Many of my readers say they don't comment on this blog because it's too difficult. Pshaw.. So for those readers, here is a quick guide to commenting on the site.
1) Under each post it will say # comments, click on that. 2)Type your comment 3) Click on Name/URL underneath the box where you type your comment. 4)Type in your name 5) Hit Publish Your Comment and you are done!
It's very easy so no more excuses.
I'll admit it, the HDTV has been keeping me up too late. Last night I could not turn off Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. It's such a great show and last night I learned all about cashews. I had no idea that cashews come from a fruit and that in Thailand, the juice of this fruit is used to make a special drink.
From Wikipedia:
What appears to be the fruit of the cashew tree is an oval or pear-shaped accessory fruit or false fruit that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower. Called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as "marañón", it ripens into a yellow and/or red structure about 5–11 cm long. It is edible, and has a strong "sweet" smell and a sweet taste. The pulp of the cashew apple is very juicy, but the skin is fragile, making it unsuitable for transport. It is often used as a flavor in agua fresca.
Andrew Zimmern then went on to eat red ants and lizards. MMM...MM..MMMMM
While I'm on the topic of bizarre foods, do you own a bakery? If so, here's something you might not want to do:
A security firm run by former New York City police detective Bo Dietl has been hired by KFC to move the fast food chain's secret "Original Recipe" of 11 herbs and spices, which has been not been moved from its safe in corporate headquarters for 68 years. The single sheet of notebook paper, yellowed by age, lays out the entire formula, and was written in pencil and signed by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1940.
I had my first class last night and it seems like I'm going to learn a lot about the business side of entertainment which is exactly what I've been hoping to learn. I was getting a little drowsy last night because the room was very warm and the lighting was somewhat dimmed. The class ends at 9:00pm and then it's a mad dash to catch the bus. We'll see how it goes next week but I already have to start working on the first paper. Yee-ha! The teacher seems great though and here's a link to his bio.
As a child I loved watching Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw that they just released the complete Faerie Tale Theatre Collection on DVD. My personal favorite is Pinocchio in which Pinocchio is played by Paul Reubens. It's a classic!
That's it. No more eating out or street vendor food. Thanks a lot Inside Edition.
I was disappointed to hear that the Ferris Bueller parade scene reenactment was canceled due to rain last weekend. It sounds as though it will be rescheduled.
Well, if you haven't already gone back to school, lucky you. Some students are starting today including myself and I just wanted to wish you all a wonderful school year!
My new school year started out with some Bowling and Coney Island this past weekend. Doesn't get much more exciting than that! I have included some photos below for your enjoyment and will scatter these photos on here throughout the week as I took a lot.
I had only been to Coney Island once and it was just a quick stop over to grab a hot dog at Nathans when I was a kid, so this was really my first full encounter with the place. It's pretty overwhelming and after about 3 hours I had had it. There were two highlights though: 1) The Cyclone and 2) The Side Show. There were a plethora of games and arcades and once you get through the jungle of toy prizes you hit the boardwalk and the beach which was sparkling in the brilliantly hot sun.
After getting very hungry from watching the sword swallower work the razor sharp blades down her throat, we headed over to Nathan's where we waited probably 45min-hour for hot dogs. The place was teaming with hungry people. "That's the seafood line", one employee yelled at people who thought they were waiting on the hot dog line.
It was a good time, though and it got me really interested in the history of the place. I'm now looking forward to reading books about it.
You may have heard that Astroland is closing so all of the media outlets were there covering the story. We even had a sighting of the brilliant performance artist known as Reverend Billy who can usually be found with his backup group, the Church of Stop Shopping, singing songs that decry development.
Big news today as 5 year old golfer, Drew Gray, made a hole-in-one. When asked what he was going to do now, Drew replied "I'm going to Chuckie Cheese".
Looking for a cheap flight? Why not try getting one on Ebay?
Evan Almighty has obtained exclusive never-before-seen footage of Sarah Palin...
Thanks to Johnny Wright at www.yesbutnobutyes.com and former Late Show co-worker for finding the above still shot. It's brilliant. I get a huge kick out of the cheesy Republican videos. Who edited these things? This is my personal favorite and unfortunately it didn't air the other night because Giuliani blabbed on for too long.
Isn't it time to discover the physical and emotional well being you deserve? It sure is, and Ocean Healers want your money. I found this site advertised in the back of The Hollywood Reporter and had to investigate.
Michael Moore is letting people download his new film for free on September 23rd. If you want to sign up for the free download of Slacker Uprising, click here. Here's a trailer:
Here's another great story...A bus driver gets lost and drives around Brooklyn with the kids on the bus for five hours. Everything about this story screams bizarre and I'd like to hear what excuse this guy has.
The Daily News really has had some great stories lately including this one about the Queens truck driver who rigged up a license plate device that would hide his plate as he went through a toll plaza, avoiding the $40 fee.
That's all I've got for you on this Friday. We're supposed to get some severe rain this weekend so go get a movie and cuddle up with someone you love. Team bonding is today so I will be sure to get some photos up on Monday.
I made the huge mistake of watching the Republican National Convention last night. It felt more to me like an AARP Klan gathering. The median age being 65 and when the cameraman could find a minority he/she made sure to get a shot of them. I don't really want to focus on this because it'll just get my blood boiling again. I love how the Republicans act like an alien force came into the country and made it the way it is and now they are the heroes that are going to try to fix it. Laughable.
In other news...
I've mentioned this before but finally someone in Florida was arrested for wearing baggy pants!
And also in Florida, police are looking for a cross-dressing thief who left behind nothing but a fake breast....
I'm glad Dave is sticking around for a few more years.
This new UK show looks great:
My hair has gotten really long in a few months so I'm getting it cut tonight..it'll go something like this:
I had the day off yesterday and decided to take a day off from blogging. But I am back today! I wasn't too thrilled this morning to see it was dark when I woke up. I boarded the bus, sleepy-eyed, and just passed many students on my walk to the office building. School is back in session and did you remember your Trapper Keeper?
I spent an extended weekend at the Jersey Shore where the weather was just perfect and I slept like a baby with the sea breeze blowing through the window at night.
Who knew Elephants were good at math? I smell a great idea for a children's book...
Have you heard of Punk Rope? I had never heard of it until a coworker/friend of mine started taking Punk Rope classes at NYU. Punk Rope originated at NYU and has become a very popular way to have fun and get an excellent workout. For more information I encourage you to check out the Punk Rope website by clicking here. Here's a video that will give you more of an idea what Punk Rope is all about:
I saw this bottle at the store as well and almost bought it...then I remembered that I don't like the taste of NYC Tap Water, even if it's filtered.
Gee, I caught a few minutes of the new Steven Bochco legal drama, Raising the Bar and was very pleased to see that our favorite "Zack", Mark-Paul Gosselaar, is back on television, this time with long hair. Did anyone see the new 90210 last night? I sure didn't but I'm curious to see what people thought.
I was upset to see that there was a major loss in the world of Voiceover talent. Don LaFontaine passed away and he will certainly be missed. You have heard his voice a million times and probably never even knew about him. I once contacted Mr. LaFontaine because I wanted to interview him for Clips and Quips. He was in CA but wrote me back the nicest email and we had a few more email exchanges after that. He recently sent out this email to those on his mailing list:
I thought it was about time that I brought everybody up to speed with what's been happening in my world.
You haven't been hearing a lot from me lately, and that's because I have been fairly seriously ill for the last several months.
In order to give you the complete picture, I need to go back over some material of which many of you are already aware, but this thing needs to be seen in its full context.
Last fall, I began to notice that I was having trouble catching my breath during exercise. Subsequent tests revealed a suspicious growth on my lymph nodes and left lung. This required an exploratory surgery called a Media Stenoscopy, which was performed At Cedars Sinai Hospital in late November of '07. The biopsy ultimately proved negative for any tumor, but there was a spot on the lung that still needed to be checked. Unfortunately, sometime during the operation, one of my lungs was nicked, and I developed Pneumothorax, which basically means that the lung collapsed, releasing all the air into my upper body, causing a condition called Subcutaneous Emphysema - Which blew me up like a balloon from the ribs up to my eyebrows. This happened three times over the next six days. The "cure" for this condition is to place chest tubes and small catheters under the skin to drain off the excess air.
Unfortunately, all that air also accumulated around my vocal cords, causing me to sound like an ambassador from Munchkinland. This condition, I was told, could last for a number of weeks.
We decided to put off a Bronchoscopy to determine the status of the spot on my lung until after the new year, by which time, my breathing had become even more labored.
Again, the test failed to reveal anything more than a few "suspicious" cells - but no cancer. I had also scheduled, months before, a standard Colonoscopy, which I had in January. This revealed a growth on my colon.
Are we having fun, yet?
So - I go back to Cedars to discuss laparoscopic surgery to get rid of that growth, after first undergoing CAT and PET scans. During my consultation with the surgeon, my Oncologist came in with another doctor to tell me that I had a tumor growing under my lung and threatening to encircle my Aortic Valve to my heart.
Suddenly, the surgery was put on hold, and I was scheduled for thirty-seven sessions of intense radiation and four sessions of Chemotherapy, which stretched over the next seven weeks. This included four blood transfusions.
During this time, the effects of the Subcutaneous Emphysema had worn off, and I was able to work again.
After treatment, I was told that it was completely successful, and the growth had been completely eradicated! I was also told that the radiation therapy would continue to work in my system for a number of weeks.
Well, it did.
In rare cases - like mine - it spreads into the lungs and causes a very persistent condition called radiation pnuemonitis. This reduces the lungs capacity to about a quarter, making it almost impossible to walk ten paces without having to stop for air.
The treatment for this condition is massive doses of steroids, which balloons the face and body, and it also settles on the vocal cords in a major way, creating a good deal of gravel and hoarseness. In short - it has brought my career to a near stand-still.
Steroids can also have a major effect on one's heart rate, and blood sugar count - each of which sent me back to Cedars on two separate occasions for four and three day stays within a week of each other. Because of the blood sugar influence, I now have a temporary form of diabetes, and need to take insulin.
This condition will pass as soon as I get the pnuemonitis under control, but it's a balancing act between doses of steroids and insulin.
As I mentioned earlier, this lung thing is incredibly resistant, and to this date, I am still looking for some improvement.
I do work from time to time, but my voice is nowhere close to where I need it to be. Fortunately, I have incredibly faithful friends and clients who have shown me what loyalty really means by working with me, even in my diminished capacity.
I am now recovering from the recovery. When this is cleared up, I still am facing the laparoscopic stomach surgery, but that will be a cakewalk.
But the real point of all this is the Genisis of the condition. I was a smoker, on and off, for thirty years. I quit nearly twenty years ago, but that crap has a tendency to lie doggo in your system. It finally caught up with me, and as you've just read - it ain't pretty. For those of you who are in the Voice Over business, and you think that smoking is adding some wonderful quality to your instrument - WAKE UP! Quit! Today! Whoever you are - if you smoke - Stop! All you are adding is garbage to your vocal cords, and a nice deep layer of tar and poison on the linings of your lungs.
I tell you all this, because I need to clear the air, because there has been a lot of speculation out there, and because it should serve as a cautionary tale. Even though the growth on my lungs has been erased, there are still a few miles to go before I'm back to 100%.
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Labor Day Weekend. My heart goes out to those having to leave LA to escape Gustav.
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working citizens". Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894.[1] All fifty states have made Labor Day a state holiday. Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer
