A Piece of Idiot Cake

A Dunkin Donuts ad featuring Rachael Ray was pulled after conservative commentators argued the talk show host's scarf implied support of Muslim extremism.

The online ad was taken down this weekend because of "the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee," the company said in a statement.

Conservatives like Michelle Malkin contended Ray's black-and-white scarf looked like the traditional Arab headdress called a kaffiyeh. They said the scarf appeared to show support for terrorism.

Malkin wrote that the kaffiyeh "has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad."

The company responded: "Absolutely no symbolism was intended."

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This takes the cake in idiocy. Which other conservative commentators? I wonder which ones ... Rush, Sean, Bill ... fess up!

I'd drop the ad just because the scarf looks like she cut up Dylan McKay's old baja pullover and placed it around her neck, but to say it supports terrorism?!?! Makes me wonder what has become of this country sometimes, but I am usually too afraid to ask.

My Column Gets (Uncredited) Mention in OK! Magazine

Last night, I was perusing OK! Magazine online, because I wanted to read the recent interview with former heartthrob (and my former future husband) Kirk Cameron.

I noticed a link entitled: Melrose Place: Where Are They Now? You can bet that piqued my interest, so I clicky-clicked the link. It's a fun little article, fun to see what Michael Mancini and Jane Mancini and others have been up to, and what they look like. I was sad to see "Grizzly Man" Grant Show. Man, I hope that was for an acting role.

Anyhoo, imagine my surprise when I get to Laura Leighton's photo spread and see that they quoted from my Aug. 17, 2007, interview, but failed to credit me or Daytime Dial. Bastards!

http://www.okmagazine.com/pixandvids/gallery/5795/13

Melrose Place: Where Are They Now?

Then: Laura Leighton joined the show during its second season and played scheming Sydney Andrews, the younger sister of Jane Mancini. In a 2007 interview Laura reflected on her Melrose Place years. "Sydney was so much fun to play," she said. "I really dug the character; I could see there was so much potential there. It was definitely the right time for that character to come on to the show."

However, it is still pretty exciting. See, my column DOES matter!

Now, all of you peeps who have a blog, make a link in your blog mentioning this, so maybe somewhere in the blogosphere, I'll get due credit!

The Optimist

I never considered myself to be an optimist. However, I am not exactly a pessimist either -- I am somewhere in between. Lately, though, I have been excited about all the Old-Things-New-Again trend.


Yes, I am excited by the prospect of a 90210 spin-off. I am excited that Jennie Garth is returning as a guidance counselor at West Beverly High. I hope Ian Ziering gets a part on the show, so we aren't subject to anymore roles where he plays a Spanish explorer named "Cortes." Jason Priestley has a fairly new baby and a wife to support, and with the cancellation of his show, Side Order of Life, he could use the work. As I know from firsthand knowledge (name-dropper Cindy), he really enjoyed his experience on the show and most of the people involved, and I don't think he'd be adverse to a reunion.

I am sure Tori Spelling would do most anything to have her mug on TV again. And Luke Perry ... dreamy Luke Perry ... I just want to see him brood once more, this time, with feeling! And word has it that he has been approached by the show's producers, so, you never know!

I know, the "magic" of the old show can't ever be duplicated. I'm not sure what to make of Uncle Jesse's wife on the show -- and I really am confused by the great Jessica Walter being in the cast. Hopefully that says good things for the show in general.

Check back with me after the first show airs in the fall on the CW.

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Changing gears: I almost peed my pants when I saw the new trailer for X-Files 2: I Want to Believe. I want to believe it will be good, and I want to believe it will renew my love for David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. I have high hopes that it will come through for me. You know where I'll be July 25th.

Check it out for yourself and see:

The Creepiness of "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing"

OK, I know this is old news, but watching American Idol last night sparked my memory when David Cook sang Aerosmith's "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing."

How grody is it that the song was used in the movie Armageddon as the love song between Liv Tyler's character and Ben Affleck's character? I mean, do you really want your father (Steven Tyler) to be singing the song that is playing in the background while your character is making love to her boyfriend?!?

CREEPY!!!!

My Sentiments Exactly

This is a column written by Rheta Grimsley Johnson, an awesome lady and a wonderful writer. I might be a bit biased because I was her editor for quite a few years at King Features, but, no matter.

The following column describes exactly how I feel; it's almost as if she read my mind!

HAPPY NOT A MOTHER DAY!
BY RHETA GRIMSLEY JOHNSON

I am not a mother. They don’t make a card for that, or assign a special day for women who are not mothers.

Hallmark should reconsider. Not being a mother is an important designation, at least from the perspective of all the women who are themselves mothers.

It seems to bother mothers that some of us are not. They remind us a lot of what we’re not.

“Oh, but you are not a mother,” a mother will say when I voice support for public schools or against censorship of certain books. “You are not a mother, so you really don’t know what you’d do about school/dating/haircuts/going into debt for toys.”

Both my sisters, who are mothers, have gently reminded me on at least a hundred occasions. I am not a mother. So I can’t know real love. I can’t begin to understand pain. I can’t experience the deepest joy there is in this life.

Because I’m not a mother I always give inappropriate gifts to my nieces and nephews. Real shark jaws from Biloxi. Wool, hand-knit, dry-clean-only sweaters emblazoned with dinosaurs. Pocket knives. Puppies.

Dogs are an important part of my life, but only, I’ve been told more than once, because I am not a mother.

“You’re not a mother, and a dog, of course, is a child substitute.” (A darn good one, I might add.)

I’ve thought about marketing a line of cards for Not A Mother Day. There could be cute cartoon art, a woman who looks carefree and selfish and unconcerned about evil influences that abound in the world:

I don’t worry about global warming, or other things that might be harming
The world we’re leaving behind for John and Sue.
Not my problem, it’s up to you!
Happy Not a Mother Day!

Or maybe one with a sad-looking woman leading a small boy by the hand and the words: Dog Substitute.

My advanced age mercifully has stopped the rude question non-mothers hear a lot when they are young enough to be potential mothers. “Aren’t you ever planning on having children? Your biological clock is ticking.”

Mine never was wound.

A lot of women can’t conceive of not conceiving. Until the whole world convenes at a baby boutique, there can be no peace.

For years I tried to avoid discussions of what Margaret Mitchell once called “birthing babies.” The stories inevitably came up whenever two or more mothers gathered for a good time. The childbirth tales always involved repulsively graphic descriptions of torturous pain. They often came with photo illustrations.

I’ll admit to being squeamish. When the stories began, I’d flee, the only natural response. One of the mothers would smile a pitying smile and explain to the others, “She’s not a mother.”

The lot of Not Mothers improves with age. We become less suspicious. We seem less reckless and hedonistic. For a few years, given our seniority, we may even voice a few timid opinions.

Then, one day, when we least expect it -- there is not much frame of reference when you’re not a mother -- a new status is bestowed. Friends meet for lunch and someone brings out a pastel photo album.

“You’ll just have to indulge me,” she says in a patronizing tone. “You’re not a grandmother."

BTW, buy Rheta's new book, Poor Man's Provence here.

PUPPIES!

I am going to open this blog with a puppy post, naturally. The following was made by John Enos III (Melrose Place, The Young and the Restless). I interviewed him for my Daytime Dial column and he told me about these cute mini-movies that he makes and posts on YouTube. Many star his Chihuahua, Duke. Check it out: