THE SUNDAY COLUMN

THE AMERICAN IDOL EXPERIENCE AT DISNEYWORLD

Broadcasting the show live from DISNEY WORLD was an absolute blast! The crew at DISNEY is first class and really helped make our trip to Florida enjoyable both on and off the air. Although I had been to DISNEYWORLD a few years back, I had never seen EPCOT and several other attractions. THE AMERICAN IDOL EXPERIENCE will be a huge hit at the park if the kick-off party was any indication. ALL SEVEN IDOL winners appeared on stage for the first time and there were appearances from RYAN SEACREST and PAULA ABDUL. The "BLUE" Carpet was a who's who of IDOL and they went all out at the after-party. The highlight of the event had to be the duet with CARRIE UNDERWOOD and DAVID COOK doing FLEETWOOD MAC.

MOUSE EARS are a must when you go to Disney
....the trick is making sure you get them back home to your daughter without crushing them.

The people at DISNEY showered us with gifts including this MICKEY MOUSE stuffed animal. It takes a lil work getting MICKEY through security and onboard the airplane. I felt bad stuffing him into the overhead storage compartment, but airfare was a tad much for a second seat.

It's very easy to achieve inner peace when you are drinking a sugary drink out of a sippy-cup that is sporting mouse ears....

Overall, I can't say enough about how much fun we had both on and off the air at DISNEY. We were treated so well by everyone, especially "DJ" who took care of everything for us.

THE PARKVIEW REGGAE BRUNCH 2009!

The REGGAE BRUNCH at THE PARKVIEW takes place the Sunday after Super Bowl Sunday each year. My friend NORM, who runs The Parkview's sister bar HOOPLES invited me out for the second straight year. The music is awesome and sounds even better after a couple of RED STRIPES..The event and the bar are so much fun!

SATURDAY IN LITTLE ITALY

Cleveland has so many wonderful places with great people and awesome food! On Saturday, my daughter GABBY and I ventured out to LITTLE ITALY to pick up some fresh pizza dough at PRESTIS BAKERY for a party we had later that night at the house. Since we had extra time, (I made sure of it), we enjoyed lunch. GABS had her favorite, wedding soup, and insisted that we "share" some desserts....

I attempted to be somewhat healthy with my veggie stromboli. EVERYTHING at PRESTI's is so good! It's nearly impossible to chose just one item on the menu....but their stromboli, by far, is my favorite!

THE RANDOMS

I have to admit that Friday's trip back from Florida was a tad unsettling. Flying on Friday The 13th...the day after a major plane crash...on flight on 313...but I'm just glad we made it...

In my previous blog entry, I mentioned BUCKY COVINGTON's hair in jest. A couple of commenters on the blog took exception to the joking about the hair..I want to make it clear that it's hair envy....that's all it is... : )

I'm a big baseball fan. The steroid controversy is a joke. I'm not going to take the issue seriously until baseball does. It's no surprise that names keep popping up...but they can catch anyone anytime with testing. Baseball goes soft on players...especially the stars, because they are what brings MLB to life. It's a waste of time to nickel and dime the issue. If you want steroids out of the game, test everyone on a regular basis and be done with it. What's happening now is joke.

...having said that...the countdown to OPENING DAY is on!

be@peace ~a

IMAGES FROM DISNEYWORLD & IDOL

Hangin' with MINNIE and MICKEY
WILDE & FEE sportin' the MOUSE EARS

BACKYARD BBQ WITH GOOFY (uh, GOOFY is on the left)

CIGARS AT THE AFTER PARTY

OUR "HEAD SHOT" WITH WALT

DAVID COOK, GOOD SINGER, BAD OUTFIT

BUCKY COVINGTON, NICE GUY, BAD HAIR

ROOOOOO-BUN STUDDARD ARRIVES

CARRIE UNDERWOOD GETTIN' INTERVIEWED BY ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT

SANJAYA ARRIVES AT THE AMERICAN IDOL EXPERIENCE PREMIERE. HE RETURNED TO HIS HOME PLANET VIA SPACESHIP AFTER THE PARTY

I CAUGHT UP WITH JORDIN SPARKS AT THE AFTER-AFTER PARTY

CHRIS SLIGH WAS JUST HAPPY TO BE THERE

JUSTIN, THE GUY THAT KELLY CLARKSON BEAT OUT ON SEASON ONE

THE GUY WITH THE DREAD-LOX FROM A COUPLE OF SEASONS AGO

BO BICE POINTS TO THE ONE PERSON WHO BOUGHT HIS ALBUM

THE MONDAY COLUMN

We depart for DISNEYWORLD after the show this morning. We'll be broadcast live from THE AMERICAN IDOL EXPERIENCE tomorrow through Friday. We'll talk to several idols and give a special behind-the-scenes look at DISNEY's newest attraction.

Despite the CAVS loss to the Lakers on Sunday, The CAVS are just fine. The pressure of the unbeaten streak is over, now they can focus on winning The Eastern Conference Title.

Great to see JENNIFER HUDSON's star shine on The Grammys last night. Also, big ups to COLDPLAY for such a great song!

MOVIES...

CLINT EASTWOOD's GRAN TERINO is a simple, but very good movie.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is a movie that deserves more mainstream credit. I'm sure it'll get the credit it deserves after it cleans up at The Oscars.

FROST/NIXON is a historical masterpiece. I had to check the credits to see if that was really NIXON in the lead role.

Special thanks to everyone at THE PARKVIEW for their unbelievable party on Sunday. The annual REGGAE BRUNCH was a blast. They hold it every year the Sunday after Superbowl Sunday. Great music and good times!

The weekend THAW was much needed...I can't wait for spring soccer season to finally start...it's time....

Have a great week...talk to ya from DISNEY!

be@peace ~a

THE MONDAY COLUMN

My daughter GABBY and 12 of her friends enjoyed a huge birthday sleepover this weekend

Watching the SUPERBOWL on the new HD big-screen was awesome! Too bad I wasn't watchin' the BROWNS win it. When my team isn't playin', I root for a good game....and we sure got one. That catch in the end-zone was an all-timer! I was disappointed that JENNIFER HUDSON didn't sing the anthem and instead lip-synced. If you can't do that live, step aside for someone who can. Clearly she can sing, I don't know why they did that. It doesn't seem right...afterall, at 60, SPRINGSTEEN had no problem singin'....Loved the DORITOS and E-Trade commercials.

The countdown continues for our DISNEYWORLD broadcast at the AMERICAN IDOL EXPERIENCE February 9-13th. We will be live in Florida all week....I hear it's a lil warmer there...

THE NHSA is getting set for the spring soccer season in NORDONIA HILLS. I can't believe that it's our fourth season already! We have already started practicing with our 4 travel teams and registration is underway for our academy. I'm very proud of what we have accomplished and look forward for play to get underway. For more, check out our website at http://www.nhsasoccer.org/

JAMES MORRISON got some attention (finally) in The US when he performed on ELLEN's birth day show. It's a matter of time before he hits big here. I highly suggest you check out both of his CD's....

The doctor who let that woman have 8 kids in California should lose his right to practice...and that woman needs serious help...OPRAH and DIANE SAWYER should publicly deny her request to be interviewed for money. This is just wrong!

MICHAEL PHELPS is not a role model...he should have come out an apologized in his own words...having his press people release a statement is not sincere....TIGER WOODS is a role model....amazing work ethic and he let's his actions speak louder than his words....

My daughter celebrated her 10th birthday with a 12-friend all-girl sleepover. She had a blast and called it her "best birthday ever!". The party featured a game called THE HOTSEAT where we played a live game show with the guests as contestants. Lots of MILEY CYRUS, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and JONAS BROTHERS music was played over the course of the seemingly 2-day event. The party featured a taco bar for dinner and sundae bar for dessert!

be@peace ~a