11-1-10 - Halloween, Pete in a Tree and a Visit from the Nyack FD

In case you missed it...

HALLOWEEN, DENTIST WOES, BOBBY'S PUMPKIN WINS AND A NEW CONTEST!
Rosie started today's broadcast worrying because there's so much candy in her house calling her name!  Parker came in late from trick-or-treating, took a shower, went to sleep and when Rosie went to her room there he had left all of his Mounds and Almond Joys on her pillow!   And then she proceeded to eat them all.   Rosie did manage to not eat too much candy during the day, however.  The O'Donnell house handed out full-sized candy bars and movie-theater-sized boxes of Whoppers and Milk Duds! (Check Rosie.com for pictures of the Halloween fun!) Rosie said her trick-or-treaters couldn't believe the choices they had at their house and had trouble deciding.  Each kid was allowed to pick out two candies and a light-up necklace!  And the parents were allowed too!  She said they have lots of leftovers. 

Jeannie's teeth hurt today from eating so much candy.  But she admitted she hates the dentist and hasn't been in two years.  (Janette loves the dentist.)  Jeannie said, just the other day, a piece of her tooth fell out randomly.  She didn't know what to do with it so she put it in her pocketbook.  Jeannie thinks the reason she hates the dentist so much is because she has very sensitive teeth.  And she's no wimp!  She gave birth to three babies with no drugs!  Bobby told a precautionary tale of a time in his life when he didn't go to the dentist for a long time out of fear.  He ended up having horrible pain!  When he finally went to the dentist he ended up having three root-canalled teeth taken out to remove an abscess!  He said not going to the dentist is like "self-sabotage."  Rosie had a horrible dentist as a child who didn't use anything for pain.  After her mother died they switched dentists and started going to Jackie's dentist who gave laughing gas and novocaine, which Rosie highly recommends (at the dentist, not for recreational use). 

Bobby was happy to report he got a phone-call from Martha Stewart Living Radio to let him know he won the pumpkin decorating contest!  He won a big bag full of Martha Stewart "stuff."  Janette got the bronze (third place) but swore she wasn't bitter.  She said the Caterpillar pumpkin had a big surge at the end that pushed her into third place.   But again, she's not bitter.   

Bobby had an idea!  He thinks Rosie Radio should put on their own contest with the other Sirius radio stations.  He thinks they should give each participant a box filled with craft items and that person has to make something crafty out of the items they were given.  More points will be given for those participants that use all the items in their box!  Rosie thought it was a great idea.

RALLY TO RESTORE SANITY, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT VISITS AND LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
Rosie briefly discussed Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity.  Bobby watched it on TV and thought it was hysterical and he was pleased that so many people showed up.  They estimated that Glenn Beck had 87,000 people at his rally.  Saturday's rally had an estimated 210,000 people!  Rosie thought that was a fantastic turnout.  Rosie thought Jon's speech at the end was amazing when he said that focusing on the extremes damages the whole political process.  And she appreciated that he took a shot at cable news.  Janette listened to Hannity yesterday (who she never listens to) and she said his opinionated negative talk should never be misconstrued as news.  Rosie liked the metaphor for the rally that Jon Stewart gave how we can use a magnifying glass to point out the problems in our society or we can use it to light ants on fire.

Rosie had a big scare this weekend!  Her fire alarm went off at 6am on Saturday morning.  She ran downstairs and didn't see any fire so she told everyone to go back to bed.  Next thing she knew there was a pounding on the front door and it was a fireman asking her if she had everyone out of the house!  He told her her carbon monoxide detector had gone off and she panicked and started screaming hysterically EVERYBODY OUT!  The fireman canvassed the house with monitors and it turned out to be a false alarm.  She said they were back at the house during today's broadcast trying to figure out what was causing the alarm to go off.  Rosie was impressed and felt reassured with the firemen.  She said she felt very safe with them watching over her and her family. 

This weekend Rosie took her daughter Chelsea to see Life As We Know It.  Rosie didn't really want to see it but thought it was great!  She said it was absolutely adorable and Josh Duhamel is a "tall glass of water" and Katherine Heigl is "funny, gorgeous and great" in it.  The audience loved it so much people clapped when it was over in the movie theater!  She liked that it wasn't predictable and described the plot for the listeners at home.  Rosie said that several people have made her guardian of their children should anything happen to them (as happens to the couple in the film).  No one has ever made Janette guardian.  Rosie said she may have brought Janette to court to get custody if she ever ended up with anyone's children!

TRICK OR TREATING, PETE IN A TREE, AN "O" PHOTOSHOOT AND BISMARCK'S BDAY
Rosie said she's pretty sure her fame is done for anyone under the age of 26.  While trick-or-treating parents kept asking their kids if they wanted a picture with her and kids had no idea who she was!  Pete assured Rosie that his daughter Sophia knows exactly who she is.  Disney's Tarzan is one of her favorite movies!

Pete took his girls out trick-or-treating last night too.  He had a great time but said it was really cold and had to run back to the house for coats.  Then he and his wife gave out candy to the older trick-or-treating crowd that came later in the evening.  He also decided to dress in all black and hide in a tree in his front yard!  He would yell at the teenagers to scare them as they walked by.  One kid ran up to his house and when he got close Pete yelled, "NO RUNNING!" at him and scared the crap out of him!  He would yell at teenagers to drop their candy as they approached the house and then threw candy down at them from the tree. 

Bobby saw one of the funniest costumes he's ever seen in his life this weekend!   He said a man dressed in a very realistic plant costume sat himself outside various places and as people would walk by he would jump up and scare them! He could tell the man in the costume was laughing too because his leaves were shaking after he scared someone. He said it was hysterical!

Jeannie recalled a comedian who used to walk up to people on the street and yell at them to see how they'd react.  She said she may punch someone if they ever did that to her but then she'd probably laugh hysterically and pee her pants.  I found a video on YouTube of a man doing this.  I'm sure this isn't the one Jeannie is referring to but it made me laugh...



Rosie wondered what Pete's wife thought about him hiding in a tree scaring teens.  She imagined his daughters asking, "Where's Daddy?" and Barbara replying, "Oh, he's in a tree scaring teenagers."  Pete said his wife loves Halloween and liked the prank.

Rosie had a photo-shoot for "O Magazine" and got to hold Pete's newborn baby the other day!  Rosie said Ellie is the cutest, tiniest thing she's ever seen.  She said Ellie seemed too little to even be a real baby, that she seems like a doll!  Ellie is still only 4 pounds 10 ounces.

Janette announced that October 30th was her cat Bismarck's 9th birthday!  This is the cat that Rosie gave to Janette on The Rosie O'Donnell Show years ago.  She and Barry held a party for him on his birthday and even videoed it!  Here it is...

Bismarck's 9th Birthday Party! 

NOT SHOWERING, DEODORANT, DAYLIGHT SAVINGS AND ELECTION PREDICTIONS
Janette shared a study with the group that states that people are not taking daily showers anymore.  The reasons behind the non-showering are all different.  Some aren't doing it because of environmental reasons and some aren't showering as much because it's better for your skin.  Shoshana admitted that she may go a couple days without showering and can get away with it!  She said if she's not sweating or working out she doesn't see it as a big deal.  Jeannie will go a couple days without washing her hair but always showers.  Shoshana doesn't see the point of showering without washing your hair.  Pete said he has to shower every day or he will start to smell. 

Shoshana said not wearing deodorant is way gross though.  Rosie's girlfriend Tracy won't wear deodorant and doesn't even use the crystal rock deodorant.  And she smells good Rosie said!  Rosie uses Sure antiperspirant and deodorant.  Janette uses the crystal because "Arm and Hammer" does animal testing.

Rosie took a call from a listener who doesn't shower daily because she has 4-year old quadruplets!  Rosie congratulated her on her babies and told her she was allowed because she was such a busy mom!  Rosie prefers baths and rarely ever showers.  Jeannie loves baths too and said when she takes a bath it's like an event -she has music and candles and everything! 

Rosie is sad that the days are getting shorter this weekend because of daylight savings time.  This then started an entire debate and history telling behind daylight savings.  You can read about that HERE.  Both Pete and Brendan tried their hardest to explain the purpose and importance of daylight savings to Rosie.  Brendan said he's been told he educates people against their will.  Rosie said she spaced-out during their explanations and said she started to hum a tune in her head.  Mostly Rosie doesn't like the darkness and the shorter days. 

Rosie said if the predictions about the elections are correct, the Democrats are going to lose every one.  She asked what difference it will really make because it's not like the Democrats have been able to get a lot done anyway!  Brendan said if the Republicans win the majority in Congress it might end up being a benefit for Obama.  If there continues to be gridlock in Congress, even after the Republicans come into power, no one can blame the Democrats anymore when it comes to the 2012 elections.  Brendan pointed out that both Reagan and Clinton dealt with Congresses run by the opposing party and both got re-elected because of it.  Janette is voting tomorrow but she doesn't feel like it matters either way.  She said she feels like she has to vote though because women fought to get the right to vote and there are still women who aren't afforded that right.  She did say she didn't know a lot about all the candidates and Brendan recommended the non-partisan site factcheck.org.   

Rosie is mostly excited the elections are tomorrow because it means she won't have to watch the horrible political commercials anymore.  She wanted to know if it was true that the Republican party is working to make sure Sarah Palin doesn't run for President in 2012.  Brendan said he's read the Republican leadership's number one item on their agenda is to stop Sarah Palin in her tracks.  He's read they're worried she's become the voice of the party and feel they would have made even more gains in the elections if it weren't for the Tea Party candidates.  He wanted to know who, in the Republican party, have we really heard from?  He said it's only Sarah Palin out there speaking and there's no other Republican figure speaking for the party except Rush Limbaugh (who's not a candidate for office).  Rosie said, "No, he's just a drug addict."  Brendan remembered when Jerry Garcia died and Rush Limbaugh said it was "just another dead doper" and the irony when later Rush admitted his own addiction to prescription pain killers.   

NIGHT OF COMEDY AT THE NY COMEDY FESTIVAL
On Friday, November 5th, Rosie will be hosting a night of comedy with special guests Judy Gold, Wendy Leibman, Bonnie McFarlane and Maureen Langan!  Rosie took several callers to play a game to win tickets to Friday's show!  The first caller heard a clip of Ellen Degeneres's standup act and had to guess who it was.  The caller guessed it and won 2 tickets to the comedy show.  The next caller was really nervous because she really wanted to win the tickets for her estranged girlfriend.  She obviously wasn't that familiar with Rosie because anyone who knows Rosie knows she will give you the gift whether you win or not!  The standup clip she heard was by Chris Rock and she got it right away!  The next caller heard a clip from Roseann Barr's standup routine but couldn't guess it.  Rosie gave her tons of hints and then eventually she got it and the caller won tickets.

Janette said Friday is going to be a great show and some of the best comics in the country right now will be there!  Rosie was writing new material for her act this weekend and remembered how hard it is!  She's always so impressed by Kathy Griffin who comes up with a new act every few months.  Janette said that's because Kathy is still performing standup all the time so she's in that zone right now.   CLICK HERE FOR INFO     AND    CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS to the comedy show!

Jeannie and Rosie missed their high school reunion but they looked at the pictures together on Facebook trying to guess who everyone was!  They chatted about old friends and who they recognized and who they did not.

TIM CLARK
Janette introduced the next guest whom she met at the Medical Missions For Children gala.  His name was Tim Clark and he left his job as a bank vice-president to work on the school board in his district to help improve education in his area.

Tim's biggest issue with education is teacher evaluations.  He said in teacher evaluations, administrators sit and evaluate a teacher based on only one hour of observation.  Tim said there is so much more administrators need to look at in order to do a proper evaluation.  Rosie asked if he's had opposition from the union in his area.  She said in the movie Waiting for Superman the teacher's union is really seen as the enemy.  Tim said the teacher's union is like any labor union and they support anyone who pays membership dues- even ineffective teachers.  And the problem is, if your child has an ineffective teacher this can set them back two grades and it will take four good teachers to get them back on track.  He talked about the difficulties in reprimanding ineffective teachers because of the teachers union.   Rosie said one would think the unions would want the ineffective teachers to go because it gives their profession a bad name. 

Rosie took several calls from listeners.  One caller was a conservative Republican who listens to Rosie Radio and liked the conversation. She is a teacher in the Detroit public school system who sees little parental interaction and ineffective unions. She said the unions didn't want the teachers going above and beyond because it made the other teachers look bad.  The caller said that unions are not about educating kids, they're about protecting the status quo.  She sees a system in a downward spiral until someone is willing to take on the union.  

Rosie took a call from a teacher in Texas in an overcrowded system.  She's a special education teacher and feels like special ed teachers don't get the respect that they deserve.  Jeannie said her husband, who is also a special ed teacher, feels the same.  The caller said it's hard work but she loves her job.

Tim said the teaching profession used to be a respected profession but that's not the case anymore.  He said the unions play a big role in that.  In his district, there were huge issues because teachers wanted to be paid extra to watch the children between class periods.  The unions helped the teachers fight this issue and now they have to pay teachers for watching the kids in the hallways.

Rosie wondered what the average person can do to help.  Tim said if you're a parent, it's important to play a crucial role  in your child's education and to be involved with their teacher.  He would also like to change the teacher evaluation process.  He thinks that teacher evaluations should be 50% observation and 50% objective data.  He doesn't think teachers should be evaluated solely on test scores and one hour of observation.   Tim recommended the software SummIT for objective teaching evaluations and encouraged listeners to look into it.  He said it's a great product and what we need across the country.

Rosie said she would like to have someone on the program to explain the side of the teacher's union.  She said it's most important that we get together and do what works best for the children.

GAME
During this game Brendan held the list of the Top 25 Halloween costumes for kids yesterday according to U.S. retailers.  Each player had the opportunity to list off as many costumes as they thought were on the list.  As soon as they listed one that was not on the list it was the next person's turn.  He let everyone know that although there were a lot on the street yesterday, Super Mario was not on the list. 

Rosie guessed Princess (which was number 1), Batman, Superman, Ironman and Elmo.  Elmo was not on the list it was Bobby's turn.
Bobby guessed Pirate and then Thomas the Train.  Thomas was not on the list so it was Jeannie's turn.
Jeannie guessed Witch, Darth Vader, Vampire, Ghost and then Lion.  Lion was not on the list so it was Janette's turn.
Janette guessed Spiderman, Ninja and then Lady Gaga.  Lady Gaga was not on the list so it was Pete's turn.
Pete guessed Buzz Lightyear and then The Incredible Hulk.  The Incredible Hulk was not on the list!

Rosie and Jeannie made it to the speed round where they had to go back and forth until someone guessed a costume that wasn't on the list.  Rosie first guessed Harry Potter.  Then Jeannie guessed Police Officer which was not on the list.  Rosie won!!!  Rosie admitted she probably saw the most kids dressed in costumes yesterday. Brendan quickly listed off some of the costumes they didn't guess like...Transformers, a bumble bee, Dora the Explorer, Spongebob, a zombie, cheerleader, cat, ladybug, Tinkerbell, a fairy, pumpkin, and specifically a Disney Princess.

FOOTBALL, JANETTE VOWS TO STAY POSITIVE AND ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY
They discussed the next big American Holiday, Thanksgiving.  Rosie admitted it's not one of her favorites. She said she doesn't have good memories of Thanksgiving.  Maybe because she and her siblings didn't have a mom and they simply went to the neighbors house to eat.  She also isn't really a fan of football unless it's the Superbowl.  Janette almost loses consciousness out of boredom when watching football and doesn't understand the rules of the game.  She also thinks it's a really dangerous sport.  Rosie went to a Superbowl once but that was enough for her.  Janette went to a professional football game only ONE time at Giant stadium and said it was dripping with testosterone!  She said it was nothing but large men with painted faces barking and wouldn't let her boyfriend Barry leave her when he needed to go to the bathroom.  Rosie interrupted her during her rant and said, "Happy, Happy, Happy!!" Rosie said someone wrote in to her recently on her blog regarding Janette's negativity.  She wondered if Janette could go a whole week without saying anything negative.  Rosie asked her to try it for the rest of the week. 

Tomorrow Rosie Radio will be broadcasting from the "fish bowl" at the Sirius radio studios in NYC!  It's also their one year anniversary!  They will be interviewing Gary Dell'Abate, Molly Shannon and you never know who else might stop by!  Don't miss it!!!  

Rosie closed the show encouraging listeners to tune in tomorrow!

and that's what you missed - kw