1-31-11 - American Idol, Facebook and Redefining Rape

In case you missed it....

THE WEATHER, "CARNIE WILSON'S DAUGHTER" EXPLAINED AND FACEBOOK
Rosie and the staff started today's broadcast talking about the weather in New York.  There is a lot of snow on the ground up there and Rosie hates the snow.  Jeannie loves the snow however.  She believes in embracing every season.  It's supposed to snow tomorrow so they're going to stay later today to work on Friday's show.  But if there's another huge snowstorm tonight, Rosie said tomorrow will be a repeat.  Jeannie said rain depresses her but snow does not.  She is always running around and enjoys how the snow forces her to slow down and take it easy. 

Rosie said people have been asking her what the phrase "Carnie Wilson's daughter" means when they say it on the show.  She explained the phrase was created after they learned (from Carnie Wilson herself) that she listens to Rosie Radio in the car on her way to taking her daughter to school in the morning.  So, it's become their reminder to not say anything inappropriate in case she's listening.   So, when they do curse they say, "Sorry, Carnie Wilson's daughter!"  Janette said someone told her on Facebook that she even apologizes to Carnie Wilson's daughter when she swears!  Janette loves that!

Speaking of Facebook, Rosie said she's "trying" it.  Bobby laughed at her and doesn't get what's so hard about Facebook for Rosie.  Rosie said she's starting to understand it more and she has a way to go in and check whomever she wants!  She called herself stealth!  Hmmmmmmmm.  She's also surprised at what people put on Facebook like when people who are in a relationship talk to each other on their walls.  Bobby has a Facebook friend who constantly comments about everything he watches on TV.  Janette loves Facebook!  Speaking of Janette!  If you love Janette like we do, you're going to want to join this group to keep Janette on Sirius/XM after Rosie Radio is set to go off the air in June.  CLICK HERE to lend your support to try and keep Janette and the Rosie Radio crew around! 

EGYPTIAN UPRISING, PETE ON "THE INTERNET" AND ROSIE'S NEW FAVORITE BOOK 
The Facebook discussion then led to a discussion about the uprising in Egypt that some say is happening partly due to Egyptians being able to communicate with each other via Facebook and Twitter.  Rosie wanted to know why the United States has been supporting this Egyptian dictator if he's so horrible to his people.  Janette said the United States has a history of putting people in charge/supporting those in charge who are oppressive as long as they support our interests.  Rosie and Bobby said the uprising made them feel inspired!  Pete agreed and said he was arrested for protesting the sanctions against Iraq.  He was also arrested at the Pentagon for painting a dead body on the sidewalk outside the Pentagon.  He said that's why his fingerprints are on file with the FBI!  Janette and James felt fear when they saw the Egyptian uprising.  Janette said the destabilizing of a major government in that region scares her because she worries what will replace it.  Bobby was inspired by the protests because he said that's how all real change happens.  Rosie agreed and said it's an example of the tenacity of the human spirit and how people are willing to risk everything for freedom and their rights. 

Pete then explained to Rosie how the Egyptian government was able to shut down the Internet.  He said the United States has a way to do it too to counteract cyber terrorism should it occur.  Okay, I'm going to do my best to transcribe how Pete explained the Internet so here goes.  Pete said the Internet is run by computers and computers run on a number language.  Words like "facebook" are turned into numbers.  Only 3 or 4 companies in the United States (?) can convert these words to numbers.  If you turn off those 3 or 4 computers that do the exchange to letters, the Internet goes nowhere and words like Facebook lead to nothing.  I'm sweaty after that. Don't yell at me if I effed it up.  Rosie took a call from a listener who didn't agree with Pete about the Internet but he won that argument against her easily and proved it wouldn't be difficult to shut down all Internet capabilities.  

This is from 1994.  How far things have come! 

Rosie said she read Freedom by Johnathon Franzen this weekend and loved it.  She said she read it all day Saturday.  She always worries when she hears of things that have been "over-hyped" in the media that they won't be as  good as all the buzz but she was NOT disappointed in this book.  She said it was FANTASTIC.  Rosie loves the way Franzen writes and said she now wants to go back and read everything he's ever written.  

Parker and Rosie went to see The Mechanic this weekend though she didn't really say if she liked it because Pete and Rosie got into a debate about whether or not Inception was a good movie.  Pete kept telling Rosie she was giving away the movie to the listeners but I was listening and I've never seen it and I have no idea what they were talking about.  :)  In the end, Pete said he thought Inception was all a dream and Rosie said that's exactly why she didn't like it and also why she didn't like The Wizard of Oz ending.  Bobby agreed and said he remembers being mad when he found out Oz didn't exist! 

AMERICAN IDOL, CHARLIE SHEEN AND RECOVERY
Firstly, Rosie said she thinks this season of American Idol is the best season ever.  Rosie said she stopped watching the auditions portion of American Idol in 2007 when they made fun of the two special needs boys on the show. All the staff raved about Jennifer Lopez and how down-to-Earth she is.  Jeannie loves Steven Tyler on the show and how he reminds Randy not to be mean to the contestants.  Rosie then said there was some "buzz" on the Internet about the audition of the contestant whose fiancee was in a car crash and whether or not the segment was exploitative.    First watch the clip if you're unfamiliar...

Chris Medina

Rosie loved the piece and thought it was a "genuine and authentic moment."  She was happy that the show isn't a humiliation festival like it used to be.  Jeannie said she got into a discussion on Jennifer Hutt's Facebook wall with some viewers of the show who thought the piece was manipulative and exploitative.  Jeannie did not agree and thought the piece was incredibly touching and sweet and not exploitative.  Rosie agreed and said she thought it was done respectfully and with compassion.  She also said the show feels like it "has a heartbeat now."   Rosie took a call from a listener who totally agreed and thought the piece was very touching and beautiful.  Janette said even if the producers planned it that way, she wanted to know what's wrong with showing his reality.  Rosie took a call from another listener who got emotional just remembering how sweet the judges were to the contestant's fiance.  She thought the moment fit right in with the type of season they're having with the new judges.  Jeannie is a huge Steven Tyler fan and she and Rosie recalled the time Rosie took Jackie and Jeannie to the Grammys and introduced her to him!  Rosie said when Steven went up to sing "Don't Want To Miss A Thing" he dedicated it to Jeannie!  Here's a link to that award show moment but you can't hear Rosie or his dedication to Jeannie but I still thought it was fun!  lol

Okay, but I have to put my two cents in.  THIS guy is my favorite American Idol contestant so far.  :)

Rosie then thought they should discuss the "Charlie Sheen situation."  Charlie Sheen was hospitalized after partying one night last week with some porn stars.  Rosie asked if Charlie's going to die right in front of everyone and then everyone is going to look around and wonder why no one did anything.  But then she wondered how one helps an adult who is addicted to drugs and doesn't want to get better.  She compared his situation to Robert Downey Junior's.  Robert Downey, when asked about his drug addiction, said, "It's like I have a loaded gun in my mouth, and I like the taste of metal."  Source: IMDB  Rosie said the big difference is the intelligence level between the two men.  She spent a Mother's Day at the Sheen house after she did a movie with Emilio Estevez and said Charlie's a really nice guy but he's not the smartest.   Janette said if an addict doesn't want to recover, there's not much anyone else can do to make them!

James said Casey Jordan, the porn star who Charlie partied with the night he was hospitalized, will be on the  Howard Stern Show tomorrow.  Rosie wondered how one gets access to porn stars.  She asked if there's an 800 number like 1-800-PORN- STAR you can call to have one delivered to your house.   James guessed most of the girls have an agent and get paid for appearances.  Like Rosie being asked to attend the grand opening at a Target! (Rosie's joke, not mine).  James heard the porn star woman say she wasn't asked to have sex with Charlie, he just wanted to watch porn with them.  James said Charlie has a home theater with an extensive porn collection and wanted the girls to critique it.  James also heard that Charlie has a 20 million dollar house with 15 bedrooms and wants to house porn stars in it and be the "Hugh Hefner of porn stars."  Ahhhh, such lofty aspirations.   He also gave the woman a check  for $30,000 made out to cash. This is just a theory, but if Charlie did have sex with these ladies and then paid them $30,000 wouldn't it be prostitution?  No wonder she's telling everyone they didn't have sex.  Rosie wondered how all of this publicity affects his working on the television sitcom Two And A Half Men.  Janette is a HUGE fan of the sitcom.  Rosie remembered the time she discussed Anna Nicole Smith's addiction to drugs on The View and that night, Anna Nicole died!

REPUBLICANS WANT TO REDEFINE "RAPE," ABORTION AND URINAL ETIQUETTE
Rosie said House Republicans are trying to change the definition of rape in an effort to limit rape and incest cases eligible for abortion funding.  This bill has been dubbed a "top priority" by the Speaker of the House.  The law changes the wording so that the government doesn't have to pay for an abortion by inserting the word "forcible."  And any insurance that covers "non-forcible rape" won't be tax deductible.  Rosie said the problem with adding "forcible" is how one defines forcible.  This eliminates the funding of statutory rape ie. an adult has sex with a 13 year-old girl and gets her pregnant.  Pete said it's a huge warning sign and a backdoor way to banning abortion.  Janette said she believes if you don't agree with abortion you shouldn't have one.  She worries about what happens to the unwanted children of these rapes.  Pete said the reason for the 1976 Supreme Court verdict was because of a showdown like this.

Bobby compared the changes to the abortion law to the fight against gay marriage.  Instead of fighting marriage head-on, opponents to gay marriage tried to "define" marriage in the Constitution which was a backdoor way of outlawing it.  Rosie said she treads lightly when discussing abortion because it's a loaded topic and many have very strong opinions about it.  She's been asked how she can be pro-choice if she's an adoptive mother.  Rosie said adopting a baby given up for adoption is not the same as telling someone they have to have a child.  Rosie quoted civil rights advocate and feminist Florynce Kennedy who said, "If men could get pregnant abortion would be a sacrament." 

Pete said there is a pro-life advocate who stood on a bridge going into Washington, D.C. with a poster of an aborted fetus and he always wanted to stop and tell him he could really make a difference if he offered to help women in need rather than hold up a sign showing such a disgusting picture.  Rosie recommended the documentary 12th and Delaware about the abortion clinic and the pro-life center on  the opposite side of the street.

12th and Delaware Trailer

Rosie took a few callers on the topic.  A few immediately agreed that any rape is forcible.  One caller was herself an adopted child and the biological parent of a child she gave up for adoption who said she's pro-choice.  She said she chose the option that best suited her but never feels like she should be able to take someone else's choices away.  Rosie talked with the caller about how adopted teens are more likely to get pregnant and how they oftentimes are trying to rewrite their own life story.  The caller said when she found herself pregnant as a teen she saw adoption as her way of giving back to a couple who couldn't have a baby themselves. 

Next, it was time to lighten the mood and discuss urinal etiquette!  Rosie was horrified at the thought that  men who are complete strangers pee next to each other.  The other day Bobby said he was at the urinals in a public place and someone at the urinals started discussing the weather!  He said he was horrified as was everyone else at the urinals.  He said there's an unwritten code of conduct and that includes NO TALKING!    Janette joked that she's met men in a lot of places but a public bathroom is too low for even her standards!  Bobby said if there's a bank of urinals, there's an unspoken rule that you leave as much space as possible between you and any other bathroom attendees.  Rosie said unless it's an emergency, she will not pee in public.

GAME - NAME THAT BAND AND THE SINGER IF YOU CAN
During this game, the caller heard a clip of a song.  If they could name the group that sang the song, they got one point.  If they could name the lead singer, they got two points. 

ROUND ONE
Rosie: heard a clip of Hotel California - She guessed The Eagles and Don Henley for 3 points.
Pete: heard a clip of Jump - He guessed Van Halen and the lead singer David Lee Roth for 3 points.
Janette: heard a clip of Satisfaction - He guessed Rolling Stones and the lead singer Mick Jagger for 3 points.
Jeannie: heard a clip of a song by Blondie sung by the lead singer Debra Harry for 3 points.
caller: heard a clip of a song by the Police sung by Sting for 3 points.
Bobby: heard a clip of Losing My Religion - He guessed REM for 1 point.  He didn't know the lead singer, Michael Stipe.   

ROUND TWO
Rosie: heard a clip of Crying - She guessed Aerosmith and Steven Tyler for 3 points
Pete: heard a clip of Vacation by the Go Gos with Belinda Carlisle.  He had no idea for 0 points! 
Janette: heard a clip of Another One Bites the Dust by Queen with Freddie Mercury.  She didn't know though and got 0 points.
Jeannie: heard a clip of Tonight's Going To Be a Good Night - she guessed the Black Eyed Peas with Fergie (or Will I Am) for 3 points.
caller: heard a clip of Be My Baby by The Ronettes with Ronnie Spector.  She didn't know for 0 points.
Bobby: heard a clip of Viva La Vida by Coldplay sung by Chris Martin.  He didn't know for 0 points.

ROUND THREE
Rosie: heard a clip of Don't Stop Believin - She guessed Journey with Steve Perry for 3 points.
Pete: heard a clip of Stairway To Heaven - He guessed Led Zeppelin with Robert Plant for 3 points.
Janette: heard a clip of With Or Without You - She guessed U2 and Bono for 3 points.
Jeannie: heard a clip of Killing Me Softly - She guessed the Fugees with Lauryn Hill for 3 points.
Bobby: heard a clip of Wake Me Up by Wham! with George Michael.  But he couldn't remember the name of the band or the singer for 0 points.

ROUND FOUR
Rosie: heard a clip of 21 Guns by Green Day with Billie Joe Armstrong for 3 points.
Pete: heard a clip of Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Anthony Kiedis. He got only 1 point because didn't know the singer. 
Janette: heard a clip of All Alone by Heart with Anne Wilson.  She got 1 point for the band but didn't get the singer.
Jeannie: heard a clip of Because the Night by 10,000 Maniacs with Natalie Merchant for 3 points.

ROUND FIVE - TIEBREAKER
between Rosie and Jeannie!
Rosie: heard a clip of This Love by Maroon 5 with Adam Levine.  She didn't know it for 0 points.
Jeannie: heard a clip of Cool It Down by New Edition with Bobby Brown.  She didn't know it for 0 points.

Rosie: heard a clip of Landslide and immediately guessed Stevie Nicks without hearing it was the Dixie Chicks version!  0 points.
Jeannie: (for the win!) heard a clip of Ragdoll by the Four Seasons with Frankie Valli.  She got it for 3 points!

JEANNIE WON!!!!!

LAST NIGHT'S SAG AWARDS, THE CUTE OSCAR PROMOS AND JANETTE'S WEIGHT LOSS!
Rosie and the staff quickly mentioned last night's SAG awards and the consensus was the winners seemed very predictable.  Rosie said the SAG Awards are often a great predictor of the Oscars and said she loves the new Oscar promos!  See below...



Janette was proud to announce that she's lost 16 pounds since she began her diet on January 3rd!

Rosie said they'll be live tomorrow unless there's another snow-day in NYC and closed the show.

and that's what you missed -kw