I’m spending Super Bowl Sunday with a different team…
Thanks PBS!
Posted in Entertainment, Humor, Life, Sports, TV
Tagged entertainment, football, football team, Humor, life, Masterpiece PBS, PBS, Sherlock, Sports, Super Bowl, Super Bowl Sunday, TV
For those of you following up on yesterday’s post, I played a prank on my best friend this weekend that was 30 years in the making.
She tricked me into believing that she was dating John James, star of the TV drama Dynasty, when we first met in college. We have laughed at the memory over the years, but I finally found the right moment — and resources — to give her a little payback.
Her family planned a surprise birthday party for her on Friday, and I flew in as part of the festivities. Bad weather delayed the actual party, which meant my little surprise became the appetizer.
I told her I was dating someone new — ‘John’ — but was purposely vague on details.
Then my phone rang.
The actual John James was the on the other end of the line. I had found his manager’s number, and John graciously agreed to be a part of my “wonderful, evil plot” to get back at Caroline.
John and I chatted briefly to establish our relationship, and then I passed the phone to Caroline, speaker on so I could listen to her ‘pass judgment’ on the new guy.
She soon complimented him on his ‘radio voice’ and asked if he had worked in media. He ‘fessed up to being a producer and an actor, cleverly mentioning he once performed in the musical Promises, Promises near her hometown (where their photo was taken oh-so-many years ago).
She soon realized they knew the same musical director who conducted the same show at the same theatre…Wait a minute, who did you say you were?
She believed he was the real John James quickly enough, and even thought we were dating for a moment.
To the victor go the spoils!
A huge thanks to John James for making my redemption possible.
Posted in Celebrities, College, Entertainment, Friends, Humor, Life, Television, TV
Tagged actor, bad weather, birthday, blog, boyfriend, celebrities, college, Dynasty tv show, entertainment, entertainment manager, evil plot, friends, Humor, John James, life, memory, musical director, payback, phone, post, prank, producer, Promises Promises, punk, radio voice, redemption, surprise party, Television, theater, to the victor go the spoils, TV, tv drama
Celebrities like George Clooney and Brad Pitt love to regale us with stories of the pranks they play on their fellow actors when they’re making movies. Let me tell you —
They’ve got nuthin’ on me.
I played a prank on one of my best friends this past weekend that was 30 years in the making.
But let me back up a bit…
It all began when she pranked me only a couple of weeks after we met in college. I was in her dorm room, waiting for her to get ready for dinner and noticed a framed photograph on her shelf —
Caroline with her arms draped around the neck of John James, one of the stars of the then hit drama Dynasty.
When I asked how the pic came to be, she confided that the two were dating, but she was keeping it quiet at his request.
Of course I didn’t believe her at first, but then she started producing a lot of convincing evidence: her father’s pageant and production credits, connections through musical theatre friends and a well-timed phone call from John James.
I spoke to the man myself.
Begrudgingly I had to concede — the two were a couple. He called on two other occasions when I was in her room and said hello. But during our last conversation, ‘John’ confessed that he was really Caroline’s brother.
Why did she do it? Especially to a friend that she barely knew? Because she could? Evil.
It is now a thing of legends, a story that we rehash often, laughing at her nerve and my naive acceptance. But this past weekend, I turned the tables. Now the story has a very different ending.
The satisfying conclusion, here — tomorrow…
Posted in Celebrities, Entertainment, Friends, Humor, Life, Movies, Television, TV, Writing
Tagged 30 years in the making, Brad Pitt, celebrities, college, dating, dorm, dorm room, Dynasty tv show, entertainment, evidence, George Clooney, Humor, John James, life, Movies, musical theatre, pageant, phone call, photograph, pranks, production credits, Television, writing
Food Network has been the background noise in my house for a long time.
But lately I find myself losing patience with the shows that used to be appointment TV.
Case in point: Chopped, hosted by Ted Allen.
I can’t count the number of hours I have lost watching this program. When weekend marathons come on, my previous plans fall away. This food competition has had a spot on my DVR list since I purchased the technology.
Yet now I find myself hitting fast-forward, impatient for it to be finished. The format has become too familiar, the judges’ comments tired, the visiting chefs look-a-likes.
(And by this point, even I have a pretty good idea what to do with the basket ingredients, no matter how weird.)
I’m not the only one — Jesse David Fox at Vulture has had his own Food Network burn out. It’s an interesting read.
Posted in Blogs, Commentary, Cooking, Entertainment, Food, Humor, Life, Television, TV
Tagged appointment TV, background noise, blogs, burn out, chefs, chop it off, Chopped, Chopped marathon, commentary, cooking, cooking competition, DVR, entertainment, fast forward, food competition, Food Network, Humor, Jesse David Fox, judges, life, reality, review, Ted Allen, Television, TV, Vulture
If you watched Conan last night — or this morning on DVR like me — you saw his interview with astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield, who recently retired after his return from a six-month stint on the International Space Station.
While he was there, he conducted experiments on the impact of low gravity on human biology.
But that didn’t score him a guest shot on Conan.
No, Hadfield used Twitter and Facebook to chronicle life on the space station in video and pictures. In fact, his cover of David Bowie has received over 18 million hits on Youtube.
Let’s add a few more.
Posted in Comedy, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Music, TV
Tagged astronaut, Chris Hadfield, comedy, Conan, Conan O'Brien, David Bowie, DVR, entertainment, experiments, Facebook, guest shot, Humor, International Space Station, Internet, life, low gravity, Music, science, space, Space Oddity, Television, Twitter, Youtube
I was in Boston the past five days sans DVR. That meant no late night talk shows in the morning.
Oh, the humanity.
Since I can’t really stomach Today even more, I started channel surfing and discovered a different kinda morning show–
Morning Drive
It’s a morning show on The Golf Channel.
They talk golf, and only golf. Just golf. Lots of golf.
I like golf, but even I was fascinated at the minutiae of golf they discussed. And maybe they were starting to feel the same way, too. Because earlier this week, they did a live shot from their own parking lot…
…to expose the bad parking job of Holly Sonders, one of the hosts.
What does this have to do with golf? On the surface, nothing. But to the Morning Drive team, it gave insight into her golf swing.
Okay, then.
Posted in Entertainment, Humor, Life, Sports, Television, TV
Tagged bad parking, channel surfing, duffers, entertainment, golf, golf swing, Holly Sonders, Humor, life, minutiae of golf, Morning Drive, Sports, Television, The Golf Channel, Today Show
After a long day of travel, where do I turn for a soothing load of crap?
The crap cobblers!
(This will make more sense if you watched Late Late Show Wednesday.)
Posted in Celebrities, Comedy, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Television, TV
Tagged celebrity, comedy, Craig Ferguson, entertainment, Humor, Television
The Sticky Egg 
Attention getter
In my business writing seminar, I often get on a soap box about the resume cover letter. It should be the most persuasive bit of writing we do; instead —
It is often dull, template-driven drivel.
Grab their attention, I tell students. Make your letter stand out from the 500 others that will probably cross the HR director’s desk. Show you did your homework and write the letter just for them.
I was reminded of my usual rant when Jamie Casino’s law office commercial went viral on the Internet. (It aired during the Super Bowl, but only on the local Atlanta station.)
Casino could have produced your standard law office ad, and no one would have remembered it.
But this one has the world talking.
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Posted in Advertising, Business, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Sports, TV
Tagged advertising, Atlanta, attention getter, Business, business writing, Casino's Law, cover letter, do your homework, education, entertainment, grab their attention, HR director, Humor, Jamie Casino, law office, life, persuasive writing, rant, resume, sell the product, soap box, Sports, Super Bowl, Super Bowl ad, template, TV, tv commercial, viral, Youtube