In Search of...MY BOOK!!!

For those of you who have been on any portion of this journey with me, I think we can all safely say, "Thank God it's finally completed!" So yes, In Search of George Stephanopoulos - a True Story of Life, Love, and the Pursuit of a Short Greek Guy is finally available for purchase. That being the case, why waste any time in providing you with that opportunity? So here it is:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/in-search-of-george-stephanopoulos-a-true-story-of-life-love-and-the-pursuit-of-a-short-greek-guy/11904093




I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by. And thanks for buying my book. Please tell your friends!

In Search of...some summer fare

While Sarah Palin is busy "refudiating," and Tony Hayward is able to get back to his life and his yacht once and for all, and the Clintons are getting ready for Chelsea's wedding this coming weekend (which, oddly enough, I have not been invited to), I have been partaking of some summer fare.

In the past I have looked forward to the summer months as a time when I turn off the TV for a while and actually catch up on some reading. Unfortunately, some wise TV executives must have caught on to my pattern, and decided to tempt me to replace my beach reading with some new and returning favorites shows. Their temptations have worked like a charm, and my vocabulary is atrophying as I type this.

My hat is off to the USA and TNT networks for completely replacing my need for mainstream network television. As if the return of The Closer, Psych, and Royal Pains wasn't enough, I have now added Rizzoli and Isles, Memphis Beat, and Covert Affairs to my steady menu. Yes, I enjoy watching strong women solve crimes and spy on foreign adversaries, not to mention cops who sing the blues at night in local bars. And that one has George Clooney as an executive producer, so why not check it out?!

My summer shows are light and fluffy. They transport me from my worries for a while, and sometimes they make me laugh. I find those things both appealing and a worthy reason to watch.

The summer season is short, and this year it's been hot...too hot to do anything but cool off with a little escape. I hope you stay cool and enjoy the remainder of the season. Thanks for stopping by.

In Search of...financial reform

Well, I've vented about Mel Gibson, and since I'm feeling a little sheepish about having wasted my time on something so inconsequential to all our lives, I thought I'd actually talk about something that is consequential and is receiving little mention and virtually no extensive coverage by the mainstream media: the financial reform bill that passed yesterday.

Because we've been focusing on other things like the oil leak which finally (fingers crossed) seems to be capped, and the heat wave sweeping the nation, we have not heard much about financial reform. Let me just start out by saying this: THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!

First of all, it has completely pissed off the banking industry, which should be our first clue that it's probably a good thing for the rest of us. Where there was no regulation and oversight, let alone rules, now there is. So instead of having to bail out companies that are "too big to fail" lest our financial system collapse entirely, we will now (hopefully) have set in place a means to dismantle the big guys who need to go if they can't make it. And regulations on mortgages, loans, hedge funds, insurance, credit cards, debit fees, (and that's all just off the top of my head) will theoretically ensure that we don't get to that position of collapse again. This impacts everyone - rich, poor, investor, consumer, you name it. Unlike the healthcare bill, I have not heard, or at least not yet, anyway, that there is a downside to this bill for us, the regular folks. Nor have I heard that it needs all the incremental changes that the healthcare bill does in order to really impact us in a positive way.

Did I mention that the banking industry doesn't like it? Again, nice going, Mr. President. I haven't been too wild about the banking industry myself lately.

So here's to sweeping reform, no more oil spills, job creation, and a cool down not only of the temperatures, but of our tempers as well. Thanks for stopping by. Please tell your friends.

In Search of...a good recording

When I started recording my songs, we did so on large reels of tape. Singers had to sing, players had to play, and edits were not made with the click of a button, but rather the painstaking accuracy of a razor blade and talented engineer. A wrong guess would leave an obvious gap, or worse, necessitate recording the whole thing over again. But these are different times we live in, where singers indeed do not need to be able to sing, and players, well, when they are actually present, they can be helped along to a degree as well. Today, with the correct clicks of some buttons, one can seamlessly tune, cut, and paste almost anything.

That brings me to Mel Gibson. Yes, Mel has gotten himself int0 a pickle again. This time there are recordings.

Today's segment of the soap opera that is our incessant need to gossip about and dwell on the misery of the rich and famous is about the manipulation or tampering with of the tapes. Were they sliced and diced? They were definitely professionally recorded and mixed. To my ears, Oksana's part sounds staged, like she's a bad actress standing in front of a microphone reciting her lines. But that doesn't really bother me, because that's not the point. The riveting part is Mel Gibson. And that's who we were meant to hear.

Sticklers for, well, truth, have been arguing that no one has authenticated that it's actually Mel speaking. I myself am a stickler for common sense. And I say, "Come on. Who are you kidding?!" We've been watching Mel in movies and listening to his voice for at least twenty-five years. Unless his evil twin is playing a prank, it's him.


And I'll grant you that there might have been some cutting and pasting involved, some pieces of conversations that took place on more than one occasion, but his tirades are vocally consistent. The energy and quality of his voice are consistent in them. The crescendo to the irate fevered pitch is consistent. Even his staggered breathing is staggered consistently.

While every "news" show has been speculating, and frankly, I've been speculating as to why this is on a news show, I started thinking about consistency in Mel's life. So I decided to see if wife #1 had anything to say about it. Turns out she did. Robyn, Mel's ex, issued a statement in support of Mel. Now I'm not a believer in new behavior from an old dog, so to speak. I think if Mel is abusive now, he's been abusive. I find it hard to believe that he'd knock out one woman's teeth while never laying a hand on the other woman he'd been with a lot longer. Call me crazy, but I'm not buying it.

Interestingly enough, Robyn Gibson said that Mel never engaged in any physical abuse of any kind before, during, or after their marriage. What she didn't say was that he never engaged in any mental, verbal, or emotional abuse. So maybe Mel's abuse escalated. Or maybe Robyn would like to keep getting her checks in the mail, which she'd have a hard time doing if his funds are depleted or if he goes to jail. (Yes, I've become just a tad cynical.)

So what's the takeaway from all this? Personally, my hat's off to Oksana for getting him on tape. It was the only recourse she had in her position. If she had just gone to the police with tales of him threatening her, they would have said, "Where's the proof?" So instead, she started by getting the proof and putting it out there for the world to hear. Not to mention that he threatened to kill her. That would make me just a wee bit terrified. I kind of look at this whole thing as her way of saying, "Should anything happen to me, I want you to know who did it." If only Nicole Simpson could have done that, O.J. wouldn't be walking around...oh wait, he's in jail, isn't he. Karma can be such a bitch.

Whatever happens with Mr. Gibson, I hope his ex-wife and former girlfriend get the help they need and can raise his children in peace. I also hope Mr. Gibson gets some help. He's a sick, sick man.