3-9-10

In case you missed it...

• Rosie opened the show talking with Jeannie about her 8 year old daughter, whose been dancing since she was 3, and has three dance competitions coming up in the next few months. Bobby (the Tony award winning costume designer) is helping Jeannie alter some of her daughter's costumes today! Bobby is flipping out because there is going to be some puckering in his sewing and he does NOT typically have puckering in the costumes he designs. It's not in his nature to do it poorly. Jeannie was also a dancer when she was younger and was captain of the kick line. While Jeannie was on the kickline, Jackie was at home studying and Roseann was out playing sports. They then sang the Commack fight song together on air!! OMG, it was great. Rosie of course remembered all the words and even the drumming part. Rosie's niece, Ally, is an Irish dancer. Rosie remarked about what a sight it is to see all these chubby Irish mothers with their daughters with the wigs, and the outfits, and the crying if they don't win. Rosie said Jeannie stunk at sports and Rosie told some funny stories of Jeannie attempting to play softball that cracked everyone up in the studio.

• Jeannie likes to make fun of Rosie's Buick because she says it's an old man's car. Rosie said she got the Buick Enclave and she used to proudly say how it was "the Tiger Woods car." Now....she attributes getting the Enclave to being in Detroit when she was filming her film America and how she bought it to support the local economy there.

• Rosie spoke in length about how she is frustrated with Parker and how she never knows how much homework he has. Parker has a tutor, Lois Kam Heymann, who co-wrote the book The Sound of Hope with Rosie (set to be released on April 27th, 2010), about recognizing, treating and coping with Auditory Processing Disorders. I went looking for the book online and I found Lois's website about the book HERE. Check it out and preorder a copy if you're interested! Well, Lois has been helping Parker and another student in his class and he told Rosie that he didn't have any homework. Lois said she had just met with the other student and Parker has a ton of homework that he didn't tell anyone about. Rosie expressed her concern that Parker has no idea what a normal school would be like. She is considering taking him to an all boys prep-school to prepare him for college because he seems to have no self-motivation when it comes to academics. Rosie said that every day is an argument over homework with Parker. Well, last night Rosie punished Parker for not doing his homework and sent him to his room. Rosie went to his room later that night and he had put the dresser in front of the door so she couldn't get in! He is BRAVE! OMG. She said she told him to move the dresser and he stared at her for a SOLID minute before he moved it.

• Rosie asked Jeannie if this was normal and Jeannie said "ABSOLUTELY." Jeannie talked about how real life consequences are so much worse then the consequences that she as a parent can give. They discussed and defined the Waldorf school philosophy of education entitled Anthroposophy. Rosie said that Chelsea wants to switch schools to go to an all-girl school because she thinks there's too much "boy drama" at her school. Deirdre and Janette (and KellyW!) find this highly evolutionized of Chelsea and were very impressed. Deirdre said she went to a school like Parker's up until she was in 9th grade when her parents took her out because her grades were beginning to fall. She said it was the best thing she ever did. Deirdre said the prep school whipped her into shape and prepared her for college. Rosie is having trouble finding a single-sex school that is not religiously affiliated in her area.

• Rosie took several callers debating the pros and cons of single-sex prep schools vs. the Waldorf education he is now receiving and which is a better preparation for college and the real world.

• Parker has expressed interest in the military so they watched the documentary Tattooed Under Fire together. Rosie called it a great documentary and recommended it to her listeners.
Here is the trailer:

• Rosie also mentioned the documentary The Cove that won the Oscar for best documentary. Rosie watched it again last night. She described it to her listeners and talked about how much she loves it. She talked to several callers about the documentary and the slaughtering of dolphins. Here is the trailer:

• They played the awkward clip from the man who won an Oscar for a documentary he made entitled Music By Prudence. You can watch the clip HERE if you haven't seen it. They played the clip and discussed how funny it was. Well, the director got a "do-over" on Larry King Live. Rosie played it and commented how hilarious it was because Larry says, "I wasn't cutting you off, Kanye" to the director when he interrupted him (in reference to how Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the VMAs). HELLO AWKWARD! Kanye wasn't interrupted. Taylor was. LOL You can read about the entire Oscar night debacle and the awkward moment on Larry King HERE.

• Rosie then interviewed slam poet Shane Koyczan whom she discovered on YouTube! Rosie said how much she loves slam poetry and how much she loves watching him perform. Rosie said she is so moved by his performances. Rosie even recited her own poem that she wrote in 8th grade that she still remembers! It was beautiful! She is a poet! I loved it. Rosie recommended his poem Beethoven to her listeners. Listen and watch below:

• Rosie talked with Shane about his influences and his writing process. Shane talked about what it was like telling his father that he wanted to be a poet for a living and what it was like getting to know his mother after she got sick and spending time with her before she died. Rosie told Shane how she loves the way he talks about love and called him "overwhelmingly compelling." Rosie said she's watched everything she can find about Shane online and she wants more! She said she feels addicted to him. :) Here are links to two of Shane's albums: Shut Up and Say Something, and A Pretty Decent Cape in My Closet, and his book Stick Boy. Shane and Rosie closed the interview and Shane unveiled an all new poem for the listening audience!

Shane performing We Are More that he performed

at the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics!

• Then it was time for Weigh Ins! Bobby has maintained, Janette is still down, Jeannie is down 15 pounds, Pete is not down and Rosie has stayed the same. Eric, Rosie's friend and makeup artist, has recommended that Rosie try Jenny Craig. Bobby has tried Jenny Craig before and doesn't like it because it's all pre-packaged food and it doesn't teach you how to do it yourself.

• The staff then started talking about how the Girl Scout cookies are in! Rosie said she can't sleep with them in the house. She's ordered Thin Mints, Samoas and the peanut butter ones (Tagalongs). She said that her friend and nanny, Tanya, made cookies recently and made them smaller and not crispy so Rosie wouldn't be tempted to eat them all! Rosie said she is considering the Jenny Craig program but not as a paid sponsor but Jeannie thought she should do it as a sponsor and thought the idea was funny.

Well, since we're talking about poetry AGAIN I have to add a quote from a favorite poem that my mom (who was also a slam poet back in the day) wrote for me when I graduated from high school. I, along with many (if not all), of my classmates at the suburban high school we attended never needed for anything. We too had to find the internal motivation to succeed in the world and to use our gift of privilege to make the world better than how we found it. Some of us did. And some of us did not. At some point it is your choice how you want to use the gifts you have been given.

from the poem Stepping Out by Sara Holbrook

"...privilege.
Is it just a blessing?
A responsibility?
A maze of social traps?
An isolationist position?
Or is it just, perhaps,
a gilded invitation to help
construct a place
where less is more
and more costs less
and where more babies can be safe.

The world made room for you,
when it was crowded and hungry and tired,
hoping one day, that comfort would grow
uncomfortable.
That one day you'd grow
inspired to find solutions.
The world gave you the strength
to seek that something else,
and to stand up to the nonchalance of privilege
as now, you step out
to make room for yourself."

- and that's what you missed. kw