5-26-11 - Discussing the last Oprah and an Interview With Cyndi Lauper

In case you missed it...

THE BIG CHICAGO MOVE, JOURNEY TO DYSLEXIA AND ROSIE'S ROAD TRIP!
Rosie started today's broadcast discussing with Janette how this transition to Chicago is affecting her kids, especially Vivi.  She said she and Kelli had been telling Vivi they would be with Rosie for a month this summer and then Mommy Kelli for a month.  The thought of being away from any one parent for such a long time was a bit overwhelming for Viv so they've decided to stop telling her that for now.  But Rosie said Vivi's got a handle on the world in a way Rosie has never seen an 8 year old have.  Vivi's just now learned to read through a tutor because at her Waldorf school, you don't learn how to read until 3rd grade.  Vivi's now reading  the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and she and Rosie will read them together at night.  Rosie said it was incredibly frustrating for Vivi not being able to read.  Janette still remembers the frustration she felt when she was little and unable to read.  And Rosie's said her son Parker has now turned 16!! Bobby asked about Parker driving and Rosie said since he hasn't shown interest in it she's not going to bring it up with him.  And when they have had conversations about driving, Rosie's told him if he can't act responsibly she's not going to give him a lethal weapon.

Rosie said she had a great dinner with Meg Tilly last night where they shared stories about parenting and their struggles raising kids.  They discussed boarding school and how Meg's son wanted to go away to school.   She grabbed her heart when she talked about it because of how painful it was for her. Meg and her son agreed he would try it for a year and he ended up coming home when the year was through.  Rosie said they had Parker tested for any learning disabilities recently and they should get the results from the tests soon.  They wanted to see if there was anything they could do to assist him with his learning.  Rosie said she recently watched a documentary about dyslexia entitled Journey to Dyslexia and she really liked it.  She said the movie is inspiring if you have a kid with a learning issue or if you have one yourself.  Rosie called it poignant and powerful.  Rosie talked about how in the film they interview students who have overcome great adversity in school in order to succeed.  Janette said she saw Stedman Graham (Oprah's Beau) do a lecture on that very topic at a Women On Fire event. He spoke about how when he started high school he became determined to go to college.  People told him he was too stupid to go to college and instead of believing that, he used that as a motivator to drive his success. In the film they feature Willard Wigan who is dyslexic and does dioramas inside the eye of a needle!  Watch the trailer...

Trailer

Journey To Dyslexia

Watch it on HBO

Or order a copy HERE

Rosie said Bobby is decorating her apartment in Chicago which has to be ready around June 10th/14th.  Ikea is going to sponsor the apartment and Bobby is currently in the process of ordering everything she will need.  Rosie said she and Parker are going to drive from New York to Chicago and perhaps stop along the way!  She said they'll be doing it for the show and then returning back to New York because she's not really starting work there until July.

AMERICAN IDOL, OPRAH'S FINALE AND CALLERS
Rosie asked the staff if any of them watched the finale of American Idol  last night.  No one watched it!  But Rosie gave props to Deirdre who predicted Scotty would win on Day 1 of the show.  Deirdre said Scotty has an unbelievable country voice.  Janette didn't like Scotty's performances but thought James Durbin gave outstanding performances.  They played the audio of James singing Judas Priest from last night and Rosie took a couple of calls from listeners about the show.  Rosie said she knew she swore off American Idol but that doesn't mean she took it off TiVo!  Rosie said, in general, she loved this season of American Idol because it was so celebratory instead of salacious.  One caller said a reporter in her area was so upset that Lauren didn't win she started crying while she was covering the story!  Deirdre said no one needs to worry about the finalists that didn't win.  She said Chris Daughtry came in 4th and now he's huge in the music industry and she's convinced James, Pia and Casey will all have good careers.

Rosie asked the staff what they thought of Oprah's final show and besides Bobby I'm not sure anyone else saw it.  Bobby was a disappointed. He said selfishly he wished he could have an hour of Oprah winging it even though he knows that might not have been even possible.  Bobby said he wanted to know what her future plans are, where she is traveling to, what she is going to do with her time.  He wished it was more of a conversation.   He did like what she said about being responsible for the energy you bring into a space and said he will always remember that advice.  Rosie loved yesterday's show.  She thought it was masterfully written and beautifully performed.   And she said she's not just an ass-kisser because she already has the job!  Bobby did send for a transcript of the show because he really wants to read what she said so he can better absorb it.

Rosie took some calls about the final Oprah.  One caller agreed with Bobby but most callers loved yesterday's show and agreed with Rosie.  One caller thought Oprah's show was absolute grace.  Rosie agreed and said she couldn't imagine a better way to end the journey.  She wanted to know who came up with the concept and bet that Oprah came up with it herself.  One caller found Oprah's show to be a little "preachy" like a sermon in a church and worried the beauty might have gotten lost because of that.  Rosie didn't feel that but thanked her for her opinion.

One of the callers Rosie spoke to missed the final Oprah show because of the tornadoes that hit her area!  She said she was safe but she was a truck driver and she completely lost her truck in the storm. Rosie asked her tons of questions to make sure she is okay and gave her a snuggie. :)

One of the callers complimented Rosie on her performance on Tuesday at the Oprah Farewell Spectacular.  Rosie didn't think she did so great but told her she would try to accept the compliment. Rosie thought she looked scared when she watched it back. This caller said she's going through some really bad health problems with blood clots and said it felt as if Oprah was speaking to her personally. Rosie asked the caller about her weight and encouraged her to listen to the interview from Tuesday with Joe Cross from Fat Sick and Nearly Dead and the second half of her interview with him which airs Friday.  Janette said Tuesday's interview will air again on Sunday.   Rosie said after listening to Joe it turns out that 75% of our health issues can be cured by nutrition.  The caller told Rosie she is also struggling with major depression and the motivation to get better.  Rosie asked the caller to look at her reasons for not wanting to get better and encouraged her to see a better way.  Janette, who has had her own battles with low self-esteem, said sometimes our illnesses reflect what we think we can have or what we think we deserve and what's really underneath our sickness is a deep-seeded lack of love. Janette said when she was suffering from low self-esteem she did thousands of affirmations a day to herself saying, "I love myself and I forgive myself."  Anytime a negative thought about herself entered into her head she said those affirmations and it really helped her.

Rosie took a call from a listener that loved what Oprah had to say about feeling unworthy.  She also loved Oprah's advice about finding your own platform and your passion.  Rosie totally agreed.  Rosie really appreciated the moment when Oprah talked about Iyanla Vanzant and how Iyanla couldn't accept Oprah's appreciation of her.  Rosie said, for her, at some point she has to admit to herself that Oprah likes her and handle it.  Rosie said Oprah couldn't prove it any more.  She's given her her stage, her studio, her producers...how much more does Oprah  have to do for Rosie to know it inside herself?  
CHELSEA HANDLER'S STATEMENT AND THE SHAME OF ABORTION
Rosie and the staff discussed the story that Chelsea Handler has admitted to having an abortion when she was 16 years old.  Rosie said it's an interesting issue that people still feel ashamed admitting it. Janette said she thinks some people might not feel ashamed but they might be afraid at the judgment of others.  She said in today's society with any slip-up of what you say, you can be vilified.  Rosie said she has lots of friends who've had abortions and she knows none of them really speak about them. Janette said they're spoken of but only in little circles.  Janette thought Chelsea going so public with her news was courageous. Rosie thought maybe internal shame keeps people from coming forward with the admission of an abortion and Janette said it's society that makes women feel ashamed.  Rosie said she never really had the fear of becoming pregnant and Janette said it was a constant fear for her before she hit menopause.  

Rosie took a call from a listener who had an abortion in her past but said she only tells close friends about it.  One caller lives just west of Chicago and said the largest employer in her town is the Catholic hospital and she's pretty sure if they knew you had an abortion you'd be fired for it.  One caller has had 3 abortions - one while she was married, one while she was in a bad relationship, and one after an act of stupidity.  She said she started numbing herself with alcohol to take away the pain.  Rosie sounded a bit taken aback that the woman had had three abortions and Janette thought Rosie was being too judgmental.  She said it isn't right to question the woman's judgment, ask about her impulse control or if her self-destructive nature is playing into her decisions to have an abortion.  Janette said the reason she had the abortion shouldn't be the qualifier of whether it's acceptable or not.  Rosie said relapse is part of recovery yet somehow, with this topic, Rosie feels it's irresponsible.  Janette said she would never judge someone else for having an abortion and said people like Chelsea who speak publicly about it are being courageous.  

CYNDI LAUPER
Rosie then introduced her good friend, the fabulous Cyndi Lauper!  Cyndi and Rosie were with guest Louis Gonzalez who bid (and won!) a chance to chat with them on a Rosie Radio!  The opportunity was with CharityBuzz and the proceeds of the auction went to Rosie's charity Rosie's Theater Kids. Cyndi talked with Rosie about her whirl-wind year of touring and working.

Louis said when he found out about the auction he jumped at the chance because he loves Rosie's Theater Kids and he's a huge Cyndi Lauper fan!  He fell in love with Cyndi in the 1980's and he has followed her career ever since.  Louis asked about Cyndi's mom and she said her mom is good and they're planning a trip to Europe.  Louis said he was an underprivileged kid who knows the important role teachers can play in a child's life which is one of the reasons he loves what Rosie does.  Today he's an engineer for Verizon.  He asked Cyndi if, at the height of her career, there was ever a time when the record company tried to push her to be a certain kind of artist.  Cyndi said she went to Epic Records so she could have her own creative control and when the President who gave her all that freedom left she was criticized for what she wore.  She didn't get up and leave immediately because at the time they were suing artists who did that so she reached out to her fans overseas. The Japanese visited her in 1991 and told her they wanted her music and they wanted her to come to Japan.  She avoided working in the states for a while because the people running the company had their own agendas and the artists the wanted to promote.  Rosie said because Cyndi made that decision all her individuality got to thrive! And Cyndi said because the label wasn't paying attention to her she got to direct, co-produce and become the performance artist she really wanted to be.

Cyndi, Rosie and Louis talked about her time on Celebrity Apprentice.  Cyndi said she didn't really watch it the season she was on because it was upsetting to see what people were saying about her. Rosie asked Cyndi if she still has plans to do a reality show and she said she does!  Cyndi said they'll start shooting in September and it will about her life like her airport adventures.  She and Rosie then discussed the video below where she entertained a room full of passengers who were waiting on delayed flights!  Cyndi said the it felt like she was in a movie!

Cyndi Lauper sings for fans at the airport

After she performed the crowd started to move in for pictures and she started to get a little nervous so they had to move her to a different area.

Cyndi said she was landing in Japan the day of the horrible earthquake that hit this spring.  Her airplane landed at a military base and the promoter they worked with made sure he got them and took them to safety.  She said she felt guilty staying at such a lovely hotel knowing how much devastation had just hit the area but she didn't want to leave either.  She said she did what she could by staying and finishing her tour for them because the Japanese people have always been so wonderful to her.  Rosie thought what Cyndi did by staying was very beautiful.

Louis asked about Cyndi's relationship with the gay community and if she feels their support. Cyndi isn't gay herself but said she's a friend and family of the gay community and she doesn't even differentiate anymore between the gay and straight community.  Rosie mentioned all the work Cyndi's done with the True Colors Fund and promised to put a link up on her website. Rosie thanked Cyndi for coming in and thanked Louis for his generous donation to her charity!

You can find great opportunities to meet your favorite celebrities on CharityBuzz and learn more about Rosie's charity Rosie's Theater Kids! 

and that's what you missed - kw
4 shows left....whoa.