Tonight is my Naked in a Fishbowl premiere night!  I’ve been in plays before, my Big Fat Gay Wedding and also singing at the Friar’s club, but in those instances I’ve known what was going to happen, but this is my first improvisational performance.  I know enough about theater to know that you usually have a practice beforehand so you get comfortable with the other actors, so I went yesterday, just 24 hours before the performance!  I was asked this morning by some coworkers if I was nervous, and I told them “out of my skull!”  They asked why I’m doing this, and the reason is when I’m asked to do something like that I almost always automatically say “of course!”  I do really like doing it and I always have fun, but I hate the few hours beforehand and get extremely nervous.  I was even nervous right before the rehearsal.  Going in was a bit intimidating because it was a rehearsal space I had never been to before at the Ripley Grier studios.  They have like 30 rehearsal rooms in there and you have all these different Broadway shows like Billy Elliot and so on rehearsing right there.  Anyway, it turns out the group that I’m rehearsing with consists of five women that have been doing improv together for 5 or 6 years.  They introduced themselves and their character and began to explain to me the improvisational method.

First, you should always respond with yes and to never respond with no.  As they went on, I realized that these aren’t just methods for improvisational theatre, but it’s also good methods for living life too.  At the beginning, you have an unlimited number of choices and once you make these choices, they begin to narrow down, but once you say no to a possibility then the options and choices are done.  For example, if you ask someone to dinner and they say yes, it opens up more possibilities, but the minute you say no you’re done.  Second, you need to commit.  It doesn’t make a difference to what you make your commitment and focus to, but to do it.  Even if it’s to watch a cockroach, if you commit to it you’ll have a different energy that others will want to follow along with and watch.  If you’re indifferent about something, obviously no one will want to watch you because you don’t even care about what you’re doing.  I thought that was an interesting perspective.

They then asked me if I get recognized in public, which I responded that most people recognize my face but they don’t know at first where they know me from.  So we did this exercise where I get trapped in an elevator (which is already one of my fears) and they had this other character recognize me but not know where she knew me from, and this other character recognizes me and decides to unload on me.  It was a lot of fun!  They then followed it up with having me play a drug addicted author who has a melt down on the David Letterman show, which was maybe the most fun I’ve ever had!

But seriously, if you get a chance to do improvisational theatre, it’s so much fun and I actually got to learn a few things that I could relate to daily living as well.  I’m not sure how tonight is going to go, but they do video and podcast the performance on their website, so anyone who can’t make it can still check out the performance by heading over to NakedInAFishbowl.com after the performance.  For those who can make it, head there as well and grab those tickets while you can!

The other night I went to see the Smurfs screening, which was an early screening, so I didn’t get to grab food beforehand and by the time it got out, I was STARVING!  I saw a Chevy’s nearby and I remembered that I had tried it in San Francisco a while back and thought it was really fresh and delicious Tex-Mex food.  I like Mexican food, though I don’t eat it very often because it’s bad for you, but I saw that they had this great deal there, a three course dinner for $15.99!  We got a large salad, chicken fajitas, and fried ice cream for dessert!  It was a great find.  I seem to be becoming the deal finder in the city these days.  Just the other day I went to Ruth Chris’ steak house, which has this great Happy Hour menu from 3-6:30pm.  Everything on the menu is eight bucks, including sliders, ahi-tuna, shrimp, chicken sliders, and it’s all fantastic!  Usually, between those hours, restaurants are completely dead, but this place was completely full!  I guess with such a great deal, why wouldn’t they be?  I’m sure they make up the money in pricey drinks because the food is quite hot and salty, thus making you drink more.  Lucky for me, I don’t drink.  It’s a smart deal all the way around.

While I was at Chevy’s, I couldn’t help but hear one lady ask the waiter why they put calorie counts on the menus.  Meanwhile, most of the people at the table were over 400 lbs. (though the kids were only around 200).  I thought to myself ‘because some of us want to know.’  A recent study showed that those who eat at restaurants with calorie counts on it end up eating up to 100 calories less than those who ate at restaurants without the calorie counts on the menu.  So it’s certainly doing something for those who want to know.  I like having it on Chevy’s menu, because it helps to decide between certain things on the menu depending on whether you want to cut back or indulge.  The Chicken Fajitas were only like 700 calories; go me!

-David Hockney

Wow, it is hot out… this is the nastiest heat wave since 1995, and it’s not just here in NYC, it’s apparently throughout most of the United States.  I can’t believe it’s this hot, nor can I believe 1995 was 16 years ago!  How time flies… Anyway, a friend of mine had a 75^th birthday party in NJ the other day and as many of you may know, I don’t own a car.  I was weighing out my options of renting a car, or a plane, or a hot air balloon, but instead I decided to go a different route; I took a bus.  I know!  Everyone at the party was shocked, but I have to say I am a big fan.  It gets a bad rep, but it left from Port Authority on time, it wasn’t crowded, it had more legroom than a first class airplane, and it was cheap!  It also had free wi-fi, how groovy is that?

I have to admit, this wasn’t my first bus experience.  My daughter moved to Washington DC and instead of renting a car to go visit her, I took the Bolt Bus (which you can apparently get a seat on for like a dollar if you book far enough in advance) and that was great too.  I did have an interesting experience with that though.  I was in the bus station in line for the bus, and the driver starts pacing back and forth in front of the line and starts going over the rules of the bus like a drill sergeant: where the luggage goes, loudness of music, cell phone usage, etc.  At one point someone tried to ask him a question and he responded that he doesn’t take any questions.  It was kind of surreal, and I was sort of afraid for a second they were going to give out uniforms and start shaving all of our heads, but I kind of enjoyed the experience.  My cell phone did go off once during the trip and I got so embarrassed I apologized endlessly for it.  I do like the no cell phone use rule though, and I’m glad other services are beginning to take on those rules as well.  Who would have thought, I’m a bus kind of girl?  They’ve sold me.

So I decided it was time for me to comment on the death of Leiby Kletzky I wanted time to think it over, since it is a pretty serious thing.  This story has elicited terror in many and I’ve been approached by numerous people asking what they should do about their kids to better protect them.  My first reaction is not to get what we call “bad mother syndrome,” which is that you scare the kid into thinking they need you nearby to be able to do anything, which is not healthy and wont allow them to grow to their own potential.  What we can do is re-iterate a few practical, relatively easy things that parents can do and tell their kids to better protect them, while allowing them freedom as individuals to grow.  The Buddy System is a great tool for kids that gives them that bit of freedom but also helps keep them safer.  They should be able to walk home, but should with an older friend from school or a friend’s older brother/sister etc.  Even my own union contract states that I can’t walk to a parking lot by myself after 8pm.  Walking in groups or with a buddy is a great way to help give that extra layer of protection.  One of the worst things you can do is overreact to the situation and smother your child.  Statistically speaking, what happened with Leiby Kletzky is a very unlikely situation.  According to recent findings, 60% of children under 5 who are murdered were actually slain by their own parents, with 20% murdered by a mother’s male friend, 7% by relatives and only a mere 3% by strangers.  In this case it was a neighbor, but still someone who was not unfamiliar.  We should also re-iterate that no matter what, children should not get into any cars or go anywhere with strangers or anyone that isn’t Mom or Dad.  If it needs to be someone else, that should be planned out ahead of time and the child should know that so they aren’t faced with deciding between taking someone else’s word.  These are simple things that can help better protect our children: Don’t go anywhere with strangers, and the buddy system.  I know it’s hard, but we can’t over-react and we shouldn’t blame the parents, but we can take pro-active steps to make sure our children are a little bit safer.

I have something I must share with you.  I have magical powers.  I know, you’re thinking “what?!”  So, I was having computer problems this past week (viruses, etc.) as per usual, I have to get my computer checked out every 10 days because it will randomly just give me a pop up screen that says “don’t touch me, I’m ill,” and our tech guy Andrew stopped by to make sure that everything was fixed.  He had spent a while trying to get it back to normal, and he did!  So he sort of came over to gloat, which is completely okay since he did such a great job at fixing it (so I can actually write and post this blog) and I was recalling to him how I had said “well at least it’s not the studio equipment that’s on the fritz,” and suddenly CRASH!  My mic goes out and all the other mics are somehow defective.  Like I said, magical powers…

So I then went to this party last night instead of to a screening or a preview, I just needed to take a night for myself.  So I’m at this party and it’s outside on this terrace and everything was just fabulous.  I was really impressed and just had to approach the hosts of the party and inform them what a fantastic event they had put together outside considering how hot it had been the past few days, and just as I had finished saying it, the heavens opened up and it began to POUR.

I definitely have some strange powers this week.  Perhaps I’m channeling my inner wizard with the final Harry Potter Film premiering, which if you’re interested, check out my review here!

Over the 4^th of July weekend, the city was completely deserted.  It’s my favorite time to be in the city, you could literally go bowling in the streets!  I was wandering around the desolate, urban NYC landscape and ran into one of those food trucks out on the street.  I remember back in the day when food trucks used to mean cheap, fast street food that you never really knew what was in it, but you couldn’t help but be lured in by the fantastic aromas coming from it.  You would regret it later on, but at the time it always seemed like the best decision in the world.  Somewhere along the line, someone thought it might be a good idea to have fast street food that may cost a bit more, but is made with top quality ingredients.  Thus began the gourmet food truck craze, and I must say, I approve!

So anyway, we ran into this gourmet food truck called “Go Burger” and it smelled soooooo unbelievably good, almost out of this world, but it turned out it was closed!!!  I gave one of the guys a little pout and asked if there was any way we might be able to get some food, and you know what, they re-opened just for me!  These guys were so nice, and the food was fantastic, I just have to give them all a big shout out.  So thank you Chris McGee, William McKenna, Azure Dee, and Jeff for re-opening the truck and serving extraordinary food.  It turns out this group is connected to the BLT restaurant company, which if you have ever had the good fortune of dining at is really top notch.  The truck is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Water Street in the Financial District and Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday near the Highline in Chelsea (www.goburger.com).  It really is worth checking out, especially if you’re in any of those areas.  It may have made my 4^th of July weekend, so thanks again guys, you rock!

Walking to work ROCKS!!!  There was a little humidity, but a lot of fabulous!  Years ago, it used to be that when the shop owner lived above the shop it was looked down upon because they couldn’t afford to live in the suburbs, but nowadays it’s the fashionable thing.  I don’t live above the shop per se, but I do live within walking distance, which is fantastic during the summer, spring and fall, because I get a nice little walk in, but not so great during the winter.  That is unless I’m able to ski to work, in which case whoopee!  But I really do love walking in New York City, there’s just nothing else like it.

I was out walking in Times Square the other night on the way to a theatre preview of Master Class, which was really a must see (check out my review here), and was enjoying the pedestrian mall that has been created around times square.  They’ve basically shut down some of the streets in the square, which drives the cab drivers nuts but makes for a much less cramped sidewalk, and have set up tables and chairs in the middle of the street.  I think this is really cool because you can now really hang out around Times Square as opposed to being squished up on the sidewalk.  Anyway, I was walking around the pedestrian mall and looked up at the jumbo-trons surrounding the whole area, which usually have all different types of advertisements and videos and pictures and things, but on this particular night all of them were running scenes from the new Transformers movie.  They also put out all these cars and models from the film and sort of “transformed” Times Square into Transformers mania!  It kind of looked like New Years Eve on steroids.  There were so many people out and about and the whole area was just alive and buzzing even more than usual.

Speaking of buzzing, while I was walking around I bumped into Buzz Aldrin on the street!  Of course no one else around knew who he was; kids these days… but I knew!  I had interviewed him a few years back about depression and the affect of space flight on it, and so I yelled, “Buzz!!!”  He turned around and said hello, and we chatted about our interview from before and his appearance in the new Transformers film.  He hadn’t seen it yet, but I assured him he was great in it.  I thought that was really cool!

After seeing Master Class I returned to the pedestrian mall to watch the crews take down all the models and everything they had set up for the Transformers opening night mania.  I just find it so interesting to watch things being taken apart.  I even joked with one of the crewmembers about hiding a Decepticon in their truck.  It was a great night to be a pedestrian in Times Square.  New York had President Obama and Justin Bieber shutting down a lot of the city last week, and this week it was Transformers.  I think the moral of the story is- driving in New York is just not worth it.

So I went to this fabulous party last night called “Holidays in June” at the Empire Hotel across from Lincoln Center.  I had been over at the Empire Hotel a few years ago for Les Brown’s 90^th birthday, he used to perform in a basement club there years before that, but I had never known they had such a beautiful terrace on the 12^th floor with great views overlooking Lincoln Center.  You walked outside and they gave it this “Christmas in July” feel, like a little winter wonderland, with tinsel and winter themed cocktails like a delicious looking chocolate martini with a candy cane and red and white finger foods; it was just a really cool way to ring in the first day of summer!  The party was held by Twentieth Century Fox to publicize their upcoming DVD releases which include an Alfred Hitchcock collection.  They also had this area on the terrace where you could wrap boxes that they will send out to Starlight, the kids’ charity around the holidays filled with their appropriate DVD’s.  This got me thinking about my own charity work and I had the idea to ask the production companies, like Fox and Sony, to collaborate with me and Children International to set up DVD viewings in third world countries and help lower their birth rates.  This same system worked in India with Bollywood, giving their citizens another form of entertainment aside from sex.   Then I can help to provide the set up, some popcorn, and some condoms as well.  Even in June or July you can get that holiday giving spirit!

A TRIP TO THE UNITED NATIONS

I visited the UN today. We recorded and videotaped my interviews and they were really terrific people, talking about really important subjects. First – off everyone’s in charge of a high commission. This deals with a part of the world where titles matter. The most shocking thing that I learned today was something that you’ll never guess. Do you know that there are two countries that have not signed the Human Rights package of the UN. There are 195 countries and 2 have not signed this important accord. Do you want to guess what one of them was? Wait for it… You’ll never guess. The good ole US of A. Yup! Can you believe that? I find that outrageous! I’m going to start a campaign about this, I really am, because what does it mean for the United States not to have signed this. I asked “ how can that be?” And they said well the United States felt they were a country that stands for that so why sign?” What? Are you kidding? The UN is on our turf, we invest the most money into it and we didn’t sign the accord? I was absolutely aghast.

Today the UN was debating whether or not the provisions of the Human Rights acts covered Gays and Lesbians. It’s a culture war as you can imagine. There was one case filed where an person Australian claimed he was being persecuted because he was gay and the commission ruled in his favor. That started the precedent that said human rights should cover age, sex, color, creed and sexual orientation. And this is one of the reasons I like doing this, amongst all the countries and people at odds you will find that the UN has the largest concentration of optimism. It’s beautiful.

I interviewed a South African and we talked about the shadow of apartheid. I remember there was a guy here at WOR who voted at the UN for the first time for Nelson Mandela, a short time after apartheid ended in 1994. I remember he said people were crying. It was a very emotional event. I guess it was very similar to what happened in Times Square when Obama was elected. It was a party in Times Square. An “Un” drunk New years Eve! An amazing world event. The world can be a quite a big and wonderful place.

Rock Star for A Day

I must admit I got a little addicted to the sound of applause from my weekend at Windsor in Canada. It made me want to request applause today when my program started. I just got back from my “victory tour” although I’m not so sure I can call it a “tour” since I only visited one city. So while in Windsor, during the live show we had…, get this guys and gals, 1200 people in the room! Wow. I was so humbled and they applauded and I melted. Although admittedly, I did change clothes three times. Yes my inner diva came out to play and I had so much fun. I had such a great time. It was 94 degrees and humid. I also attended “Art in the Park” which was a beautiful experience and the strawberry festival was sweet, pun intended. One of things about being there that I realized right away was that the casino was the major employer of Windsor. During the trip I kept wondering why people kept recognizing me, that’s until I realized there was a huge poster of me in the lobby right near the casino.

So all weekend people kept coming up to me even with a hat and sunglasses. I had some great BBQ pulled Chicken. I handled some great questions at the event. The audience did a really wonderful job. I had dinner at Nero’s with the Keith Chinnery , program director and Renee Tomisch head of publicity and it was just an all around great time. I was on televisions! It was wonderful. It’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to being a rock star but I’m okay with that… until I can practice my singing, this works for me.