Alcohol & Drug Abuse Series

I'm working on another 3-part series on alcohol and drug abuse among highschool kids for Sweeps month. At first I balked at the unorginality of it but then it became clear that this was not another proverbial news story. Our series starts tonight at 11pm and continues Monday and Tuesday. What's so revealing is that kids are finally responding to the anti-drinking message because of a recent medical report about brain damage. Most of us have heard of alcohol consumption and ARBI or Alcohol Related Brain Injury. ARBI results in damage to the cognitive part of your brain (memory and thinking abilities) and difficulties with balance and coordination as well as long term neurological disorders. ARBI is more likely to occur if a person drinks heavily on a regular basis over many years but it is possible to develop ARBI if the drinking is aggressive enough, like binge drinking (what teenagers and college kids are guilty of). The hippocampus, the prefrontal area, the cerebellum; I'm working with doctors and social workers on this story so it's like a crash course in AMA journalism. The new report, published in the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, is downloadable as an abstract at this site - http://www.alcoholism-cer.com Testing on animals proved that young brains under the age of 21 are not programmed to make rational decisions, under the influence or not and when a teenager binge drinks, they are literally causing irreversible and permanent damage to their frontal lobe. I could go on and on and on about this interesting topic, especially since I have family personally effected by alcohol and drug abuse, but then you'd missing my evening series! Can't have that!!

Murderers, Memorials & Musicians

Everyone should be so lucky to have a job like this. I know I complain from time to time but reflection at the end of the week really put it into perspective. Where else will a hardened criminal pour out his deepest emotions with you on Monday, or a music icon like Mary Wilson discuss the impact the Supremes had on race relations on Tuesday, or a renown Archeologist show you how to unearth the skeletonal remains of a Revolutionary War Hero on Wednesday? Stories of profound and prolific people pepper the political press of Albany, NY, especially during Sweeps. Minus mundane Press Conferences and perp walks, this job is positively provocative and professionally unparrelled! Like in movies or music , there's always a message in the methods used to manipulate a story. It's empowering and enriching to be a part of pop culture in that way. It's equally satisfying - physically, mentally, and emotionally when a fleet of stories like those this week peak your passions! I just hope someone's watching...

No-Good-Rotten-Scalpers

Scalping concert and sports tickets in Tennessee is legal but this is New York State and it's not suppose to be! Still my friends are shelling out 2-3 times more to see a "U2" performance because all seats were sold out to Scalpers through internet loopholes the first day they went on sale. It's an unfair practice but seemingly everyone is getting away with it. NBC covered the story on the National news last week but with few solutions. Here's the transcript:

LOS ANGELES - The only way you can get to see Bruce Springsteen perform in East Rutherford, N.J. — in a concert that sold out on the first day seats went up for grabs — is to buy tickets at hugely inflated prices from scalpers. And now, the Internet makes it easy for them to nail down the best seats to all sorts of major events. "It's a constant cat and mouse game of technology, trying to thwart people from getting unfair amounts of tickets," says Ticketmaster president & CEO John Pleasants. These days, two-thirds of people who attend concerts and shows don't stand in line, they go online to buy their tickets. When you use the Internet to buy tickets from a company like Ticketmaster and you log on to their Web site, you're taken to a page with a randomly selected "secret word" that you have to retype. The words are partially camouflaged in a way that's supposed to make it impossible for automated systems to recognize them. But hackers have come up with software that can read the words and can sign up for huge blocks of tickets automatically. "This software allows the scalpers to do it over and over and over again very quickly," says Steve Knopper of Rolling Stone magazine. Knopper writes about this in the new issue of Rolling Stone. He says you don't have to be a big ticket broker to take advantage of the software. "In the age of eBay, pretty much everybody's a scalper," he says. "There are fans that buy four seats to a show and resell two of them so they can make up their costs for the first two." Ticketmaster says it spends a great deal of resources trying to defeat high-tech scalpers. "As soon as you think your system is impenetrable, someone finds a way to get around it," says Ticketmaster's John Pleasants. The attorney who represents the group Goo Goo Dolls says performers are angry. "Most of my artist clients really want to make sure their fans can afford to see them and to get to see them, you know, at a price they think is fair," says Peter Paterno. The high-tech scalpers say it's all perfectly legal in most places, even if it strikes a sour note with artists and fans.

How The Chaos Theory Really Works

It's finally raining! Yahhh! That means I don't have to feel guilty about staying inside and picking up after my messy self instead of being outside when its nice. I start out with good enough intentions at the beginning of the week. My stuff is obsessively organized just perfect --so much so that if you moved my toothbrush an inch, I would notice. But then, as days creep by...things start falling apart at the seams. Monday, there's 3 hangers on the closet floor, a dresser drawer left open and an unmade bed. By Tuesday, there's 3 hangers on the floor, a dresser drawer left open, an unmade bed, cookie crumbs by my alarm clock and a dirty bag of gym clothes scattered. Come Wednesday, there's 3 hangers on the closet floor, a dresser drawer left open, an unmade bed, cookie crumbs by my alarm clock, a dirty bag of gym clothes scattered, candlewax drippings all over diary, 3 empty shampoo bottles left in shower, toothpaste dried up in sink, and an unflushed toilet (gross). Scary Thursday appears and there's 3 hangers on the closet floor, a dresser drawer left open, an unmade bed, cookie crumbs by my alarm clock, a dirty bag of gym clothes scattered, candlewax drippings all over diary, 3 empty shampoo bottles left in shower, toothpaste dried up in sink, an unflushed toilet (gross), coins and loose cash on hope chest, newspaper clippings, cut-outs and articles from NY Times saved and spread all over the carpet, a wine bottle half empty next to my pillow, and a clogged shower drain. By Friday, well, you get the picture. A F5 tornado aptly called "job-first-house-second" levels my living space and I can't function like this for another moment! So come Sat, (again after working OT 3am-9a though) I put my sanity back in place and heave a sigh of relief -- just in time to repeat the performance for the next week!

The Big Walk

While deleting old email from my inbox today I came across one of Max's (GoNomad CEO) emails from months ago. Within 5 minutes (no exaggeration) I had my morning story lined up for the evening news. Max's email had more to do with the Production Company shooting the documentary than the subject but by pure luck the subject was in town for only 40 more minutes. His name is Big John, he's 34 and he and his big big heart are walking across America to raise $5 Million for Cancer Research and Awareness. He began his journey in Maine 3 weeks ago and, by walking 15 miles a day every day, expects to finish in San Diego in the year 2008. I called him only minutes before he was to leave Albany for Pittsfield. He sells purple ribbons for display on 12 foot banners at $2/ribbon but most people chip in $5, 10 or more. I chipped in because my stepmom nearly died from ovarian cancer a few weeks ago. John's passion comes from losing both his parents to Cancer before age 10. His fiancee also quit her job, sold her house, and is helping out by driving the sponsored RV 'cross country with him. For all those interested in giving to this heroic deed -- check out his site at: www.bigjohnsteam.org and give all you can!

Gold Bond to the Rescue

"I really have to have that itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, yellow, pokka dot, bikini!" I tell myself. I yank it off it's hanger and run to the dressing rooms. I disrobe and throw the 2 piece on, admiring the new, healthy, lean, muscular me in the mirror. And then, suddenly, without warning, this aweful, horrendous, intoxicating, stench comes wafting into my dressing room. "OH NO -- I think to myself and look down -- it's me, it's my feet!" I've waited all winter to go barefoot in my Naughty Monkees and now I'm paying for it not remembering foot powder! I hurry up to get my feet covered again. Suddenly, 2 women in dressing rooms several doors away scream out "This dressing room stinks!". OH GOD NO! It's my feet again, these otherwise harmless little things are driving customers right out the door! As if matters couldn't get any worse, I forget later in the day that I have a physical with my doctor. She wants me to undress from head to toe to weigh me, measure me, check me over, that sort of stuff. Naked and truly embarressed, I decide not to put her through it and instead wear the naughty monkees under the patience gown the whole time -- can you imagine how stupid I looked! No more leaving my house without a pair of socks on in the morning. I've learned my lesson well and will save the bareness for the beach!

When in Dallas...

...do as a Texan -- up at the break of dawn and to bed sometime after midnight. Last week I touched down in Dallas/Fort Worth for a 4 day press tour itinerary for GoNomad.com. My writings should be posted by this weekend. Southerners Traci, Betty, John, Diane and Creative Adjustive Engineer Steve, easily lassoed that elitest yankee attitude out from under me and showed me what I've been missing. 4-star dining at the Capital Grille, extreme rodeo from behind the bullpen, luxury suites at the Omni Mandalay, 6 museums including the National Scouting, National Womens, and the 6th Floor at Dealey Plaza. "Spendors of China's Forbidden City" at the Nasher Museum was my favorite though! An unprecedented exhibition of 400 artifacts from Emperor Qianlong's reign from 1736 to 1789. The art objects have never before been seen outside of China and have never left the Forbidden City. I learned about Tibetan Stupas, pagodas, the Buddha Amitayus, and ceremonial armor. The West End, Dallas Upper, and Deep Ellum were the cultural meccas for great shopping, unique music, art-house theater, and colorful personalities. I dug deep into my pockets for a one-of-kind piece of mixed-media expression from the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth. Of the 600 artists who aim to be part of this show every year, only 250 are picked. My artist, Israeli-born Lea Alboher, moved to San Francisco shortly after her father died and pursued his lost dream of becoming an artist. Upon talking with her at her booth, I realized how close I was to her shop, during my travels to California in February. The vacation (I mean job) wrapped up with a tour of Historic GrapeVine with wine tasting and a Baptist Singing Group in the BluesRoom restaurant . Halleluiah, praise be to travel at it's best!

YMCA & TCM

Monday, it was post-war film noir, Tuesday -early liberator Miss Bette Davis, Wednesday - classic swashbuckling Errol Flynn, and a month before - Cary Grant's best. Everyday (almost everyday) at 7am, instead of popcorn, I'm snacking on gatorade and a banana before my hour-long morning workout. I'm addicted - and that's not because of the lean and mean results of my cardio workout - I'm stuck on vintage film! Those sappy, sentimental, saccharine-choked, films of yesteryear. It's crazy.
TV screens at the Y donn every EFX and treadmill. Just toss a pair of plugs into the set and forget that searing pain in your lower tibialis anterior. Between TCM, Netflix, and Tuesday nights at the Spectrum, I'm averaging 10 movies a week, not that I get to see most of these classics in their entirety, but enough to catch up on a loss artform that feels more productive than CNN. When enough time has lapsed, I exit the machine like I'm leaving a theater. Tears welling up, a pathetic look of romantic nostalgia, thoughts of our brave heroine rescueing his beautiful damsel in distress. Insipid and corny, I know. Constructive and physically rewarding, without a doubt!

Give me Chocolate or Give me Death!

Her name is Suzanna, not Sue, not Suzanne, not Suzy, it's Suzanna and don't try calling her anything but. At 88 yrs, she's as independent and spry as she was during her vibrant youth. She'll talk your ear off about her friendships with Paul McCartney and Bing Crosby and her 45 year career as a dancer with the NYC Ballet Company. As interesting as that is, we're really there to find out the secret to her longevity, wearing a face as smooth as silk and legs as strong as an ox. She could easily pass for 65 -- raising her skirt high enough for us to admire her tight glutes. I thought better of videotaping that.

Suzanna lives in Saratoga, in a charming old stone Presbeterian Church - converted into luxury condo's for those who can afford NYC morgages. Her condo is filled with antiquity; ornate, sculptural works of decorative art made of precious metals, Greek vases painted and depicting the God of War, Ares and God of Love, Aphrodite, along with full length murals of modern art. A real class act. After recounting the glory days with photos and books, time is ticking and we insist she enlighten our curiousity.

"Please Suzanna -- Tell the viewing public what keeps you walking miles and miles everyday without assistance or the need for a vehicle?" "No chocolate my dear" she says looking me straight in eye. "I've not had chocolate for 40 years".

Ummmm....no chocolate? It doesn't compute. Did I hear her correctly? I can go so far as imagining abstinence for 40 years - but chocolate? No WAY! "Ah Hell" I resign " Bring on the wrinkles and poor posture!, I'll never denounce the food of My Gods!".

Another strong female voice interviewed this week was Camille Paglia. A writer of western culture and sexual evolution, she's controversial, erudite and hated by conservatives and liberals alike. She protects her identity using a pseudonym when she stays in hotels. Wednesday night she spoke at Suny Albany about her latest publication, a collection of favorite poems and essays, analyzed and scrutinized by her alone. She's brilliant in her theories and conclusions about higher education, celebrities, and the Pope.

"Private Liberal Arts Colleges, those that cost parents a fortunate to send their children to, are a scandal, a joke, and out of complete control" she bellows. "The education and professors at these schools are no better than those found at public institutions like SUNY. And still mainstream media avoids stories that exploit the ugly truth about these money-hungry imposters".

Suddenly, I'm feeling like my days of apoligizing for attending 2 SUNY schools are over. I like her, like I liked Anita Roddick, founder and CEO of the Body Shop and I pick her brain tirelessly before her interview with the Boston Globe.

Men Fake ForePlay

It was one of those ugly rainy days meant for me to skip skiing and spend an evening alone. Flipping through the local liberal arts rag, I stopped short for an ad called "Men Fake Foreplay". Hhmmm, this sounds interesting...

"Standup Comedy Writer Mike Dugan talks relationships and intimacy, sex and cheating and he does it in sort of a Woody Allen meets Jimmy Stewart kind of a way, his gentle philosophizing really drawing you in." the ad reads..."It's not necessarily the type of humor that makes you laugh so hard you cry but a much rarer type that makes you smile knowingly to yourself."

2 touching endorsements and 1 box office phone call later and I've just scored myself the very last seat in the house.

"Are you going to the show too?" I volunteer to an African American women, as we hurry our pace to the Egg's Performing Art Center. She's decked out in high heals and a low-cut blouse, balancing her step on slippery cobblestone streets while juggling a cell phone and a oversized purse. "Yes, I'm terribly late. It started at 7pm" she panics. "No, your not - the show doesn't start for another 40 minutes" I assure her. We board the elevator inside the Egg and I notice I'm the only one dressed in blue jeans and sneakers, expensive DKNY's and Puma's though! Could my laissez-faire attire not be suitable for a Emmy-award winning Irish Comedian? The elevator door opens and a poster welcomes me to one of P. Diddy's Bad Boys, Comedian Rickey Smiley. Oh, I get it -- wrong theater!

I jump back on the elevator and the little white women with curlers in her hair says to me, "Yes, I thought I might have dropped you off at the wrong theater -- your not showing enough cleavage Miss". I burst out laughing. Rickey attracts a mostly black majority while low key and self-effacing, Mike Dugan, is like a magnet for the pastier folks. Never before did I think comedians attracted such a racial divide.

A poster on stage reads 2 dictionary definitions of the word ForePlay (1929) as I find my seat. I don't scribble down either but Mike Dugan's opening monologue quickly crafts both as imposters to what women REALLY want.

"Funny how the word Foreplay was invented during the year the stockmarket crashed...as if it might have had something to do with men realizing how much they need women when they have no money" explains Dugan.

And so begins Dugan's revelations into every man's secret vault of insecurites about the opposite sex. He uses funny vignettes and experience to compare a heat-seeking missile with a guy's dick and coins the term "Fantasy-guidance-system" to explain eternal bachelorhood. Ahhh, clarity and persuasion for the troubled male - is that guy infront of me taking notes?

Admitting his own emotional shortcomings, "I don’t have a lot of relationship skills because all of my training is in casual sex", Dugan gets the entire audience applauding his candor. My favorite was his story about how he came to find himself after cheating on a blossoming relationship - justifying it to himself because it was only 4 months into their courtship. "Women's intuitions can always tell when something's amiss... but instead of telling her the truth, I lied about it and compromised that beautiful place in her soul where her smiles come from....a month later, my conscience caught up with me, and I told her I indeed had sex with someone else. Well, that was it -- her trust in me was gone. Her last words to me were "You don't have the self-awareness I need to feel safe with you, Mike".

During intermission, I winced with a little longing for an ex - someone I thought knew me better than he really did. Mike's relationship enlightenment was having a Valentine's effect on the couples around me. Arms were being tossed across their partner's backs and hands held tight. "Keep scribbling in your tiny notebook Sony, keep scribbling" I whisper to myself. Listening to "Torn" by Anne Previn during intermission didn't help matters any.

Second set and Dugan's on fire! He's pissed off with commercial exploitation of women, he's pissed off at John Gray (Men are from Mars...), Howard Stern and Hugh Heffner, he's pissed off that father figures don't exist anymore, he's pissed off that drugs, drinking and casual sex is destroying the fabric of our country. He's speaking the truth, not because he was raised a good Catholic boy but because he's 45 and finally discovering whats kept him from finding his center, his core. His pissed off that he's left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

I could go on and on and on about this wonderful show, but...My God, it's 1am and I haven't observed Daylight Savings Time yet!
Goodnight all!