A Message From Weezy

"Episodes 1, 5-32, and 34-37 have gone missing. Can you help rescue them? If you are in possession of any lost, missing and/or exploited episodes of Weezy & The Swish, we will graciously credit you here on the website for their safe and heroic retrieval. Thank You!"

Blogging From Weezy - Diane Dimond

by Louise Palanker on Wed 30 Nov 2005 12:26 AM PST

Our next guest will be Renowned Investigative Journalist, Diane Dimond. You can post your questions here or on the message board. The show will be a little late this week, based on Diane's busy schedule. She is taking time to drop in and grace us with her presence during her book tour. So, if you're up for chatting, the show will be taped Monday at 5:30 pm, PST.

Blogging From Weezy - Upcoming Guest, Fritz Coleman

by Louise Palanker on Thu 10 Nov 2005 02:48 PM PST

Our guest, for Saturday's taping will be Fritz Coleman. Fritz is a Los Angeles legend. He's a comedian/playwright/weatherman and he is a household name here in Los Angeles. Most people, in a town full of celebrities can not name more than three or four local news personalities but they can all name and identify Fritz. Why is this? Probably because he's funny and reliable. The guy you believe. And he's been our NBC Weatherman for 25 years or more.

If you have any questions about broadcasting, newscasting, weathercasting or related subjects, email us with them.

Or, if you want to take place in the live chat, we will be monitering it this week. We're starting at 5:00 because Fritz has to jet to a comedy show on Saturday.

Be advised, however, that this will be our first time attempting to monitor the chat and we will not be able to keep an eagle eye on it, so you may want to email your questions ahead of time to make sure we get to them.

I will try to type back to you and read your postings but this is experimental so bare with us.

Eventually we'll have a web cam and a way for your to hear the show as we record.

Talk to you Saturday!

Weezy on Attack of the Show?

by Matt Hartley on Thu 13 Oct 2005 04:04 AM PDT

(Since the Weblog software has been acting up lately, I am posting the following on Weezy's behalf)

Weezy writes:

On Tuesday, I had a very interesting adventure at G4. My pal, Guy, who works there, asked me and a few friends to come down and be in a sketch for "Attack of the Show." I said, "Sure, no problem" and I brought my buddies, Fini Goodman and Melinda Ruben. Guy added a G4 intern named Emily and together we were cast as members of a fictional "book club."

Here's what we found out when we got there. We were not taping just one sketch. We were taping five sketches which will become a running feature on the program, so according to Hollywood standards, one could accurately state that I am now a "semi-regular on a TV show.

The sketches involve a "book club" hosted by Brendan Moran who selects books such as "Dune," and "C++ Programming for Dummies" and other titles which book club ladies might find a tad tedious and thus the comedy ensues. These little comic gems should start running on Monday, October 17^th. I play the part of "Sheri," an erratically emotional, hormonally unbalanced whack job.

The sketches were written by Casey Schreiner and I must tell you, they were an actress's dream, full of depth and range and heart and women wrestling over a sticky bun.

Oh, and while I was at G4, I met Nick's dream date, Morgan Webb and everyone, everywhere could not stop talking about how much they miss Laura Swisher.

Blogging From Weezy - Questions for Ron Zonen

by Louise Palanker on Fri 09 Sep 2005 02:10 AM PDT

Mr. Ron Zonen of the Santa Barbara D.A.’s Office will be our guest as we tape our next podcast tomorrow, Saturday. Post a comment here if you have a question for Mr. Zonen and he will be happy to answer it on the show. Questions can range from "How did the specific intricacies of the California criminal justice system impact your Michael Jackson Case trial strategy?" to "What is your favorite soup?" Although, hold off on the soup question because I might want to ask him that.

In an effort to make Mr. Zonen feel comfortable in the studio, I am busy installing a metal detector

Blogging From Weezy - Angry Lesbian Poets

by Louise Palanker on Sat 03 Sep 2005 12:35 PM PDT

Tonight, my friend Deb and I went to do comedy at Coffee Haven in Long Beach. The room is run by our friend, Kerry Arnold Stevens who is a funny man and a gentleman. It seems, however, that since the last time I was there, the place has become overrun by angry lesbian poets. Now, please understand that I would be fine with lesbian poets or angry poets or even angry lesbians. But, a room full of angry lesbian poets can be very overwhelming to a sensitive, thoughtful comedian such as myself. What I’m trying to say is they were mean to me.

Here’s how it went down… the ALBs had taken over the first three rows and when I began my act, they were all glaring at me and chanting, “Labyrinth! Labyrinth! This, I later learned, is the name of their favorite angry lesbian poet. I was not Labyrinth and this made them angrier. Now, when angry lesbian poets go from angry to angrier, they become irate lesbian poets. This is not a good thing. I tried to get them to stop chanting by saying something funny, or at least something that I thought was funny. One of them actually pointed at me and laughed. I said, “I feel as though you’re laughing at me, not with me.” The angriest one of them snarled and spit and said, “We ARE laughing at you.” I said, “You guys are like the mean girl table at lunch.” She said, “Well, you’re not funny!” Then everyone in the place went, “Oooohhh.”

At that point, my inner voice said “Screw them,” and just did my act. Because, a lot of my jokes are good and when in doubt, or in terror, do the act. So, I got laughs and got off the stage and here comes the kicker. I hope you are ready because this is awesome… all of the angry lesbian poetry, I mean all of it, each and every angry lesbian poet and each and every angry lesbian poem is all about love and tolerance and conquering the fear of rejection and accepting all of God’s unique creatures as beautiful in the eyes of the universe, and righteously defying the injustice of the insensitive and blah dee freakin’ blah blah.

I just sat there staring at angry lesbian poet after angry lesbian poet thinking, “Am I not outcast enough for God’s love?” Or, “Are you people just angry lesbian hypocrites?

Then, my friend Comedian, Leo Flowers got up on stage and he went, “What the Hell just happened here?” Thanks, Leo. That was cool of you, because yeah, those girls really did hurt my feelings. It made me feel very exposed and vulnerable and no matter how smooth I attempted to appear, it hurts when people publicly mock you.

I’m sorry if I’m not Labyrinth. I will never be Labyrinth and my act isn’t angry and I don’t wave my arms around in extreme gestures and then back away from the mic while making a nasty face as I pose for dramatic effect after chanting something like this:

Jane is pain! Jane is rain!

My soul darkens! Emptiness harkens!

Thoughts of death! Hold my breath!

Falling, falling! Heartbeat stalling!

Moist touch enthralling my love cave!!!!

(I made that up in the spirit of what I heard tonight)

In fact, most of my jokes don’t even rhyme but I do have feelings.

Blogging From Weezy - Why Try?

by Louise Palanker on Wed 17 Aug 2005 01:12 PM PDT

Why try? We all ask ourselves that question at some point during the day, the month, the life, don’t we?

Last night, I worked a new room for me called Shane on Main Street in Santa Monica. I thought I had been booked. I was booked, but it was one of those rooms where they keep putting people on in front of you and pushing you further back and back in the line-up. Patrick, the guy running the room kept walking by me, holding up two fingers and saying, “two more, then you.” This feels something like sitting in an airport waiting to board a flight that’s delayed. The time on the screen is giving you a glimmer of hope that it’s only a half hour wait, but then it’s another half hour and another and another and now you’re weary and angry and it’s time to re-shave your armpits.

That’s what happened last night. I got there at 8:00. I went up at 11:00. I became very close to the bartender, Scotty who fixed me a take-home meal. I brought it out to my car and discovered a parking ticket. The meters go until 10:00 pm in the evil empire of Santa Monica. I walked solemnly defeated back into the bar, prepared to tell Patrick that he had won. I was giving up and going home.

Please know that I am not generally this easily beaten down but I had spent the day driving to Palm Springs for a funeral. My cousin-in-law’s father, Monty Berman had passed away and although I did not know this man, I watched my cousin, Trish’s husband Lee Jay deliver an incredibly moving eulogy which ended in these words… “I am and always will be Monty Berman’s son.” That had me sobbing.

Now, driving to Palm Springs and back…? I can’t recommend it. First of all, it’s a long ass drive on the 10. Second… when you get there, you’re in Palm Springs and frankly… yuck. Driving back is another long ass drive on the 10 but the good news is that you are out of Palm Springs.

So, I didn’t really feel like doing stand-up last night and yes, I did almost tell Patrick that I was leaving. But then I saw Bob Oshack at the bar and you really can’t look at that guy without smiling and, OK… he had pictures of his kids. A 3 ½ year old daughter and a brand new baby boy. Life does not get any cuter and so I stayed for his set and then I was next. Naturally, by this point there were only ten people remaining in the audience and the three in the back were solidly involved in a loud conversation but I may have actually won them over because the one who told me his name was Bill laughed when I called his girlfriend Hillary. (yeah, that’s how funny I can get)

Thanks for reading this far. I feel much better. I have to go pay a parking ticket.

Blogging From Weezy - State of the Act

by Louise Palanker on Sun 14 Aug 2005 03:07 PM PDT

I've been doing stand-up comedy since 2000. In many ways it's a very solitary pursuit. You're up on stage by yourself. You are solely responsible for the success or failure with which you meet. I love that aspect of stand-up comedy... Forging onward… me against my own limitations. Attaining momentary ownership of something as elusive as a stranger's laughter is a worthy challenge, isn't it? Well, it is and it isn't because, strangely, the pursuit of laughter can turn many people hollow and mean.

Maybe that happens to people who remain as solitary offstage as you have to be on stage. Yikes, this is starting to sound very dull and preachy when really what I'm trying to say is that during the past five years, I have gotten a huge kick out of watching my friends progress along side me.

As solitary as the act itself is, watching my friends grow and develop and emerge as performers has been a huge treat and I don't think I'd be doing this were it not for the friendships.

Of course that sounds corny. I don't know how else to say it. A lot of us started at Jennifer's together. Fini Goodman, Deb Cox, Bret Gilbert, James Painter, Nick Yousef, Bret Williams, Brian Dowell, Laura Swisher and just a bunch of people who if you watch us perform today, you'll gather no hint of how badly we sucked five years ago.

And I think that no matter how lonely the act of standing on a naked stage, by yourself and talking can be, like anything else, finding a way to share the experience is what makes it worth doing.

I am very proud of my stand-up friends who have come so far in five years. We're only partly there but I can feel my progress and I can feel theirs and this, just like everything else, is about the journey. You've been a terrific crowd. That's my time. Thanks.

P.S. I never say that at the end of my set because I think it's hack. But what's hack on stage can be funny in a blog… or not. I’ll leave that up to you.

Blogging From Weezy - Angry Emails?

by Louise Palanker on Fri 12 Aug 2005 01:45 AM PDT

I'd like to introduce a new feature for our podcast which I will call, "Angry Emails." If you have received an angry email that you would like to share with us, please do so and we will dramatically interpret your angry email on our podcast. Please give us a little back story so that we can set it up properly and deliver in with the intended spirit. I, myself, have never received an angry email. Let me correct that. I haven't received angry email from anyone I know. I have received hate mail from Michael Jackson fans. But I'm not counting that because they don't know me. Only people who really know me are permitted to legitimately spill vile sentiments at me via the internet. So far that hasn't happened and I owe that to my pleasant disposition and my restraint from entering Paris Hilton chat rooms and spamming, “Whore!!!” That's why I'm hoping that perhaps you have received angry hate mail so that together we can burst the bubble of the hurtful missive by having fun at the expense of its author.

Here's how I got the idea. My friend, Fini's boyfriend received an angry email from his ex-girlfriend after Fini suggested that perhaps the ex could call him a little less often. I heard the email and I thought, "Gosh, people need to realize just how foolish they come across when typing childishly venomous thoughts and hitting the send button. And what better way to bring this to their attention than by reading these letters aloud. I will be reading Fini's angry ex email on our next podcast.

If you, too, have an angry email that you would like to share, send it to us at weezyandtheswish@gmail.com

Announcement

by Louise Palanker on Thu 04 Aug 2005 03:01 PM PDT

Guesting on our next podcast will be Bob Cowsill. Bob is a member of the singing Cowsill family, responsible for hits like "The Rain The Park and Other Things," and "Hair." Bob is the talent behind our theme song, "She Said To Me." Listen for podcast #9 on Monday, August 8th.

Blogging From Weezy - No Longer Abroad, but still a woman

by Louise Palanker on Tue 02 Aug 2005 10:06 AM PDT

I am back from my trip to Northern Europe and very happy to be home. I love my family but (and how many sentences have begun this way?) The organization of seven people day in and out is exhausting. I greatly admire the parents and the guardians and the cult leaders and anyone who has to coordinate large groups because my natural reaction is the compulsion to escape and start walking and not stop walking until I'm found collapsed on a park bench by Russian authorities demanding to see my passport. This, thankfully, did not happen but I did escape when I could and those forays make for my best memories. I don't know if I was Johnny Appleseed in a former life but I get this urge to just take off on foot and keep moving. It makes me feel like I'm floating. There wasn't much of that permitted on this trip. I got to take off on my own in Helsinki and in Copenhagen. I took off with my brother in Estonia but, once again, there were seven of us and also, they keep a pretty tight reign on you in Russia. You are, in fact, not allowed to leave the ship unless you are part of an organized tour. There may be satellite tracking involved, I'm not sure. We were in Russia for three days and since it is my ancestral home I was very happy to see it and very happy to once again see home, where I'm free to keep walking.

Blogging From Weezy - News From Abroad... who is in Europe

by Louise Palanker on Wed 27 Jul 2005 12:35 PM PDT

We are currently sailing from St. Petersburg, Russia to Helsinki, Finland. It is 12:00 in the evening and I am on a floating hot bed of social activity. The show just let out, A Singing and Dancing Salute to American Pop and the ship is abuzz with partiers mingling in a collage of languages, and spilling into the Coffee @ com Internet cafe where I sit typing this blog.

The man occupying the computer across from me keeps tapping the table assertively, throwing his hands up in disgust, nodding adamantly and emitting guttural noises. He is either a) day trading b) engaged in an instant message dispute or c) downloading porn. Wait, he just chuckled aloud and gestured wildly as if to grab my attention. The answer is d) ordering online for a drink to be sent over to me.

I confess that I am happy to be leaving Russia. St. Petersburg, although stunning in spots is also sad and dreary in many ways. We saw magnificent palaces, museums and churches, along with worn, neglected neighborhoods, sour people, and despair.

Russian history is fascinating. It was very dangerous to be a member of the royal family. Most stories tell of how happy and productive some Tsar was until he was murdered. For the Tsarinas, the fate is slightly less harsh. They get sent to a nunnery.

Today we saw the palace where Rasputin was enjoying a lovely meal until he was murdered. This was interesting to me for two reasons. 1) I've read a lot about Russian history and 2) I learned that if someone does not let you into the main house, but only brings you down to the basement, don't eat the snacks. Rasputin, The Mad Monk, was poisoned and then shot and then shot again and then shoved into a river and any one of those things can ruin a dinner party.

The man accross from me is laughing again and attempting to make eye contact. I can see his screen name from here, so I'm going to close now so that I can I.M. him my room number... Hold on... more wild gesturing, a lean back in the chair and a loud Hmmmpphh. I'll save him for Laura.

Blogging From Weezy - News from Abroad... who is in Europe

by Louise Palanker on Sun 24 Jul 2005 02:23 PM PDT

I am traveling on a cruise ship through the Baltic Sea. We have most recently left the port city of Tallinn, Estonia and are currently sailing towards St. Petersburg, Russia. Estonia was under Danish rule in the 13th Century before it was sold to the Germans following a mid-14th Century insurrection. This did not bode well for the locals who suffered for centuries before finally winning back their independence in 1921, only to later come under Soviet rule after WWII. However, the revolutionary atmosphere following Glasnost fostered renewed independence for Estonia which now happily hosts cruise ships and markets overly priced ashtrays and shot glasses.

My brother, Craig and I hiked all over the beautiful little city of Tallinn and wandered into a magnificent Greek Orthodox Church in the middle of a gloriously traditional wedding. The bride and groom, bedecked in ancient ceremonial dress were being paraded in ritualistic circles as magnificent hymns floated up and echoed across the ornate cathedral ceilings. It was absolutely spectacular. I stood and watched in awe and wonder. And then, we turned quietly in reverence, walked down the church steps and being who we are, “I said to my brother, “She could do better.” And my brother said to me, “Do you think she had to get married?”

I don’t think people like us should be allowed to travel outside the country.

Blogging From Weezy - Preparing For Liftoff

by Louise Palanker on Wed 20 Jul 2005 02:07 PM PDT

Tomorrow I will leave American soil with my eye set on the Nordic horizon. My sister and I will fly to Paris and then Stockholm from where we will set sail for the picturesque ports of Helsinki, Astoria, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen. I will be attempting to blog from the ship and while the rest of the blogosphere is urgently discussing important topics such as the John Roberts Judicial appointment, and Karl Rove's FBI dealings, I will be blathering about my personal, trivial, travel amusements. So, if your brain is too full of useful information, check in often for a refreshing load of fluff.

Note to neighborhood robbers: My seven attack dogs have tested positive for both Herpes and Rabies. They are also trained marksmen and fully armed.

Blogging From Weezy - Twice The Tension

by Louise Palanker on Sun 17 Jul 2005 12:58 PM PDT

On Saturday, The Swish and the two Matts and I set out on our quest to record two podcasts in a row, per the suggestion of "Seaners" in order that Part 2 might be banked to allow for my summer travel plans.

It sounded like a good idea in theory. However, in practice, (And I don't mean to soil your pristine image of The Swish) the girl can down herself some buckets of fluids. I hand her a long neck coke and she's sucked it up in under a minute. Moments later, she has to go to the bathroom. I understand that hydration is important while podcasting in an air conditioned room but good gosh. On top of which, her printer is "broken" so she emailed an attachment of all her "notes" to me and it was my job to upload the file and print them out for her.

The sense of entitlement is just staggering. And now I have to sit in a room and be "civil" to her for over two hours. You want me to be civil, Laura Swisher, than next time why don't you show up with a six pack of coke, a ream of paper and a couple rolls of Charmin. How about that? …..

OK, so you can see what I'm doing here... I'm attempting to insight a "mock catty squabble" between The Swish and I so that we can create heat and improve ratings. Let's watch and wait and see how she responds. I just know she'll have something pithy and scathing. She may even attack portions of my personal character and/or my appearance. This should be lots of fun, so stick close, wait for the heat to hit, and remember to side with me.

Blogging From Weezy - Actually, it's a plea

by Louise Palanker on Fri 15 Jul 2005 01:24 PM PDT

I would like to introduce a new feature on Weezy and the Swish which we will call "I.M. Theatre." If you have experienced an interesting and/or invigorating I.M. discussion with a friend/co-worker/lover/adversary/all of the above, recently and it is saved somewhere on your computer, please email it to us at weezyandtheswish@gmail.com, or just click on that button to your left which reads "email us." Laura and I will theatrically perform your I.M. chat. Read that to mean, we will enthusiastically overact it. So, please embarrass yourself and a loved one by sending us your I.M.s. And, thank you.

Blogging From Weezy - Travel Ambivilance

by Louise Palanker on Thu 14 Jul 2005 01:31 AM PDT

The good news is that I'm going on a cruise with my family and that is, as well, the bad news. I have a complicated love/hate relationship with travel. We are going on a cruise to Sweden, Finland, Astoria, St. Petersburg and I think we wind up in Copenhagen. I should look at a map, at some point. I'm traveling with my two sisters, my brother, my nephew, my Mom and her boyfriend, Sydney the Kidney Doctor. My Mom will be the only one hooking up on this cruise. Sad or funny? You decide.

So, my love/hate relationship with travel? Garden variety travel is great. Road trips? I love it. Hop in a car and move. It's beautiful. But, embarking on 15-20 hours of air travel which finds you arriving, in a fatigue educed stupor with no sense of Barings and the crushing reality that it will be ten days before you are once again safely within the fold of familiar surroundings? Unsettling.

So, that's the hate part. On to the love. When I return, I will have seen St. Petersburg and I, being of Russian decent, should visit the land of my forefathers, should I not? Go ahead and answer out loud. I'll know. When I return, I will post lovely travel pics on my photo blog and, when I return, I will enjoy a sense of accomplishment and a renewed appreciation for American toilet paper.

So, there will be no Weezy and The Swish program for ten days and then we will be back strong and we will want to hear about your summer vacations as well. And where you go doesn't matter. As long as you come back with some unidentifiable bites and mild thigh chafing it counts as Summer travel.

Happy Summer.

Blogging From Weezy - Why No Blog?

by Louise Palanker on Tue 12 Jul 2005 01:24 AM PDT

Bless me, Blogosphere for I have sinned. This is my first blog in over a week. I've been feeling very contemplative and not very chatty as of late. I'm still not sure what aspects of my personal life should be the stuff of blog. I am a very new blogger. So, new that this is the first time I have used the word "Blogosphere" in a sentence. I'm not even sure it's a proper nown.

Saturday night I went to my cousin Ben's Bar Mitzvah party. There were about 40 13 year old boys in attendence. The DJ played Thriller by Michael Jackson. That made me very sad. Nothing funny. Just sad.

I am venturing into several new bodies of business waters which are proving to be emotionally and otherwise challenging. (I'm not refering to this podcast because it has been nothing short of smooth and rewarding)

My brother broke his hand and I didn't call him enough to see how he's doing. (the cast just came off and he's begun physical theropy which is painful, in case you care as much as I should have)

Plus other stuff is on my mind which for sure is unbloggable. So, my silence will have to speak this week. It either makes me mysterious or boring.

Have you ever had an unbloggable week? How do you cope? Please help.

Blogging From Weezy - Journey of Discovery, Enlightenment and Trespassing

by Louise Palanker on Wed 06 Jul 2005 01:51 PM PDT

I like to take my nephew, Jakey on adventures. Our mission is to discover something new. The adventures are getting increasingly exciting now that he’s eight. When he was two, the big discovery would be a cigar butt or a discarded sock. Now, we take off on Razor Scooter adventures. On the 4^th of July, in Ojai, we headed off on the bike trails. We like to just keep going until we find something worth investigating. So we scooted until we came upon a sign which read: Krotona School of Theosophy. Our mission was now to discover the meaning of Theosophy, develop a deeper understanding of all of the world’s beliefs and snoop around until we were asked to leave.

So we followed the signs, climbing higher and higher and higher. This place was really tucked away. No one was stopping us. I told Jakey that when it comes to exploring, as long as you know you’re not hurting anybody, it is better to venture forth first and ask permission later… until someone starts shooting at you. But they didn’t shoot and we kept climbing.

We reached the top and discovered a beautiful vista, a school, a library, bungalows, a garden, fountains… no actual people with whom we could discuss the basic tenants of Theosophy. But we found brochures. And in the absence of actual Theosophists, brochures would do.

Here is what we learned. The Theosophical Society is concerned with: 1) The unity of all people; 2) The study of comparative religion, philosophy and science; and 3) The investigation of unexplained laws of nature and our latent powers. Theosophy holds that we are all one with each other and with life in the universe. We can not either harm or help another without harming or helping ourselves. We are all one.

This could explain why no one shot at us. So, I helped Jakey understand their belief that everything we do has a cause and effect relationship with the universe. Therefore, it would naturally follow that since we had climbed up this long, steep, curving, perfectly paved road, we would now get to scooter down it.

Thus we embarked on the most excellent scooter ride of our lives. Jakey led the way, helmet securely in place, laughing and screaming with joy the entire ride down. I followed behind, hearing the rushing whir of my scooter wheels and the peels of delight floating back to me from my nephew, telling me that he would remember this forever and that my sister must never know quite how fast we were going.

It was perfectly awesome. The laws of nature, karma, gravity, all colliding in a glorious rush down a perfectly paved, private road in Ojai. The day was capped by fireworks over the High School, which were too loud for Jakey.

But remember, he’s only eight and according to our newly discovered teachings of Theosophy: Our goal is to complete the cosmic cycle of manifestation with full conscious realization of ourselves, no longer polarized between consciousness and matter or divided into self and other, but unified within and united with all other beings through our common Source… which I interpret to mean: little kids should watch fireworks from inside the car with the windows up.

Blogging From Weezy - Fox News Effect

by Louise Palanker on Wed 29 Jun 2005 11:21 PM PDT

Last night, Tuesday, I met my friend, Mari Cartel for dinner at Westwood Brew Co. before going upstairs to do stand-up comedy. Mari and I grew up in radio together. She now works for Fox News. Now, I will admit to you that I have not watched a lot of Fox News because I try to be an open-minded thinker which makes me a little closed minded concerning Fox News, which, I fully realize is hypocritical and I vow to work on this glaring discrepancy. But as of this writing, the extent of my Fox News viewing consists of watching my friend Michael Reagan on Hannity and Combs and watching Ron Zonen on Greta Van Sustren.

Oh, and I have seen the documentary, "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism," which left me contentedly adhering to CNN and MSNBC.

Back to our story, After we ate, Mari, a Fox News reporter, came upstairs to watch my set at Westwood Brew Co. and I pointed her out in the audience as surprising evidence that one Jew works at Fox News. From this point forward, every screamingly liberal comic proceeded to pound poor Mari with their "extreme left wing liberal bias," up to and including Manuel's hauntingly graphic and sexually vivid depiction of what he will do to Sean Hannity if he ever gets within mounting distance. It was nothing good people really needed to hear but Mari’s shoulders were shaking so I’m going to assume she was laughing and not crying.

From there, we went to the Fox and Hounds Pub where Bob Cowsill was performing. Now, you may know a bit about about Bob Cowsill. He is one of the singing Cowsills and he did write and perform our podcast theme song. He’s a good friend and a brilliant guy but… and there’s no polite way to say this… He adores Fox News. His brain is crammed with so much spoon-fed, right wing, party line propaganda, he actually thinks… and there’s no polite way to say this… that George W. Bush is smart.

So in one evening, as we traveled from Westwood to Studio City, Mari experienced the great Fox News-induced polarization of Los Angeles. But far more importantly, what she experienced is that rising above our inherent views, biases and philosophical leanings is our love for one another. If we open our ears, our eyes, our hearts, we become, at once, both stronger and more peaceful. So right now, I will turn to… Neil Cavuto… And I am…listening, and I am... OK, what an ass. Sorry… I’ll do better tomorrow.