11-04-10 - Janette's next MMFC mission and an interview with Portia de Rossi

In case you missed it...

JEANNIE'S SKIN SCARE, ROBERT DOWNEY JR., ZACH GALIFIANAKIS AND SURVIVOR
Rosie began today's broadcast telling listener's that Jeannie Weenie had a skin cancer scare.  She went to the dermatologist yesterday and had a precancerous mole/freckle taken off her face.  She emailed Rosie and Jackie, who are the "tanning queens" to warn them!  Janette said her boyfriend Barry has had a bunch of precancerous moles taken off too.  Rosie swears she wears sunscreen and then followed that up with how she cannot wait to get back to Miami, where it's sunny!  Today it was rainy and gray in NYC and Rosie hates it.  Deirdre loves rainy days every now and then and said it reminds her of when she once lived in Toronto.  Deirdre said when she lived in Toronto her skin looked so great people would ask her if she'd had a face-lift!

Rosie has seen Robert Downey, Jr. doing press for his new movie Due Date and she's so happy that he looks so good.  Every time she sees him she's reminded that recovery is possible for everyone.  She also loves the actor Zach Galifianakis.  She fell in love with him after she saw the trailer for the movie It's Kind of A Funny Story and now she said she's seeing him everywhere!  Rosie said she wants to have a Zach Galifianakis film festival this weekend to see all the work he's done.   

Zach Galifianakis



Going back to Robert Downey, Jr., Rosie said when he was really struggling with drugs she kept thinking she wanted him to move in with her so she could help him.  She thinks he's such an amazing actor and she loved him in all his movies including Sherlock Holmes, Less Than Zero and Iron Man.  Deirdre, who knows every publicist of every star, said that Robert knows how much Rosie loves him and appreciates it.  Rosie also loves his music and they played clips from several of his songs from the album The Futurist.

Rosie and Pete both watched last night's Survivor and briefly discussed it.  They both think NaOnka is crazy and they couldn't believe she stole the food from her own tribe.  And they were shocked that she didn't get kicked off for it!   

SURVEY SAYS, WEIGHT ISSUES, AIRPORT SCANNERS, JANETTE'S NEXT MMFC MISSION!
Rosie said there's a new study out that shows that people today are less likely to see themselves as overweight or obese because they're so used to seeing large people.  Janette talked about how hard it was for her being one of the only kids who was obese.  She said it's a double edged sword.  She's happy that there's less stigma attached to being heavy but realizes there are still great health risks with being overweight. 

Rosie said Portia De Rossi (who has now changed her name to Portia DeGeneres) is coming on the show later in the broadcast to talk about her new book Unbearable Lightness.  Rosie commented on the book and how Portia talks about how she was proud when she got down to 80 pounds as if she had achieved something.  Rosie sees the similarity between overeating and anorexia but said heavy people never feel that pride over control. She said being heavy feels more like a loss of control.  Janette once tried to be bulimic but said she had worse self-hatred when she was trying to be bulimic then when she was just overeating.  Rosie never tried being bulimic but does throw up if she gets very, very nervous.   In college there was a rumor she was pregnant when she first started because she would throw up before every class every morning from being so nervous!

The Rosie Radio staff discussed a new study out that shows airport body scanners deliver 20 times more radiation than X-Rays.  Rosie said you still have the choice to be patted down and that's what she typically chooses.  Deirdre, after seeing the pictures of what airport security photos show on the human body, said she doesn't agree with the use of the cameras anymore.  She's worried people behind the cameras might be commenting on what kind of body she has.  Rosie couldn't believe this since Deirdre is a size 4!  She told Deirdre the pictures aren't very clear and they're not like a real naked picture of her body.   Bobby said the people looking at the pictures are in an entirely different room and don't see the faces of the people they're screening so she shouldn't worry.  He said the airport security is just looking for guns and bombs but Deirdre didn't buy it.  Janette predicted that, at any moment, an airport security photo of someone famous will be released to the media.  Janette was once asked to remove all her clothing at a German airport!  She said it's a miracle she still flies.  Rosie prefers to be patted down because she doesn't want to be exposed to any more radiation by going through the machine.  Rosie said she had a lot of radiation exposure as a child from all the X-Rays she had for broken bones.  Rosie admitted she doesn't always wear a bra either and how she likes to joke with the screeners as they're patting her down.  She said she likes to joke with the screeners because they usually recognize her and it can be awkward.  Rosie went on about how she doesn't like to wear a bra and mentioned the scene about the bra inventor Otto Titsling from the movie Beaches.  Janette admitted she steams with anger when she is searched at the airport!    Janette will be flying tomorrow and must choose if she wants to be seen naked or if she wanted to be fingered! 

Janette is leaving tomorrow for a MMFC mission to the Philippines to do cleft palate restorations on children.  She will be gone for a week and they just found out they will have armed guards with them at all times!  Janette said the reason for the guards is there's a Communist and Muslim insurrection in the Philippines and they want to make sure nothing happens to them.  She had anxiety about the trip this morning but she explained she always has anxiety before a Medical Missions trip where she knows there's violence.  But Janette said once she gets to where she's going, the anxiety goes away.  Rosie laughed that getting scanned at the airport scares Janette but going somewhere where she needs armed guards does not.  Janette said they already have 50 children lined up for the surgery and that is what she focuses on before the mission.  She said the medical care provided by the Philippines considers cleft lip surgery elective surgery and therefore isn't covered.  She said if it weren't for their trip, the children would never be able to get their lips fixed.

Rosie said she's interested to see what the mood of the studio will be like with Janette gone.  She said she wants to see what happens to the mood of the studio in terms of the negativity level and the frenetic level.  She asked Janette to call in mid-week so they can tell her how much they miss her and get an update on the trip.  Janette said the staff bought a smile for a child and she's going to take a before and after picture of the child's smile they saved.  :)

OPRAH AND GAYLE CAMP AND GEORGE BUSH LIKES BLACK PEOPLE BUT NOT KANYE
Both Bobby and Rosie watch Oprah and Gayle's camping trip in Yosemite and they both laughed their asses off!  Rosie thought their road trip they did a few years ago was hilarious and she loved this one too.  Bobby said Oprah's final farewell year is only getting better and better.  They both cannot believe Oprah is stopping her show because they think she's so great at what she does.  A Park Ranger wrote in to Oprah and told her that not enough black people go camping so Oprah and Gayle decided to try it!  Bobby and Rosie listed off their favorite moments from the episode which including when they went shopping at the camping supply store and when Oprah didn't know how to make a s'more.  Rosie was sad the segment was over and wished the road trips were a series!   

Rosie wanted to discuss how George Bush recently stated in an interview with Matt Lauer that his most disgusting moment of his presidency was when Kanye West said Bush didn't care about black people.  Rosie couldn't believe, with all the other negative moments of his presidency, that THAT one would stand out.  Pete listed off a plethora of disgusting moments from the Bush presidency that he could have chosen including:  the fact that he had the lowest approval rating since Nixon (who was forced out of office) when he left office; that when he started his presidency we had a $230 billion surplus and in only 3 years of his term  it rose to a $500 billion deficit; the fact that in 2007 we entered into the longest recession of our lifetimes; the fact that he named Alberto Gonzales Attorney General who authored the torture memo and fired U.S. attorneys without cause; that he told Mike Brown (who was forced to step down) he did a heck of a job on the post-Katrina rescue effort; and lastly, declared "Mission Accomplished" in 2003 when he had no exit strategy for the war in Iraq and then completely lost focus on the war in Afghanistan (which is now a huge problem area again in the world).  Rosie found his recollection startling and hard to believe.

Kanye West responded to Bush's comment and said he now has compassion for George Bush because they went through similar things.  Kanye said he saw George Bush as being uncompassionate just as people saw him as being uncompassionate when he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the VMAs.  Rosie didn't think you could really compare the criticism a U.S. President received for his lack of response to one of the biggest disasters of our lifetimes to the criticism a drunken rap star got after interrupting an acceptance speech at an award show.   

RICKY MARTIN, THE BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT AND MINUTE TO WIN IT
Rosie is excited to read Ricky Martin's new book Me and talked about the time she hosted the Grammy's in 1999 when he burst onto the scene.  She asked Deirdre if she could book him for the show.  Bobby said that Ricky Martin is coming to Broadway in Evita!  They all cannot wait to see him in it!  And she wants to book Patti LuPone who just wrote a memoir. She said she's going to read both those books this weekend. 

Rosie wanted to discuss with Deirdre a new article she read that stated there are dangers with the hair technique called the Brazilian blowout.  According to the article, formaldehyde is used which can be toxic.  Deirdre has been getting a Brazilian Blowout for years and said sometimes the fumes do bother her eyes.  But she loves it and said it's literally changed her life. She doesn't have to spend nearly as much time straightening her hair like she used to.  It's an expensive technique costing $300 but it lasts for 3 months and keeps your hair totally straight.  Deirdre hates her curly hair.

Rosie got a perm once in 8th grade and said her hair looked just like Gilda Radner's triangle perm when she did the character Roseanne Rosanadana.  She said that perm might also be the reason she became an entertainer because she chose to master an impersonation of that character in order to not be picked on by people.  Janette had a perm too and said she looked just like Linc Hayes from Mod Squad. 

Rosie asked Deirdre if she would get it again knowing the dangers.  Deirdre said she would have to talk to some people more about the treatment first before she makes a decision.  She loves it and it's a hard decision for her.   

Rosie briefly mentioned the show Minute To Win It.  She likes the game show and said she'd do that show before she'd ever considering doing Biggest Loser, Dancing With the Stars or Wipeout.  Guy Fieri from Diners and Drive-Ins hosts it.  Rosie met Guy when she stopped into a Miami beach Diner where he was recording an episode.  He interviewed her and she was on the program!  Rosie thinks she would be good at Minute To Win It.  She said she's sure someone's going to die on the show Wipeout.

Rosie took some calls from listeners who wanted to talk to Deirdre about the Brazilian Blowout.  One caller uses formaldehyde at her job and talked about the dangers of the chemical.  She said even the smallest amount of fumes can cause damage to the mucous membranes on your eyes.  One caller recommended Japanese Reconditioning that is done with different chemicals.  Rosie told Deirdre to "work the curly look."  Deirdre said she's been trying to "work the curly look" for 44 years and it hasn't worked so far.  Rosie said her hair is very long right now and two people have asked her recently if she has hair extensions!  She thought this was funny!  As if she would get hair extensions! 

JANETTE'S HOARDING BENEFITS PETE AND CALLERS WIN TICKETS
Janette had a baby-gift for Pete.  She feels that the parents deserve a gift when they have a baby so she brought him something he could enjoy as opposed to getting something for the new baby.  Janette gave Pete a 1968 USS Enterprise Model Kit!  Rosie couldn't believe Janette still had it and called her a hoarder!  Janette admitted to keeping the kit for the past 40 years.  It was in perfect condition and still in the box!   Rosie kept asking Janette to admit she's a hoarder and told her that every hoarder claims they're not a hoarder.  Janette finally admitted that she's "a little bit of a hoarder" but that everything is neatly put away.  Rosie said, "All hoarders say that!"

Rosie took calls from listeners who were supposed to guess the comedian based off a clip of their standup routine.  All callers were trying to win tickets to the NY Comedy Festival Rosie's hosting tomorrow night!  The first caller heard a comedy clip from Larry The Cable Guy's standup routine.  The caller won the tickets to the show and backstage passes!  Rosie took another call from a listener who heard a clip from a Phyllis Diller's standup routine.  She also won tickets to the show and backstage passes!  Rosie took a call from a listener who heard a clip from Larry Miller's standup routine and after many, many hints the caller guessed the comedian and won tickets and passes to meet Rosie!  Rosie chatted with the last caller and liked him so much she didn't even make him compete.  She just gave him the tickets and told him to meet her after the show! 

PORTIA DE ROSSI (NOW PORTIA DEGENERES)

Rosie then introduced Portia de Rossi who was on the telephone to talk about her new book Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain.  Rosie told Portia how wonderful she was on Oprah the other day.  Rosie admired and appreciated her honesty in the way she talked about her eating disorder and how it affected her career, her family and her friends.  Rosie talked with Portia about how she once did a guest spot on Ally McBeal and how she remembered it to be a very strange atmosphere.  Portia said the show was a bit of a phenomenon at the time.  She said it was the first drama-dy and was so popular everyone was watching their every move.  She said the way the set was run they didn't really interact with each other that much and that may be why Rosie thought the set seemed strange. Portia said Ally McBeal was being filmed at a time when actors were first being put on the covers of magazines as models and getting beauty campaigns (like models) and the pressures to be gorgeous were huge.

Rosie talked with Portia about her struggle with food that she describes in her book.  Portia explained that she had struggled with food and weight issues since she was 12 years old and those struggles continued until she was 30.  Portia started modeling when she was only 12 and she was never as thin as she felt like she needed to be.  And she was very aware of the times she couldn't book jobs because she was too heavy.  Rosie asked if it's even possible to be in the modeling industry without having an eating disorder.  Portia said in order to do that you need to be naturally tall and have a small bone structure.  But she said the reality is most of the thin women we see in magazines are under 18 years old and haven't fully developed.  She said 40 year old women cannot look like the women in magazines.  Rosie often talks to her own teenage daughter about how women in magazines are airbrushed and not as thin and perfect as we think they are.  But Rosie said she really doesn't seem to get it.  Portia said that's because we're told we can defy aging and that we can be smarter than our mothers were.  The media is teaching us not to believe what our mothers say. 

Portia said in her book she didn't want to write about things that happened in her life, she wanted to write about things that happened in her head.  She wanted to try to explain the thinking behind her obsession with weight and how a diet can become a disorder.  She realized she was very thin but her agent and her publicist would always follow any critique about her weight with a compliment.  And Portia learned how to hide it and wear the right clothes in order to appease people. 

Rosie asked if her weight and diet were always on her mind and she said yes.  Portia said thinking about food was heightened during the time she was anorexic but food has always been on her mind since she started her first diet.  She was always conscious of being good or being bad when it came to eating.  Portia admitted that food consumed her mind for her entire life.  She wanted to tell women with her book that it doesn't matter what you look like and women don't have to worry every single day about what to eat. She hopes women will read the book and become more focused on other things, like the things that make us happy, rather than what makes us insecure. 

Rosie asked Portia how she was able to stop.  Portia said it's hard for her to explain.  She said it was like a light switch in her and she realized she could not continue killing herself.  At her lowest, she collapsed on a set of a movie in the makeup chair.  She had to go to the doctor and get blood tests and they came back with a terrifying diagnosis.  All she had to do to get better was eat in order to be healthy again.  She gained weight immediately, which was her greatest fear.  Portia also said Anorexia served her from dealing with her sexuality.  At 82 pounds she didn't have to deal with the fact that she was a lesbian.  She eventually got up to 168 pounds, which was her heaviest, but she was still obsessing over food.  Portia met Ellen at her highest weight and remembers thinking she was the most amazing woman on Earth.  But she thought she's closeted and fat and there's no way Ellen would ever be with her.  Three years later they met again.  In that 3 years Portia went to therapy and got control over her eating.   She stopped restricting and labeling foods as good or as bad.  She went back down to her normal weight of 130 pounds and has accepted that weight.  Portia said she won't ever diet again - not for her wedding day, not for a talk show.  Never again.

Rosie said it's hard for people to imagine such a beautiful woman could see themselves as fat and ugly.  Portia said, "Thank you," but said it doesn't matter how the world sees you, it's how you see yourself that matters.  At a very early age Portia was taught what she looked like was more important than what she did or who she was. 
Rosie asked Portia how much she thought her sexuality effected her eating disorder.  Portia said it made it worse at a time she was very vulnerable.  When she was on Ally McBeal, she was terrified people would find out she was gay and she would lose everything.  She felt selfish for not coming out but didn't think there was a way to have a career and be gay.   Ellen came out in 1997 and after a moment of excitement Ellen lost her sitcom three months later and there was a backlash.  Portia thought there was no way she could come out at the beginning of her career and keep working.  She said holding that secret of being gay is toxic and makes you very sick and afraid.  She said it's a horrible way to live. 

Rosie thanked Portia for calling in and told her she loved her book.  Portia thanked Rosie for mentioning the book previously on the show and for promoting it.  Rosie recommended listeners pick up a copy of it and thanked her for the interview.

CALLERS SHARE HOW PORTIA'S STORY HAS AFFECTED THEM
Rosie took several calls from listeners to discuss Portia's story.  One caller had an eating disorder in her late teens and appreciated Portia's story and her honesty about the disease.  One caller had an AHA moment after Portia was on Oprah.  She suffers from Anorexia and said Portia's brutal honesty in that book and in the interview gave voice to her inner soul.  She had this idea that beautiful, thin people are always happy and that if she would only get thin enough she would be happy too.  She realized through Portia that being thin wasn't the answer to her problems and has been able for the past few days to not focus on food as much.  She said Portia's words made her realize food doesn't have to control her and that she's not alone. 

Rosie closed the show reminding listeners to get their tickets to tomorrow's comedy show!
and that's what you missed - kw