious offer to hang with Doug’s mom and grandparents, TaTa and YaYa (Greek for grandmother, I think) and had a really nice time. Shameless Plug: If you’re ever out in the Long Island area, go to “Prime” in Huntington. It’s a gorgeous waterside restaurant with fantastic food. The décor is amazing; if I had a restaurant this is exactly how I’d design it. It’s located on Huntington Bay. One of the very impressive servers told me it’s a hot spot in the warm weather, when they open the back decks and set up several bars. Now you’re talking my language! Another server (I loved the staff, they were friendly and professional) told me I reminded him of Cameron Diaz who had been eating dinner there a few weeks earlier with Demi Moore while shooting a movie nearby. I’ll take that comparison any day! Seriously, it’s excellent. Worth the one hour drive out from NYC…
And yes, the moms got along great…..
As for today’s show… GO MIZZOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Allow me to back up a second — Saturday night was quite the evening; Missouri (my alma mater) played Kansas (Mike’s alma mater) in an important football game. Mizzou won and is now ranked #1 in the BCS poll, which is some convoluted deal that I can’t explain. But suffice it to say, it’s a good thing for Mizzou fans. Our teams have never really been too impressive, so this was a passionate match up. Luckily my team won! We’ll be playing Oklahoma on Saturday night, so please root for us.
I have to tell you, Mike was a great sport. He actually has family in Kansas and attended the big game. I watched from a Mizzou alumni-infested bar called “Overlook Lounge” on 44th and 2nd in NYC. Yet another cool place to go in the NYC area…
So anyway, Mike knew victory was not on the horizon pretty early on in the game when Kansas couldn’t score its way out of a paper bag. For the majority of the game, he sent me text messages that were absolutely hilarious. They became more belligerent as the night went on. When Mike started making fun of his own team’s coach, I knew the poor guy was in serious hangover territory the next day.
So I digress… today’s show started off with an ode to Mizzou, our fight song. I don’t know the words; never did even when I was going to school. I just know it gets on Mike’s nerves so we cranked that baby up loud while we showed footage of the final moments. We also made a bet that whoever lost had to wear the other team’s cheerleader outfit. I’m going to be contacting the Mizzou Athletic Department shortly for a male cheerleader uniform, size large.
On another note, apparently now the Brits have decided that Santa is too fat so one mall there is putting its Santa’s on an exercise program. Puh-lease! What’s next? They won’t be able to say ho ho ho??? Oh wait, that’s already happening down under in Australia. I’m not sure what’s wrong with this world, but I don’t like this one bit. Don’t mess with Santa, people!
Our first serious story of the day was one that, once again, hit home. “The Choking Game” is not really a game at all. It’s a weird thing kids do to each other to make themselves pass out. They feel a “high” which is why some actually try to do it to themselves, and often end up with dangerous, if not deadly, results. I remember this was the craze for about two days at Briarcliff High School in Briarcliff Manor, NY when I was a freshman. One of the cute sophomore boys suddenly found out about the game and was showing anyone who would watch how it was done. I actually volunteered as a ‘victim,’ along with about 100 other kids. It’s so bizarre thinking back. How did I not think this was insane???
Fast forward to today — hundreds of kids have lost their lives or at least been hurt while playing this game. We met a boy, Sam, whose twin brother died after he tried to do it to himself. The kids say they really don’t think of the consequences, and I totally understand that mentality. But I think they need to hear about just what can happen to you if things go wrong. Cutting off blood supply, brain damage, seizures, suffocation…
In happier news, we had these cute black bears in studio. Cute, in that “I’d rip your head off were it not for the fact I have a leash around my neck and a handler watching me” kind of way. We told the audience to avoid clapping so as to not freak the bears out. Supposedly, the little guys didn’t have such an inviting aroma. As they played in the greenroom area, many of our producers and even the tough crew guys ran out squealing pinching their noses and going “ewwwww!”
You wouldn’t believe half the stuff that happens back there, it’s like a reality show in the making. The other day we had Boys II Men, such nice guys by the way. They were so nice in fact, that they brought in a whole bunch of McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches for our staff and crew. If you’ve ever seen a TV staff eat, let me tell you, it’s not pretty and I include myself in that. It’s like a bunch of ravenous vultures swarming a carcass, only we are just slightly more dignified. So thank you, Boys II Men for your greenroom kindness. And any of you other celebrities out there reading this, please feel free to bring other food items. Frozen yogurt and ice cream cakes are a particular favorite among certain members of the um, staff. My buddy Brad Garrett brought food for the crew too during one of his appearances. Pastries, I think? Love that guy.
The Laugh Doctor segment was brief but informative. We didn’t get into this because we ran out of time but he says there are yoga laugh classes being taught around the country. It’s basically a class of …laughing I guess. Sounds a little hippie dippy to me but you never know. I thought yoga sounded a little too hippie dippy, but ended up loving it.
Ok got to run. There’s a purse at Saks Fifth Avenue is calling my name. All of a sudden I’ve gotten into shopping and I’ve never been much of a shopper. But anticipating Christmas, I’ve been saving. Of course, the money should be going to my friends and family’s gifts, but….
