|
« December 2006 | Main | February 2007 »
In case you missed it.... Chicago Nun, Sister Jean Kenney, who has an accuracy rate of about 80% in Superbowl predictions, says Bears 30, Colts 27. She debuted her annual poem on WGN Morning News this morning.
Not everyone around here is planning on watching the superbowl.
Paul might not be a believer, but we here at WGN are planning on big ratings Sunday for our "Beauty and the Geek"
marathon that will air opposite the big game. We're so excited that we've started a countdown clock to the start of not the game - but the back-to-back airings of "B&G", as we like to call it around here.
So, Paul can mock it all he wants, I know there will be some of you out there staying true to the CW network this Sunday.
Go Bears!
Went to Super Bowl Media Day this morning- what a blast! The only security screenings missing at this thing now are retinal scans and bite impression comparisons.
The journey began at our designated parking space, which was strategically distanced from the stadium. Miles of chain-link fence carve out a path towards security, with guards directing you, lest you lose your way and walk into said fence.
The first security station resembles the waiting area for a ride at Disneyland- barrier rails stacked next to each other, creating a winding line where you continually pass the same people. You smile and say “Hello” during the first pass, shrug your shoulders and smirk during the second, nod your head agreeably during the third, pretend like your looking somewhere else during the fourth, and by the fifth you’re completely ignoring each other.
Inside the next security station, an army of frenzied security workers descend, directed by a guy who really . . . really . . . really likes ordering them around. With metal detectors in hand, they wand anything that moves. Bomb-sniffing dogs are unleashed. And the security guru shouts: “Come on people! Let’s work hard!”
What?!?!?! I started to imagine arriving at a live remote dressed in a suit and wearing makeup, and then ordering the large, glove-wearing, cable-pulling truck operators to “work hard.” I then imagined them opening a camera tripod in my . . . .
Once inside Dolphins Stadium, we descended on the field like ants on a popsicle. And I’ve chronicled that experience for you in this video.
Anytime I venture out on the road for this job, I try to embed myself in the city I’m in and experience it as if I’m a native son. You have to ask yourself: “When am I going to be in this city again?” and “When am I going to be in this city again with a no spending limit credit card given to me by a multi-billion dollarcorporation?” To not enjoy the city I’m in without care or concern for monetary implications would not only be tragic, but I’d be cheating you, the viewer, out of vicariously living through me.
So with that in mind, I selflessly hit Miami this past weekend. Saturday night I hit the clubs. It seems most of the places I tried getting into down here were “Guys Only” establishments. I don’t mean that they’re designed for men trying to meet other men who share . . . . “similar interests.” But they were like a place for guys to hang out. Yeah, at every place I went, they’d have a nice security man come over and escort me to this line (usually behind a velvet rope). There’d be large groups of other guys, and we’d hang out and talk. Occasionally, large groups of women went straight to the front doors and then just disappeared. I imagine the doorperson just directed them to another club. Anyway, every 20 minutes or so, one or two of the guys in line would be asked to come inside. I was not of them.
On Sunday, I had a hankering for some authentic Cuban food (I’ve actually never had Cuban food, but I’d heard good things about it), so my cameraman Ted and I ventured to “Little Havana.” As we cruised down Calle Ocho (or 8th Street), we passed café after restaurant after café, finally settling on “Café Panza.” Mmmmhhh! It wasn’t until we got inside that I discovered I’d chosen the only SPANISH restaurant in the most popular CUBAN neighborhood in America. It was too late to leave, as I’d already polished off 2 baskets of bread, and I have terrible memories of my father doing that kind of stuff when I was a kid. He had a system for it and everything. He’d make us get up and leave one at a time- he, of course, was the first to leave. Anyway, the meal was still good and there was a cigar shop next door for me to buy authentic Cuban cigars. Naturally, the woman who owned the place was from
Honduras.
TV Sweeps month is just days away which means a whole new round of over-hyped rmediocre programming. To be fair, there are a lot of good programs out there but when you consider how many channels there are now, and the low number of hits equates to a batting average lower than Rusty Kuntz.
So in my never-ending job of trying to improve TV, I thought I, along with my TV friends, present some of junk that could be weeded out of the medium I love so dearly. I was inspired by a column in the Chicago Tribune by Maureen Ryan last November. While she highlighted a couple of interesting issues, I’d like to continue exorcizing these demons of those evil producers.
AARON SORKIN
Aaron Sorkin is best known for writing West Wing and Studio 60. He’s known for the fast-paced, witty banter in his shows. One Trib reader asked whether people at work really have such important conversations waiting for the elevator. But my point is that it portrays everyone in the office as having the same personality and having these rapid-fire conversations, not just at the elevator, but all day long. I’d have to wear my inhaler around my neck.
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
In the groundbreaking All in the Family, the “loveable bigot” Archie Bunker asks Sammy Davis Jr. “I know you can’t do nothing about being black, but what made you want to turn Jew?”
That was 1972, the season that saw the show shoot from #34 to #1 in the ratings.
Now political correctness has sucked the edge out of TV, especially comedy. In fact, it’s even hit Sesame Street. Cookie Monster can’t binge anymore because the PC police have determined that (insert cookie monster voice here) “cookie is a ‘sometimes food.”
CLICHÉ’ CHARACTERS
Hollywood producers were quoted as tiring over cliché’ characters like the meathead jock, and the dumb blonde. Here are a few more:
over-the-top homosexual—FABULOUS!
overweight funny person---LOOK—fat guy fall down—go BOOM!
overly mature 19 year old---- suffers teen angst but has vocabulary of 30 year old.
WGN news writer and second city assistant director Ann Marie Saviano has a pet peeve:
FEMALE SIDELINE REPORTERS
“These so-called pretty women who don't know jack about sports, reporting from the sidelines just to incorporate women into the action... It would be one thing if they knew how to say anything other than, "How does it feel, you just won?"... or "Back to you *guys* in the booth. But they don't.”
I agree…it’s like your childhood friends are getting together for a night of steak and beer and one guy shows up with his wife---changes the whole dynamic of the conversation. And while some of those reporters may have studied the stats and watched the games…have they ever run a post pattern in their lives? Do they think a button-hook is something on Mary Todd Lincoln’s cape?
Comedian Mike Toomey, whose love of TV has been a big part of his act, says pet peeves can be part of the guilty pleasure of watching TV.
“I used to hate how nobody would ever really die on a soap. The guy could get his head chopped of in a butcher shop accident and miraculously, he's back six months later for revenge on the man who lured him to demise,” Toomey said. “The guy was decapitated! Somehow, the evil yet mysterious gentleman, unbeknownst to us, was hiding [in the shop] and managed to steal the body and re-attach the head while substituting the corpse with pig parts left on Sam the butcher's floor, thus paving the way for the soap star's return for march sweeps (or he could just return as his own twin brother with an eye patch that nobody ever knew existed.)”
Toomey asks: Pet peeve or just really funny? When you look at it that way, it almost makes even bad TV a little more watchable.
Now, come on, do you really think Larry Potash would call himself a slacker? This is Val Warner. Larry left the office and forgot to do his blog. So, he called back and asked one of the peons around here, like me, to put something in for him.
So, there you have it.
Larry's a loser.
Pat's on his way to Miami.
I'm off to emcee an event for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago.
Paul's probably already passed out drunk at home from a long work week.
Robin, well, she's probably chowing down on a giant bag of cheesy cheese puffs while she waits to picks up her kids from school.
And Dean and Ana....those two are finalizing plans for their weekly "Friday Night Smackdown" viewing party...(they are trying to figure out how to top last week's strippers)
Have a good weekend!
p.s. As you can see, Val is the only one, from the morning team, doing something really worthwhile :-)
This is going to be one of my shorter entries, as seeing that I'll be fleeing the building before the brass changes its mind about sending 10 people to Miami for 10 days. I'm the only one who hasn't agreed to fish (literally) for my meals down there, so if they cut costs anywhere, guess who's stuck here??
This promises to be the trip of a lifetime. Everyone keeps telling me how much fun Miami is- the water, the weather, the women. Forget that, I'm just looking forward to no post-show meetings for 11 days!
I will be keeping everyone updated on our trip with live reports on the show, of course. But I will also be blogging every day, and included with each entry will be video from my very own personal "Super Bowl Diary." I'll show you where we're staying, visit with the hotel staff, share with you the seashell collection I hope to build. So check the blog every day (2 or 3 times if you're not busy), and we will share this Super adventure together!!!!
Today is my day to blog.
I am supposed to share with you what I am thinking about.
Well here is all I have in my head.
My family is gone on vacation and I have run out of food at my house.
I will be going to the store today to buy groceries.
Here is my list:
1. Skim milk
2. Cereal
3. toothpaste
4. Snap peas
5. Fresh green beans
6. Bread
7. Chicken breasts
8. Windex
9. Minneolas
I hope this was inspiring and met your needs as a blog reader.
Next week I will tell you about how I folded the laundry.
Konrad
Here are the nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards that'll be given out on Sunday, February 25th.
I'm VERY surprised that Dreamgirls didn't get nominated for Best Picture or that it's director, Bill Condon, got shut out of the Best Director category; especailly since the film snagged more nominations than any other film (8.) of course, we're happy for the pride of dunbar HS, jennifer Hudson.
Everything else in the Best Picture category was predicitible. I would have liked to seen United 93 sneak in. It's director, Paul Greengrass, was nominated for best director.
Leonardo di Caprio for Best Actor in Blood Diamond and not The Departed? He was great in both.
It's nice to see former child star (Bad News bears), Jackie Earle Haley honored for his great role in Little Children
Current child star, Abigail Breslin, is a bit of a surprise from Little Miss Sunshine.
The entire list appears after the jump. What do you think?
Dean
NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY - 79TH AWARDS
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL
Best animated feature film of the year
CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE
Achievement in art direction
DREAMGIRLS
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
PAN'S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
THE PRESTIGE
Achievement in cinematography
THE BLACK DAHLIA
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE
Achievement in costume design
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
DREAMGIRLS
MARIE ANTOINETTE
THE QUEEN
Achievement in directing
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93
Best documentary feature
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY
Best documentary short subject
THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT
RECYCLED LIFE
REHEARSING A DREAM
TWO HANDS
Achievement in film editing
BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93
Best foreign language film of the year
AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN'S LABYRINTH
WATER
Achievement in makeup
APOCALYPTO
CLICK
PAN'S LABYRINTH
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
BABEL
THE GOOD GERMAN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"I Need to Wake Up" - AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
"Listen" - DREAMGIRLS
"Love You I Do" - DREAMGIRLS
"Our Town" - CARS
"Patience" - DREAMGIRLS
Best motion picture of the year
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN
Best animated short film
THE DANISH POET
LIFTED
THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL
MAESTRO
NO TIME FOR NUTS
Best live action short film
BINTA AND THE GREAT IDEA (BINTA Y LA GRAN IDEA)
ÉRAMOS POCOS (ONE TOO MANY)
HELMER & SON
THE SAVIOUR
WEST BANK STORY
Achievement in sound editing
APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
Achievement in sound mixing
APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
DREAMGIRLS
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
Achievement in visual effects
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS
Adapted screenplay
BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Original screenplay
BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN
No, I'm not Miami bound, but about a half dozen people from our newsroom are headed to Miami to cover the NFC Champs in the Super bowl in two weeks. Man, what a great gig that would be. Grant it, some work has to be done, but come on, going to Miami to cover the Bears for 10 days in the warm weather, with beautiful people everywhere, a beach in sight and I'm sure great shopping malls and boutiques to check out....NOW, THAT'S AN ASSIGNMENT. Wonder why they don't need a traffic reporter to travel with them???!!!!?!?!?! I know, I know, I know...those darn delays on the Ike and those big back-ups on Lake Shore Drive...someone has to tell the people about them!
I tell you what, though....I'm just pumped to be in the middle of Bears mania. When they win (notice, I said when, not if), THEN the bosses will need me. I'll cover the parade from Skycam 9. There. That will be awesome.
Go Bears!
Don't take me wrong--BearS all the way baby!!! I want them to win. I'm rooting for the Bears eventhough I know nothing about football. Trust me I've tried. My husband loves football, actually any sport and watches all of them on TV. So when we started dating I sat by him and tried to understand who was who on the field and what the object of the game was. But most of the time I couldn't even follow where the ball was. A sport that deals with yards and numbers sounds to me like math which I have never been good at either. Also, the tackling, the shoving, the pushing was too much for me so after constantly complaining and yelling at the TV in horror, Steve, that's my hubby, gave up his dream of taking me to Soldier Field dressed in matching shirts and enjoy the sweet taste of Bears victory with his wife.
My lack of interest and knowledge has also been a problem with our friends (i.e. the great people Steve brought into my life 8 years ago). They love sports. Some of them are Bears season ticket holders and have even played in coed leagues. So even the women talk the talk and play the game. I remember the first party I went to when we were first dating. It was a couple's shower where they were all watching the Cubs and then while the bride and groom openned gifts, the guests spoke about football strategy. Forget the language and culture barriers between us, my biggest problem was the sports barrier. But they have accepted my sports illiteracy and lack of interest and they have also resigned themselves to the fact that the only thing I can do when it comes to sports is correctly pronounce the last names of the Latino players.
Now I find myself immersed in the Bears fever. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about the impending coverage of the Bears Super Bowl visit. Covering the victory will be a breeze, a party is a party is a party, but as a reporter I'm supposed to sprinkle my reports with some facts about the game and I think that's when I'll screw up. Baseball and basketball I can improvise a little about, but footbal, not so much. So if you see me reading off my notebook, you will know why.
I'm sure I'll be watching Sunday with my trustee translator Steve next to me and in terms of TV land---I can stick to the two phrases I've learned this year "Robbie Gould rocks" and "I wonder what Rex Grossman we are getting today". I know Robbie doesn't miss a kick and that our QB is a bit inconsistent. I love my Urlacher because he is a machine on the field and very cute in the soup commercials. And I also love Mussin Muhammed just because I love to say his name. Oh and I know that they have a Mexican American player who is fluent in Spanish---he should be my favorite right. Wow, maybe I know more than I thought---now if only I could keep an eye on the ball...
GO BEARS!!!
The great thing about January in Chicago is that you have a multitude of reasons to feel miserable: weather, post-holiday blues, and your credit-card bill should arrive any day now with a bulk of your debt for 2007. Happy New Year, indeed.
But there is some good news in there. People are getting serious about their happiness.
While psychologists have typically focused on the fact that you’re miserable because your mother didn’t give you enough creamed corn as a child, this new movement focuses on the positive.
According to U.S. News & World Report, psychologists used to believe that life satisfaction levels remained generally stable over time. But a recent study from the University of Illinois suggests that this "set point" can shift over the years. What’s more, there are ways to push your happy point further away from "mediocre" and closer to "elated."
"How to be happy" sounds like the subject of pop psychology books, but it’s gaining credibility at universities around the country. More than 200 colleges in the U.S. now offer classes, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, according to a story in the New York Times.
Dr. Martin Seligman, of the University of Pennsylvania, is a leading authority on the psychology of happiness. He’s developed exercises that he says work.
You can try the exercises at his Web site, www.reflectivehappiness.com, where you can work with virtual partners. He claims 92% increase in happiness if you do the exercise.
One might argue this is just New Age B.S. Seligman has said the difference is that he and his colleagues are coming up with hard data to support some advice and debunk others.
Here is one exercise that some experts advise: "Fake it until you make it."
In research at Wake Forest University, scientists asked students to act like extroverts for 15 minutes. The more assertive and energetic the students acted happier than they were. More extroverted individuals reported having a good day on the job, which made them happier at home.
Here’s my analogy for "fake it until you make it." It’s sort of like golf. You have to understand the fundamentals of the swing. At first, you’re thinking elbow in/arm straight--you feel stupid, but you do it. But with practice, the swing becomes instinctive.
Here’s another tactic. Some of the pioneers in this movement say their research shows that we should focus less on "stuff" and more on "giving back."
Cool cars and the latest fashions feel great at first, but they don’t have much staying power. We get accustomed to them. Perhaps that’s why we keep buying more stuff. It’s like the crash after the caffeine high.
The New York Times profiled one happiness class at George Mason University where students did something they loved and then performed an act of selflessness.
Sex, beer and The CW’s "Smackdown" all proved to be titillating, but students seemed surprised at how much more gratifying it was to give a waitress a big tip or volunteer at a shelter.
Conclusion? Doing good is good for you.
"Research shows that people are much happier if they feel they live in a harmonious world and are surrounded by people who are trusting," clinical social worker Ronda Bresnick Hauss told me, "this would imply that as a society, we have a lot more work to do."
-- Larry Potash
It's been 10 years of my life working on this show, and the cross-section of people you can run into as you stroll these hallways *still* amazes me.
I bet Bozo had no idea that one day, a mere 5 feet from the entrance to his longtime studio, would stand two legends the caliber of Frank Stallone and Joe Theisman. TOGETHER. HUGGING.
God, I love this place.
On second thought, don't quote me on that.
Nominees for the 64th annual Golden Globe Awards announced Thursday in Beverly Hills, Calif.:
MOTION PICTURES:
Picture, Drama: “Babel,” “Bobby,” “The Departed,” “Little Children,” “The Queen”
Actress, Drama: Penelope Cruz, “Volver”; Judi Dench, “Notes on a Scandal”; Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Sherrybaby”; Helen Mirren, “The Queen”; Kate Winslet, “Little Children”
Actor, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, “Blood Diamond”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Departed”; Peter O’Toole, “Venus”; Will Smith, “The Pursuit of Happyness”; Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland”
Picture, Musical or Comedy: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Dreamgirls,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Thank You for Smoking”
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, “Running With Scissors”; Toni Collette, “Little Miss Sunshine”; Beyonce Knowles, “Dreamgirls”; Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada”; Renee Zellweger, “Miss Potter”
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”; Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”; Aaron Eckhart, “Thank You for Smoking”; Chiwetel Ejiofor, “Kinky Boots”; Will Ferrell, “Stranger than Fiction”
Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, “Babel”; Cate Blanchett, “Notes on a Scandal”; Emily Blunt, “The Devil Wears Prada”; Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”; Rinko Kikuchi, “Babel”
Supporting Actor: Ben Affleck, “Hollywoodland”; Eddie Murphy, “Dreamgirls”; Jack Nicholson, “The Departed”; Brad Pitt, “Babel”; Mark Wahlberg, “The Departed”
Director: Clint Eastwood, “Flags of Our Fathers”; Clint Eastwood, “Letters from Iwo Jima”; Steven Frears, “The Queen”; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Babel”; Martin Scorsese, “The Departed”
Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, “Babel”; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, “Little Children”; Patrick Marber, “Notes on a Scandal”; William Monahan, “The Departed”; Peter Morgan, “The Queen”
Foreign Language: “Apocalypto,” USA; “Letters from Iwo Jima,” USA/Japan; “The Lives of Others,” Germany; “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Mexico; “Volver” Spain
Animated Film: “Cars,” “Happy Feet,” “Monster House”
Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, “The Painted Veil”; Clint Mansell, “The Fountain”; Gustavo Santaolalla, “Babel”; Carlo Siliotto, “Nomad”; Hans Zimmer, “The Da Vinci Code”
Original Song: “A Father’s Way” from “The Pursuit of Happyness”; “Listen” from “Dreamgirls”; “Never Gonna Break My Faith” from “Bobby”; “The Song of the Heart” from “Happy Feet”; “Try Not to Remember” from “Home of the Brave”
TELEVISION
Series, Drama: “24,” Fox; “Big Love,” HBO; “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC; “Heroes,” NBC; “Lost,” ABC
Actress, Drama: Patricia Arquette, “Medium”; Edie Falco, “The Sopranos”; Evangeline Lilly, “Lost”; Ellen Pompeo, “Grey’s Anatomy”; Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”
Actor, Drama: Patrick Dempsey, “Grey’s Anatomy”; Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”; Hugh Laurie, “House”; Bill Paxton, “Big Love”; Kiefer Sutherland, “24”
Series, Musical or Comedy: “Desperate Housewives,” ABC; “Entourage,” HBO; “The Office,” NBC; “Ugly Betty,” ABC; “Weeds,” Showtime
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Marcia Cross, “Desperate Housewives”; America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”; Felicity Huffman, “Desperate Housewives”; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “The New
Adventures of Old Christine”; Mary-Louise Parker, “Weeds”
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”; Zach Braff, “Scrubs”; Steve Carrell, “The Office”; Jason Lee, “My Name is Earl”; Tony Shalhoub, “Monk”
Miniseries or movie: “Bleak House,” PBS; “Broken Trail,” AMC; “Elizabeth I,” HBO; “Mrs. Harris,” HBO; “Prime Suspect: The Final Act,” PBS
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Gillian Anderson, “Bleak House”; Annette Bening, “Mrs. Harris”; Helen Mirren, “Elizabeth I”; Helen Mirren, “Prime Suspect: The Final Act”; Sophie Okonedo, “Tsunami, The Aftermath”
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Andre Braugher, “Thief”; Robert Duvall, “Broken Trail”; Michael Ealy, “Sleeper Cell: American Terror”; Chiwetel Ejiofor, “Tsunami, The Aftermath”; Ben Kingsley, “Mrs. Harris”; Bill Nighy, “Gideon’s Daughter”; Matthew Perry, “The Ron Clark Story”
Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Emily Blunt, “Gideon’s Daughter”; Toni Collette, “Tsunami, The Aftermath”; Katherine Heigl, “Grey’s Anatomy”; Sarah Paulson, “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”; Elizabeth Perkins, “Weeds”
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Thomas Haden Church, “Broken Trail”; Jeremy Irons, “Elizabeth I”; Justin Kirk, “Weeds”; Masi Oka, “Heroes”; Jeremy Piven, “Entourage”
I'm usually not a big fan of the look-a-like comparisons our viewers send in. Mainly, because they're not very good. But I need to commend those who sent in the comparisons of Fu Man Chu Tomasulo to Ben Stiller from Dodgeball, and D-Day from Animal House.
I take offense, however, to those who compared my look to a porn star. Do I have a perm? Is my chest matted with hair? Do I wear a hoop in one ear? This is what I've been told the men in those types of movies look like, anyway.
Yet, I have noticed that since I shaved the 'stache, people are treating me differently.
Some people are numbers people when it comes to sports. They’ll look at the Seahawks offensive numbers versus the Bears defensive numbers and attempt to predict the outcome of Sunday’s big game.
It’s true that numbers measure past performance. Very simply: Rex Grossman’s completions divided by his attempts give you his completion percentage. That’s math. That’s how we determine objective facts in our world.
Statisticians aren’t allowed to say "Brian Urlacher only had eight tackles but he’s such a nice guy, let’s call it 12 tackles." We all understand it doesn’t work that way.
Phil Clark was a football guy who is now a numbers guy, and he says both have taught him a lot about life. After playing at Northwestern, the Cowboys drafted him in the third round in 1967. He played for the Bears in 1970.
These days, Clark has turned to the principles to Numerology for his sense of direction. The study of Numerology holds that the letters in your name, your birth date and about 25 other components can give you insight on how you can improve your life.
"Numerology holds your likes and dislikes," Clark said. "But the higher purpose is the growth of the soul."
Clark doesn’t do predictions for those looking for a point spread, but he says Numerology does give him insight into Sunday’s big game.
"[Urlacher’s numbers] show physical power that others would feel; leadership," Clark said.
Ah. OK. Wow.
Clark says the power of Numerology works through vibrations in the nervous system. He claims different letters have different vibratory rates depending on where they fall in the alphabet.
Certainly, vibrations are detected by our ears, which send messages to the brain, but beyond that, I haven’t spoken to anyone who knows of any peer-reviewed studies that confirm vibrations in the nervous system or souls.
" ‘Each letter has a vibratory rate by its position in the alphabet’ isn’t based on any known fact or principle of science. To me the claim is gibberish," said Dr. Robert Carroll, author of "Critical Thinking about the Paranormal."
"Numerology is a mathematic Rorschach test where people find all kinds of ways of linking numbers to people and events," said Jim Underdown of the Center for Inquiry in Los Angeles. "Such numbers are manipulated to say just about anything, and cannot be reliably used to predict or discover anything."
But Clark points out that "There’s a lot of things science won’t accept. … [Scientists] give all the credit to the brain. Just because it can’t be measured doesn’t mean it can’t be applicable."
Using Numerology of some kind has gone on for centuries. Clark says the elite once used it to make decisions. However, just because someone’s been doing something a long time, doesn’t make it right.
Math is a pretty exact science, so I’m sure numbers lend the appearance of credibility for some people lured by the idea of someone tapping into their "inner potential." But chances are, you’ll remember the numerologist’s vague "hits" and forget their misses.
To be fair: Could there be anything to Numerology? I suppose anything's possible.
But adding "ology" doesn't make it a science. It seems hypocritical to add it and then say you're not beholden to the rules of objective confirmation. Extradordinary claims require extraordinary evidence; Numerology promises to answer your questions, when it can't even answer its own.
A lot of people ask me what do we do after the show.
Well, right after the show we go into a "Post Show Meeting".
We discuss what went right and wrong on that day and then start discussing what needs to happen for tomorrow's show.
For the longest time the meetings were miserable, long and totally frustrating.
That all changed about 8 months ago.
We finally convinced management that they didn't need to attend this meeting.
We also started serving fruit juice to help us concentrate and focus.
Ever since the meetings have been a lot more fun and lively.
I've attached a few photos of our post show meeting.
You can see we are really getting more done and still having fun.
This first picture shows Robin showing Larry how happy she is about his idea of interviewing Alan Greenspan on worries over inflation.
Here is a picture of me, Larry and Robin after we decided we should probably have a guest on the show to talk about the Governor's Budget plan.
The only reason I show this is in an effort to help others.
I hope this will prompt other office workers who are bogged down with long, boring meetings to begin to think outside of the box.
There are two key things to making this successful new business approach work for you.
1. Find a way to get management out of the way...
2. Find the right kind of fruit juice...
Hope this helps.
Courage,
Konrad
Thanks for the scrapbook idea. That sounds like fun and how did you know GH was my favorite. If only Laura could come back for good. By the way, I hear you with the whole baby thing. Maybe you have some I can borrow and return. Just kidding!! Thanks for the feedback. I'm going back to Days of Our Lives which is so bad it's good.
I admit it, I've been forgetting to blog. Actually before Ms. Warner caught wind of it, I thought I had time to come up with some great topic and finally blog. All my coworkers seem to have plenty to talk about. You'd think I would too, since it's hard to get me to shut up most of the time. But by the time I'm done with Around Town, I'm literally talked out. Besides what you see on TV is the most exciting part of my day. I know, I have the best gig in town.
I don't have kids yet so I don't have any cute children stories. So after work, I go to the GYM and then go home. Pretty lame...Oh, yeah, I have this embarassing hobbie now that I'm hoping others out there have as well. I'm back to watching soap operas. I do my housework with them on and lately I've caught myself recording the last half hour if I have to leave the house. It embarasses my husband beyond belief. But if you're home at one or two in the afternoon, that's all you can watch. The weird thing is that I switch between the soap and CNN. So if it's not harsh reality, I watch the cheesiest fantasy I can find.
Maybe I should get busier with more important things but I have a feeling I would probably record the soap opera and what it when I come home anyway.
Somewhere out there, a skinny 16-year old is holed up in a bedroom adorned with girlie posters and littered with "PC Monthly" magazines. He's feeling proud because he just learned how to hack into the "Technophobes Anonymous" chat room, and he's telling everyone his mom's new blender can parallel park a car. And at some point last night, whether it was before he uncovered the body armor cheat code for Halo 2, or after he consolidated his 12 e-mail accounts, this young punk did it.
He got the best of old Tomasulo.
This is my only explanation for the way my facial hair online vote went down. Certainly, no self-respecting Tomasulo-ite would cast his or her vote for "The Freddie Mercury." There are only two types of people who should be wearing Fu Manchu mustaches- large men who ride Harley Davidson's . . and porn stars who hit their pique in 1973.
So Mr. Cyber-knickers, you did it. You somehow compromised the voting results and made sure "The Freddie Mercury" won. I'm not sure how exactly you did it, nor do I have proof. But that doesn't matter. I'm a man of my word. You thought you could make me look silly, but you can't.
I will rock the Fu Manchu . . . and I will look good.
http://www.myspace.com/pattomasulo
**See Pat have his face shaved LIVE during the WGN Morning News on Tuesday, January 9!
POLL RESULTS
"The Freddie Mercury" (113 responses)
27.9%
"The Maverick" (100 responses)
24.7%
"The Passion of the Tomasulo" (88 responses)
21.7%
"The Jim Rome" (44 responses)
10.9%
"The American Idol" (27 responses)
6.7%
"The Tom Selleck" (21 responses)
5.2%
"The Phil Jackson" (12 responses)
3.0%
405 total responses
Every Friday, Dean Richards, our entertainment critic, gives his reviews for movies coming out that day. Well, last week, he told me, off the air, and then again on the air, how much "Code Name: The Cleaner" sucked. That's that new movie about a janitor, played by Cedric the Entertainer, who gets amnesia. He gave it a D-. But because I really like Cedric the Entertainer, I thought, Dean must be off. HE WAS NOT!!!!!!!! It was awful. Besides the funny parts that are shown in the previews(which there are 2), the movie is not worth your money. And trust me, I am a fan of Cedric the Entertainer, but this movie was a bust. So, the point here is, I should have listened to Uncle Dean (that's what my 4 year old daughter, Zoe, calls him....she's a future film critic, I swear)!
You can tell I had an uneventful weekend if this is all I have to talk about this Monday morning. Maybe if that slacker, Ana Belaval, would do her blogs, I wouldn't have to write about such boring stuff. She and I are supposed to be alternating Mondays, but she never remembers to do hers.....SLACKER!!!!! Just kidding! I love that girl. She's busy around town, so I guess she doesn't have time. At least, that's the line she's feeding me.
Until next time,
Val
One day in April 1981, someone noticed several people in sweat suits jogging in Evanston. They weren’t exactly the Northwestern intramural co-ed track team, as the witness noticed something odd.
The joggers were smoking cigarettes. The Evanston Police were called, and it’s a good thing they were. Turns out the "joggers" were suspected terrorists with the FALN, a Puerto Rican independence group.
Evanston Sgt. Gerald Brandt was on the scene. "They were active for years in Chicago--bombings, murder--and they had been very successful," Brandt said. The group spotted in Evanston were a few who had evaded arrest. "But, they were so dumb, as they failed to realize that joggers are not smokers."
As Dr. No told James Bond, "The successful criminal mind is always superior. It has to be." Key word there is "successful."
Fortunately for us, most felons aren’t too bright, but their screw-ups often are humorous, as cataloged by the folks at thesmokinggun.com, who have compiled years’ worth of the best public records for their new book "The Dog Dialed 911."
"When you’re [reporting] a story, you come across documents that are funny, but they just don’t make it into the story," said Managing Editor Andrew Goldberg. "But you show your friends, because it’s often the best part of the story."
The Smoking Gun book is a virtual blueprint of what NOT to do if you turn to a life of crime.
For instance, Anthony Prince and Luke Carroll had an idea to come up with some extra cash. They robbed a bank of $130,000.
Mistake No. 1: They wore their work ID badges.
Mistake No. 2: Their getaway plan was an escape by ski lift.
Mistake No. 3: They photographed themselves with the loot.
They pleaded guilty--probably the smartest thing they’d done in awhile. At least they had good legal advice. If only they had sought that kind of wisdom earlier in life.
It’s not just felons who are foolish.
The clerk at a Food Lion in Virginia gave $50 change after being paid with a $200 bill." The $200 bill should’ve been her first clue. She also missed the picture of President Bush on one side, and on the flip side, signs on the White House lawn. Stay alert!
Even the geniuses at NASA have meltdowns. The Smoking Gun obtained an e-mail from a research engineer to his colleague. One week before the Columbia space shuttle exploded, the engineer asked:
"Any more activity today on the tile damage or are people just relegated to crossing their fingers and hoping for the best?"
"Turns out the crossed fingers approach didn’t work so well," The Smoking Gun pointed out.
Don’t rely on luck or faith, when lives are on the line.
Even cops have their share of incidents.
Deputy Jack Munsey lost his job with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida after being caught using his patrol car’s dashboard camera to shoot close-ups of women at the beach. He even had a directorial shot sheet.
Apparently, Officer Bikini Fellini had failed to learn the lessons of all those dumb criminals he’d arrested, proving no one is above the law, or stupidity.
"We all have our bad moments," Goldberg said. "But some end up doing it when law enforcement is around."
I am having problems.
I was supposed to post a picture on the blog for Robin.
She gave me her camera with a nice image of two Chicago policemen who rescued a family in a fire.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to download on to my computer.
After 45 minutes of working on it I quit.
I am posting this picture because it is already loaded onto my computer and I want to go home.
You might recognized these two beautys.
This was a going away party for former sports guy Mike Barz.
We all had a nice time.
We recently were able to get Robin's eyeballs uncrossed.
We took her to a specialist in Rockford and he did wonders.
We miss Mike around here.
However, we love Pat.
We are especially happy that Pat generally keeps his hands to himself.
Happy Days.
Konrad
You know what I've noticed since I stopped shaving? People equate the growing of facial hair with anger. It's been 10 days since I last put razor to face, and the overwhelming assumption from people is that I'm upset with the station. I can't quite understand why that is. Then again, I suppose nothing does say "Screw you" quite like growing a beard.
"What's that? You're cutting my salary? I'm only getting one minute for sports now? Did you just kick my dog?? Well guess what buddy . . I'm growing a BEARD!!! Yeah, that's right!! How do you like me now b#@&*es?!? . . A BEARD!!"
People want to know why I'm letting my facial hair grow. I don't know, why did you wear black shoes today? Because you felt like it!
And another thing- and this one is for all you stand-up comedians out there, all of my buddies who see me on TV and think of this really clever line to use when they see me in person, a line they've been perfecting in their head all day. "Did you lose your razor?" does not qualify as a witty remark. Neither does "Forget to shave?" Ditto for "Someone overslept today!"
I can't tell if these hucksters are simply trying to prove their comedic mettle, or if they genuinely dislike my facial hair. Reaction has so far been mixed, though it weighs a little more heavily on the favorable side. When people make fun of the look, I usually join in. But just once I'd love to shock someone with a biting retort. "What's that Jane, you don't like the beard? Well I don't like your short haircut, haven't for some time. I think it makes you look like a man."
But it does matter to me what viewers think of the new look. That's why I want you to decide my next move. Do I keep the beard? Do I shape it? Do I buzz my initials into my chin? There are 7 facial hair choices. Click here to vote for the one you like the best, and on Monday, January 8th, I will be sporting that look!
**Disclaimer- Contrary to what these photos of me might suggest, I have NOT had chin implants.
http://www.myspace.com/pattomasulo
A new year and back to the old me. Towards the end of 2006, I started growing my hair out. I wanted bangs. It lasted about three months and I had had enough. The feedback was mixed on that hairdo...mostly good(my boss really liked it...sorry, Greg... had to let it go), but some said it made me look old and like a turtle.
Well, I'm back to the short spiky hairdo I rocked when I moved here a year and a half ago. And let me tell you, I feel good. It's amazing what a hair cut can do for a person. Not that the other hairdo was horrible. I liked it too, but not as much as the shorter "do". Heck, I'm going on and on about this...some of you may not have even noticed a difference.
As far as new year's resolutions....I'm not making one....not one! What's the point? Few people stick with them, including me, so I'm not even going to pretend this year. Just keeping it real! But don't let me spoil your aspirations. Good luck and Happy New Year!
Val