12-15-10 Serial Killers, Jackie's Book Pick and an interview with Maureen Langan

In case you missed it...

CHRISTMAS PLANS, ROSIE'S TALK WITH SHMULEY AND ROSIE DEFENDS HER SINGING
Rosie and the staff started today's program counting down the days until Christmas.  Janette sometimes  counts down how many Christmases she has left in her life.  She said she hopes she'll die at 86, the same age her father was when he died.  Rosie told Janette her mom was 36 when she died so her theory was flawed.  Rosie is going to another land until Christmas for the show Who Do You Think You Are.  Pete suggested Rosie shop for Christmas while she's overseas but Rosie said she would be too nervous trying to get the things through Customs.  Pete suggested she just have it shipped directly to her house in Miami - where she's going with her kids for the holidays.

Last night, Rosie did a talk with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.  Janette heard Rosie was fabulous!  They did a question and answer session with the audience and talked about family, war, religion, homosexuality, etc.  During the questions someone in the audience asked about the war in Iraq and Rabbi Shmuley said he was in favor of the war because the world is better off without Saddam Hussein.  Rosie thought this was an absurd line of thinking for a Rabbi to have to think the ends justifies the means and they got into a heated debate about it.  She said it was like crossfire for a minute of last night's debate.  Shoshana thought the Rabbi mistakenly got into that topic of conversation after talking about his support of the repeal of DADT.  Pete said the United States helped Saddam when it was beneficial for us and we helped The Taliban when they were beneficial to us and when they weren't we went to war with them. Rosie said the conversation about war started during a conversation about bullying.  Rosie thinks our culture is set up for bullying with political commentators like Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly leading the charge.  She continued to say if the U.S. government allows us to discriminate against gay people with DADT, not allowing gays to get married etc, how can we expect the children of this country to respect its gay citizens?  Bobby said it is still legal in many states to be denied housing, be denied service in a restaurant because of being gay.  When Rosie mentioned her distaste for Glenn Beck many of the audience members applauded but some hissed at her comment.  She said  those people in the audience must of heard O'Donnell as a speaker of the evening and thought they meant Christine O'Donnell not Rosie O'Donnell.  Bobby said Beck is like a bad off-Broadway show and Rosie agreed.  She asked Janette if she had ever seen Jon Stewart's impression of Beck which she called SPOT ON!  Janette has never watched Glenn Beck so she really wouldn't know a good impersonation of him.  Rosie said it was hard to argue with a Rabbi because she felt like he has direct access to God (like a DSL line) while she's still using dial-up. 

Stewart does Beck

Rosie said when she was singing along to Adele during yesterday's broadcast about 25 people wrote in to her on her blog and asked her to not do that.  Deirdre said the audio people on The Rosie O'Donnell Show used to turn Rosie's mic way down during the musical guests' performances.  Rosie joked that she was extremely hurt by those comments and said she has two Christmas albums out!  She then asked Lou to play some of them.

WIKILEAKS, COMMON EMAIL PASSWORDS, ROSIE IN O MAGAZINE AND DIVORCE
Rosie wanted to discuss WikiLeaks again because she said she still really doesn't get it.  She mentioned how she heard Michael Moore is posting bail for Julian Assange, the creator of WikiLeaks.  Pete explained WikiLeaks for the listening audience and for Rosie.  Rosie and asked Pete and Janette if they thought Assange believes he's truly exposing the wrongs of this country.   They both think he does.

Pete read an article that talks about the most commonly used passwords people use for their accounts such as: 123456, password, lifehack, qwerty, monkey, letmein, trustnoone, passw0rd and cheese.  Janette had such an obvious password (her cat's name) Rosie busted it on air during one of the broadcasts and Janette had to run to her computer and change it!  Now she has something totally different that no one would think of.  Deirdre uses the same password for everything.  Pete has many passwords for accounts and changes the numbers in them regularly.  Bobby puts the place where he is (such as J.Jill.com) and his password for every site he enters so that it's never the same.

Rosie asked everyone if they had seen her picture in O Magazine!  She said she also took one where she was holding Pete's newborn baby that they didn't use and wanted to know if she could still get a copy of it from the photographer.  The kitchen in the photo is the radio studio kitchen all "done" up!



photo belongs to O Magazine

Rosie said she was sad to hear that Dexter actor, Michael C. Hall and his wife are getting divorced.  She said she isn't sure why but it just makes her sad to hear.  Janette said divorce can be a great thing if a marriage isn't working.  Bobby said the stress of Michael's illness may have been very hard on their relationship.  Rosie was also sad to hear that Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds were getting divorced.  Pete was happy because he crushes Scarlett and Shoshana was happy because she crushes Ryan.  Their significant others might not know this however. 

And every time someone on the Rosie Radio staff says a swear word they apologize to Carnie Wilson's daughter.  This is because, one day Carnie called into the radio show and said she listens to Rosie Radio while taking her daughter to school in the morning.    So now anytime someone says "Fuck" they follow it up up wit,h "Sorry, Carnie Wilson's daughter." 

ROOM THE NOVEL AND SERIAL KILLERS
Rosie said she's reading Room and really likes it.  She said it's so unbelievably riveting she can't put it down.  She said she's obsessed with finding out why this little boy and his mom are trapped in this room and can't stop thinking about it. 

This then led to a conversation about serial killers.  Rosie said there's possibly a serial killer loose on Long Island, New York.  James explained that four bodies have been found along the beach in Suffolk County.  The bodies are in varying states of decay (meaning they weren't just all killed recently) but were all just dumped there.  They believe the killer is familiar with the area and possibly from Long Island.  All of the victims were women.

Rosie said there was a time she was so obsessed with serial killers and read every book about them.  Her therapist told her for every male serial killer book she read she needed to read one about a crime a woman committed.  Rosie was once at a party and a documentary on serial killers was on in the background on mute and she realized she knew every serial killer they were profiling just by their faces!  She came home and looked at her bookshelf and thought she better get rid of all the books on murder because if anyone she knows ever goes missing they're going to look at her bookshelf and suspect her!  Janette said the thought of a serial killer is a creepy concept to her because nothing a victim can say will dissuade them from killing you. 

Rosie said her BFF Jackie will be the head of her book club on her new OWN show and she was the one who recommended she read Room!  Rosie said Jackie also protects Rosie's from certain books like The Dive From Clausen's s Pier.  Jackie told Rosie to never read that book because it would be too upsetting for her.  Rosie said she loves non-fiction but she also enjoys fiction by Fannie Flagg, Anne Rice, Pat Conroy, Margaret Atwood, etc.  But she especially loves biographies and memoirs too.  Rosie's brother Eddie recommended Rosie read Cleopatra.  He read it on their trip to another land.  Rosie said she's been reading a lot lately on her long flights overseas. 

On her last flight to "the other land"  they had touch screen video games on the back of the seat in front of her and the kids behind her played it for an entire two hours.  So, essentially she was being poked in the back relentlessly for two hours!  Rosie said she was just happy the kid wasn't screaming and she tried to pretend she was getting a massage.  Janette asked Rosie why she didn't say anything to the parents and Rosie said she was just understanding of how hard it probably was for them to travel with kids.  The guy next to her even offered to switch seats with her.  On her last trip Rosie read Patti Lupone's Memoir and Steve Martin's An Object of Beauty.

Going back to the serial killer topic, Rosie said when the Son of Sam serial killer was on the loose she was in the 8th or 9th grade and remembered hysterically crying while her brother was making out with his girlfriend in the car in the driveway because Son of Sam was killing people in that very situation.  She said she had a real fear she would be murdered and would even move the dresser against the door when she was on the road doing standup.  Janette remembers it.  Rosie also hated sleeping in a hotel room alone and would ask friends to sleep in her room so she didn't have to be alone at night.  Rosie said she's afraid of stranger violence but she's not necessarily afraid of strangers who are fans.  She referred to the Connecticut home invasion and Oprah's interview with William Petit.  Rosie said the interview was heart-wrenching and almost like watching the "walking dead."  She wondered how anyone ever survives what he has been through.  Bobby also saw the interview and said it was as if William has been gutted.  Rosie said the interview is a testament to how good Oprah is at what she does.  Rosie said all she would be able to do is cry if she tried to interview Dr. Petit.  She talked about how hard it was for her to hold back her emotions the first time they had Christopher Reeve on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.  Rosie loved Oprah's interview with William Petit and how she asked the really tough questions with such warmth.  Here's a link to a video from Oprah.com about Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela Petit. 

Rosie then took a call from a listener who also used to put the dresser in front of his bedroom door when he slept and stayed awake all night until the sun came up.  Rosie said that was her life for 10 years.   The caller talked with Rosie about the things that happened in his childhood such as watching his brother get murdered when he was only 3 years-old and witnessing his sister getting sexually abused.  Rosie listened lovingly and told the caller that memories as traumatic as those come to you in fragments and not always in a clear way and to not be surprised if he never gets a full picture of what happened.  They chatted about going to therapy and antidepressants.  The caller thanked Rosie for having comedienne Judy Gold on the show and for Janette sharing her worries she has about death because he worries about it too and she's helped him.  Rosie and the caller talked about recovery programs such as AA and sponsors and addictions.  Rosie told the caller not to give up and to keep up with the healing process and wished him the best.  

SECRET SANTA
Then it was time to reveal the Secret Santa gifts!  Rosie received tweezers with a magnifying mirror and dental flossers and was positive her Secret Santa was Deirdre.  Janette got sparkle balls for her cats.  Bobby got a bar of soap that smelled beautiful!  He was sure it was Shoshana because the soap was vegan.  Pete got a robot alarm clock that projects on the wall. Brendan got a poem and candle holders in "exquisite wrapping."  Deirdre got a wine cork that preserves wine once it is opened.  Pete got an Italian cake and soap.  Shoshana got something Rosie wanted!  She got the Ove Glove!  No one really believed that Rosie wanted an oven mitt as a gift but Rosie swore she sometimes makes cookies and would really use it so Shoshana gave it to her!  Jeannie got lip-gloss in various shades.  James got M&Ms, Tootsie Rolls in an ornament, a Slinky Jr. and a candle.  Lou got a bottle of Toasted Lager made on Long Island and was beginning to feel insulted because he kept getting beer!  Rosie said she was sure Deirdre has her and Pete was sure Lou has James. 

MAUREEN LANGAN

Rosie then introduced Maureen Langan who was in the studio!  Maureen and Rosie chatted about life, comedy and their recent show they did together at the NY Comedy festival!  Maureen said she saw Rosie and Roseann Barr perform at the Lincoln Center two years ago and it was her dream to perform with her someday.  So, when she was asked to do the gig with her this year she was beside herself.  Maureen said Rosie has the best audience ever and called them smart, appreciative, edgy and fun!  She also complimented Rosie on how gracious she was to her and how she set her up for success that night.  Rosie told Maureen that it was Janette that told Rosie she would love Maureen and she was right!

Maureen said she used to work as a broadcast journalist doing "man on the street" interviews for Bloomberg.  But when he started running for mayor some of the stuff she was doing was too edgy so she decided to start doing standup so she could branch out on her own.  Maureen said standup gives her the courage to speak and own her own opinions instead of hiding behind them. 

Maureen and Rosie joked about family and their Irish heritage.  Rosie asked Maureen to do a few bits from her act about her difficulties trusting people and how she was raised that if you worked hard, life would reward you.  Maureen called it BULLSHIT and mentioned all the crazies that never worked hard a day in their lives yet have these amazing careers.  Maureen said one of her goals is to get on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Rosie remembered wanting that gig so badly so she said she'd make a few calls for her.  Maureen thanked her! 

Maureen and Rosie talked about how men can find a woman at any age and how that's not true for women.  Maureen said it doesn't matter how old or ugly a man is if they're wealthy or famous they'll always get a woman.

Rosie thanked Maureen for coming in and for the interview and let listeners know they can see her perform on New Years Eve at the Marin Showcase in San Rafael, California.  Maureen will also be performing tonight at Caroline's on Broadway!

CRAFT CONTEST AND A GAME
Bobby quickly reminded listeners that the Craft Contest voting ends tomorrow and encouraged listeners to vote for their favorite on Rosie.com. 

James then introduced a game.  He had a list of the greatest books ever and each player got a point if they could name a book on the list and two points if they could name the author. 

ROUND ONE
Pete: guessed The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky which was not on the list.  0 points.
Janette: guessed Tale of Two Cities which was not on the list. 0 points
Bobby: guessed Diary of Anne Frank by Anny Frank which was not on the list. 0 points
Shoshana: guessed Moby Dick which was not on the list. 0 points
Rosie: guessed The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald for  3 points!

ROUND TWO
Pete: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck which was not on the list. 0 points
Janette: The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway which was not on the list. 0 points
Bobby: Les Miserables which was not on the list. 0 points
Shoshana: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger which was on the list for 3 points.
Rosie: Great Expectations which was not on the list. 0 points

ROUND THREE
Pete:  Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck which was on the list for 3 points.
Janette: For Whom the Bell Tolls which was not on the list. 0 points
Bobby: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell which was on the list but he only got 1 point because he didn't remember the author.  1 point
Shoshana:  Romeo and Juliet which was not on the list. 0 points
Rosie:  The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath which was not on the list. 0 points

ROUND FOUR
Pete:  Lion Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis which was on the list for 3 points.
Janette: Alice and Wonderland which was not on the list. 0 points
Bobby:  Frankenstein which was not on the list. 0 points
Shoshana:  Harry Potter which was not on the list. 0 points
Rosie: Huckleberry Finn which was not on the list. 0 points

Pete won the game! 

What was on the list was To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, 1984, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Catch 22, Are You There God It's Me Margaret, etc.  Rosie didn't think it was a specific enough list and wasn't really fond of the game. 

Rosie closed the show saying tomorrow they will be at the Sirius radio studios in Manhattan and Donny and Marie Osmond will be guests!! 

and that's what you missed -kw