ROSIE'S WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE
Rosie started today's show wishing her brothers, Eddie and Danny, a Happy Birthday! Danny's birthday was yesterday and Eddie's birthday is tomorrow. Rosie said the crew of Who Do You Think You Are was in the studio today because they're beginning their journey of looking into her mother's family ancestry. Rosie thinks it's a really good show and is excited Lisa Kudrow asked her to do it. She really didn't know if there would even be a good story to tell about her mother's side of the family and is excited to learn more. All she knows is that they will be traveling around the east coast of the United States and then leaving the country twice. She ASSUMES she's going to Ireland and possibly Canada but isn't sure. Rosie's mother was Irish and an only child and Rosie and her brother Ed (who is going on this journey with her) are really hoping they'll go to Ireland as part of it. She literally won't find out where they're flying to until she arrives at the airport!
Someone on Rosie's blog wrote in to her and heard she was coming to Newfoundland as part of the show but the producers have told her that's not true. Sorry, Newfoundland! Deidre is totally impressed that Rosie's traveling internationally and willing to do it despite the fact that she doesn't even know where she's going! Rosie said her mom (who died when she was 10) has always been a mystery to her and she's excited to learn more about her.
Janette couldn't imagine not knowing your family history and is very familiar with her own. She said knowing who her ancestors were as a child really helped her because they didn't have any living family. Janette thinks knowing your history gives you continuity in the world and thinks this experience is going to be very interesting for Rosie.
BREAST CANCER, RISK FACTORS AND MASTERING WEIGHT LOSS
Rosie read from a blog someone wrote about Rosie's recent breast cancer scare. Here is a link: Rosie O'Donnell 'All Clear' on About.com: Breast Cancer written by Pam Stephan. She read it aloud but as she read it she corrected a few errors: she was 10 not a teen when her mother died as it states in the blog, she's past menopause not premenopause as it states and she didn't especially like the comment that she could get a personal trainer if she wanted to(?!). She read it in its entirety and said she thought it was "really interesting." Janette spoke to the blogger (via the airwaves) and told her to "shut the frick up and next time she's perfect, give her a call." Rosie thought what the blogger had to say had some validity. Bobby didn't think just because the writer is a breast cancer survivor, that gives her the right to tell Rosie how she should live her life. Rosie said she didn't share her experience with her recent breast cancer scare as a ploy for sympathy, she wrote it because it was a big thing that happened to her and she needed to share it. She said it's true she needs to up her exercise (which she said she currently does none of) for her health. And she said it's true she should lose weight. Bobby thought the tone of the blog wasn't nice and Deirdre said if the blogger wanted to be taken seriously she should have watched her tone so that her point could be better received.
Rosie talked about her struggle with weight and how in the 1990s she went to a doctor who pointed out to her that she was overweight. The doctor suggested she eat carrots instead of cookies in order to lose weight. Rosie couldn't believe the doctor was serious with his super-simplistic advice and she said, "OMG, I've never thought of that! You just solved obesity in America!" Her point was it's not that easy to solve the mystery of why some people overeat. Janette said that just because Rosie's a celebrity doesn't mean she has to be a role model for everyone. Rosie said the author never actually says that, she said it would be a great legacy to leave her kids. Rosie didn't think the author was being bitchy but she also thinks people who have never had a weight issue don't really understand it. Bobby thought the tone was sanctimonious. The blog kind of hurt Rosie's feelings but she admitted it was accurate. Deirdre thought it was just plain bitchy. Rosie said one of the reasons she wrote her blog about her biopsies was because there were 30-40 other women in the waiting room of the hospital (who recognized her) and she wanted to be the one to put the news out there as to why she was getting tests done (rather than someone contacting the press with a "tip"). I just want to say I totally get that. I can't imagine being a celebrity and not being able to do anything privately. Everywhere you go, people know you.
The "she could get a personal trainer" quote really set Janette off. Rosie too. She said when she was asked to do A League of Their Own Penny Marshall asked her to lose 20 pounds for the part. Rosie told Penny if she could lose the weight she would've regardless of the part. Janette and Rosie then talked about how hard it is to lose weight and keep it off.
Rosie then took a call from Carnie Wilson who was sitting in her driveway listening to Rosie Radio just after taking her daughter to the bus stop. She loves listening to Rosie's show and told her she thinks she's a wonderful, smart, talented, funny woman who is a role model in every way. Carnie said for weeks she's been trying to talk herself back into exercising again but hasn't been able to do it. Rosie told Carnie she felt Dr. Oz was mean to her when Carnie recently did his show. Carnie said it was a horrible experience for her. Rosie said she saw a man, who has never had a weight problem of his own, shaming her and not really understanding. Carnie said she thought the approach Dr. Oz took with her was done for ratings. She had blood-work done weeks before she was on Dr. Oz and wasn't pre-diabetic with her physician at home. Carnie and Rosie talked about the frustration they feel because they have the information on how to lose weight yet they can't seem to do it. Rosie asked Carnie if she regretted getting gastric bypass surgery and Carnie said she didn't at all. Carnie said she's 42 years-old and has struggled with her weight since she was 4. At her heaviest she weighed 300 pounds and at her lowest she weighed 146. Rosie said her goal weight is 175. Carnie and Rosie talked about how it's hard being overweight and being in the public eye but how the pressure is also on when you're not famous. They talked about how being fit and thin is a lifestyle and how some people are devoted to exercise. One of Rosie's best friends, Jackie, runs 6 miles a day and has offered to walk with her but she still doesn't want to do it. Carnie's been sober for 6 years and has been in 12-step programs for alcohol and for food related issues. But when she went for food issues she was only able to attend for about a month because she said giving up food would have meant giving up the last thing she had that made herself feel better. She admitted that food doesn't really help in the end. Rosie and Carnie ended their phone-call telling the each other one how much they loved and admired each other. They then both promised to run/walk 20-30 minutes today.
Rosie took several calls on the topic of weight loss. One caller's father was very overweight and said it is really hard to be a listener of Rosie Radio and hear the way they talk about food. He compared it to when he was growing up and his friends used to talk about doing pot and how he had to cut them loose because he knew it wasn't good for him. He thought Rosie's "crew" was too quick to go on the attack of the blogger and that they were enabling her. Rosie thanked him for his call and said her kids do like it better when she's more active. The caller said Pete and Bobby are more invested in her being heavy because it's fun to eat together. Rosie mentioned the Valerie Bertinelli commercial where she holds a pumpkin that was 40 pounds, the amount of weight she lost. Rosie said that commercial was a wake up call for her. The caller thought Rosie should integrate exercise a little at a time and change her diet gradually so it's not a huge change for her. Another caller talked about how food can be an addiction. This caller uses shopping as her drug of choice. Rosie said when she did the Carb-Addicts diet on The Rosie O'Donnell show it was the only time she was ever able to lose a significant amount of weight. She said she never felt better than when she did that diet but she was frustrated she didn't keep it off. Janette said that's because white flour and white sugar are very addictive.
Rosie's friend, Jennifer Hutt, gained a lot of weight after her mom died and was texting her during the show. Jennifer does the show Whatever With Alexis and Jennifer on the Hallmark channel. Janette said it's a very good show and recommended people watch it. Rosie said that Jennifer looks great but when Rosie thinks about looking sexy (like Jennifer has become) it makes her feel scared and vulnerable. When Janette lost a lot of weight she felt great about herself and enjoyed the power of feeling sexy. Then she was going through difficulties with people at work and that self-hatred and self-loathing made it okay (in her mind) for her to be fat again. She ended up making her appearance match how she was feeling inside and gaining weight. She said when she felt hated she wasn't able to be thin. One caller told Rosie that instead of focusing on the weight or the fat she should try to just feel gratitude towards her body. She didn't want Rosie to punish or shame herself because shame corrodes that part of us that believes we can change. She told Rosie to just focus on what she can do today and said that's how she gets through things. Rosie thanked all the callers for their input and their advice and said she is going to work on changing.
BUILDING WHAT
Rosie then introduced two callers - Bob McIlvaine and Tony Szamboti - who are supporters of Buildingwhat.org. Rosie read the purpose of "Building What" and how it's an effort led by 9/11 family members to reopen the investigation of what happened to Building 7 on September 11th, 2001. She read from the website and said Building 7 fell at free fall speed with no resistance from the support structures as if the support structures had been removed. Rosie read the facts about Building 7 from their website and Pete read the list of the companies that were housed in the building. Rosie said Building What isn't pointing the finger at any one organization or person for the collapse of the building, they're just saying it defies the laws of physics and too many things have been swept under the table.
Building What on Geraldo
Rosie first introduced Bob McIlvaine who lost his son Bobby on September 11th. Bob told Rosie all about his son who graduated from Princeton and then went on to NY to work as the VP of Media Relations for Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch is across the street from the North Tower and his company had a seminar in Tower One that day, but he never showed up. No one was able to contact him after the first plane hit the towers. Bob and his family went to NYC immediately after 9/11 and went from hospital to hospital looking for their son. On Thursday of that week, they got a call that he was found dead. His body was one of the first 10 bodies that were found at the WTC site. He said any parent who has lost a child wants to know if their child suffered and how they died. They didn't know if he jumped from the 106th floor (where the conference was) or how he had died that day. Four years after his death Bob met with the doctor who examined his son's body and the doctor described Bobby's injuries to him which included post-mortem burns that weren't severe (not more than a sunburn) and his injuries that showed he took a blast to the chest and the face. The injuries showed he didn't jump from the towers. Bob said they know the lobby of the WTC was blown out that day and he thinks that was where he most likely died. Bob has talked to people who were there that day and there could have been an explosion before the first plane hit. He's also gone to every 9/11 commission meeting and he said they refuse to acknowledge there were any explosions that day even though witnesses have testified otherwise.
Rosie then introduced Tony Szamboti who read the reports of Building 7 that made him suspicious. He heard about Building 7 when it fell and was perplexed as to why it fell when it hadn't been hit by a plane. Tony is a mechanical engineer who works for structures in the Aerospace industry. He said (many things but I am not a mechanical engineer so I am doing my best listening) that there is a good possibility that the structure went down because of a controlled demolition. Tony said any engineers he's shown the evidence to shake their heads at what they see. He said it's not a conspiracy, it's a crime. Tony explained a controlled demolition and how when a building is built it is built to sustain several levels. He said buildings don't just fall apart "willy nilly" or by fire. Tony said fire can't melt steel except in a controlled circumstance such as a blast furnace. And Rosie and Tony reminded listeners that Building 7 wasn't hit by an airplane. Tony referenced the recent building fire in Shanghai and how the core and the exterior (even the scaffolding) was still standing after the fire was put out and how that fire was HUGE (unlike the fire in Building 7). Tony said there is no way Building 7 could have fallen the way it did without demolition devices being involved. There was also thermite found in the dust between Building 7 and the WTC towers.
Tony said the goal of Building What is to educate the public so that the city council can have the public's support that will allow them to investigate the cause of Building 7's collapse further. Rosie and Tony also talked about the early reports of Building 7's collapse by BBC and by CNN.
Bob said when Building What was on Geraldo that was the first time they've had any coverage in mainstream media. Tony said on any other day, if a building had fallen in this way, defying the laws of physics, it would have been major news for several weeks.
Rosie said she became interested in Building 7 and what happened to it when Bill Geddie (the EP of The View) had booked a guest debunking the conspiracies of what happened on 9/11. She wanted to look into what "myths" that person was actually debunking. Rosie thanked both men for calling into the program. She said for everyone who lost someone on 9/11 and what the country has lost we deserve a full an impartial investigation. She wished there was some way she could help heal Bob's wound and heal his heart and said she was so sorry for his loss. Tony said if listeners are interested in helping demand an investigation into what really happened to Building 7 that day they can contribute money to the cause so that they can get more publicity and public support.
Rosie took several calls from listeners about the Building What campaign. One caller worked in the WTC at the Securities and Exchange Commission and was there on 9/11. She talked about how upsetting the calls were to her to imply that someone (other than the terrorists) had something to do with 9/11. She was in Building 7 that day and said when the second plane hit there was definitely structural damage done. She said glass came flying in and the impact of the plane was very powerful even when it didn't hit the building. She wanted to know who the callers were saying was responsible. Rosie said the people of Building What aren't proposing they know who made the tower collapse, they're just saying we as Americans are entitled to a new investigation. And that it's impossible for it to fall the way it did. Rosie thanked the caller for calling and told her she's happy she made it out alive. Rosie told the caller it's difficult to imagine that it hasn't yet been fully investigated and said all the people who lost loved ones that day deserve answers.
Rosie closed the show.
and that's what you missed -kw
CORRECTION: The other day a listener called in and recommended to Rosie an NBC show about real life Glee clubs. I believe I linked to the wrong show and that this is the one the caller was referring to.
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Wow. Sounds like a great show. I wish I could have heard this one live (so let me thank you yet again, Kelly, for another terrific recap!)
ReplyDeleteThe weight issue always hits home hard. Kelly's inspiration to start a one year plan blog has sure helped me. It feels good to write stuff down and share it with other bloggers. I'm finding so much support and able to give my support to others with similar stuggles. It's changing my life. (So thanks again for that, too, Kelly. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that, actually.)