Okay, so I’m back again. I had to write about the TV history being made today. Two big events are happening in television. The first one is the telethon George Clooney has put together to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti. This is going to be a massive telethon with over 140 entertainers coming just to answer the phones.
The following artists are going to be performing: Wyclef Jean, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting in New York City; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Emeline Michel and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; and Beyoncé, Coldplay, and a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in London.

The two hour telethon will air on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT. All proceeds will go to Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Nations World Food Programme, Yele Haiti Foundation, and the Clinton Bush Haiti Foundation.
So watch and enjoy the music, but please call in and donate what you can.



The second big event happens later tonight. We will watch The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brian for the last time. Yes, tonight will be his last show. I am firmly on Team Conan (I understand he hates the CoCo nickname). Conan labored away at Late Night with the hopes of one day taking the reins from Jay. Then he was offered a hosting job at ABC. Conan wanted The Tonight Show, but this was a great offer. So NBC instead of letting him go, worked out this deal. Leno would retire in five years and Conan would take over. Flash forward five years later to the present. When the time came, Leno didn’t want to go. NBC didn’t want to lose him either, so they put Jay on at 10. Conan takes over The Tonight Show and both shows don’t do what they were expected to numbers wise.

I have to admit, I wanted Leno’s new show to fail. Putting him in the 10:00 time slot meant killing Southland (a great show that thankfully got picked up by TNT). If it had done well, this could have started a trend of having cheap, unscripted TV at 10:00. So jay’s failure hopefully deters any other networks from killing of scripted shows to try saving money at that time slot.

Conan lost a lot of Jay’s viewers though, and that became a problem. What did NBC expect though? Jay’s audience is older. Conan’s humor was never going to go over well with many of them. Plus this is a group that doesn’t want change. They like their comfortable shows that they know every night what they are going to get. These are the same people who tune into Ghost Whisper every week. Leno was comfortable and familiar; they were not up for trying something new.

Leno didn’t help matters either. In an interview several months ago, he was asked if he would be willing to take the show back if the opportunity came up. He said if the network asked him to, of course. What a crap thing to say in an interview while Conan is just starting out. Leno has tried to play the blameless guy in this, but it is passive-aggressive things like that comment that make him just as guilty as Jeffery Zucker and the other suits.

I could go on and on about why I favor Conan over Leno and it would just be a recitation of what you’ve already heard from other commentators. Suffice to say, I think NBC backed the wrong horse. They should have cut Jay loose and given Conan time to build his audience. If Jeffery Zucker at NBC still has a job after the dust clears, I’ll be amazed. He is still in charge at the moment, and he has decided to pull the plug on Conan after tonight. So I encourage everyone to watch Conan tonight and then afterwards tune into anyone but Leno.



I promise to update this by Monday. Tomorrow I am going to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s match against Honduras at the Home Depot Center. I’m talking about soccer, just in case you were unsure. The crazy weather LA has been having is supposed to be cleared up after tonight, so the match should go just fine. I’ll post afterwards with pictures and thoughts about my first professional soccer match.

Crisis in Haiti

So, I had planned on writing about the late night TV wars. I'll save that for later tonight or tomorrow. That whole situation needs to take a backseat in the news to the one story that really matters right now. The situation in Haiti is unimaginable. The devastation goes beyond the number of lives lost. This is a country that had hardly any infrastructure before the earthquake. It now has practically none. Most of the country didn't have proper roads. This means even once supplies arrive, distributing them is going to be a whole other ordeal. If you want to help, and you should, there are several ways you can give. To help the people of Haiti you can go here for UNICEF http://bit.ly/6s4Pd4 and here for the Red Cross http://tinyurl.com/yj6j2f8

You can also make a $10 donation very easily by texting "HAITI" to 90999. It will be charged to your phone bill. Already over 3 million dollars have been raised by Americans texting a donation. It is simple, and has been verified by the State Dept. Your money will go where it is suppose to. So please, give as much as you can. Even if you can only spare $5, it will make a difference. This is a country whose people were suffering under the weight of poverty before the quake. Now they are overwhelmed by death and destruction. When human beings are suffering at the level these people now are, we have a responsibility to help them. So no matter how great or small, every contribution counts. Make yours right now.

Welcome to 2010

So here we are, 2010. Yes, I have ended up again not regularly writing in this. I think I’m just not going to try doing regular updates and maybe I’ll end up doing them. So, as one year ends and a new one begins, it got me thinking about 2009. It wasn’t a bad year for me. I feel I lost my way artistically a bit, but re-kindled my inspirations just as 09’ was coming to a close. So here is my recap of 2009.

I started the year off taking my first international trip. I was off to the land of Israel. It was a free ten day trip called Birthright Israel. It is for Jews 18-27 to go and explore Israel. The trip was amazing. Israel is a beautiful country and I could not have had a better experience. To be able to float in the Dead Sea, trek through the Carmel Mountains, hike to the top of Masada and watch the sunrise, and to walk the streets of Jerusalem. It was an incredible trip and my only disappointment was how fast the trip went. Ten days was just not enough.








Then I got tickets to the Grammys. That was an experience.



The next highlight was my birthday in February. It wasn’t a leap year so I celebrated on the 28th. Ra Ra Riot, a favorite band of mine, was playing that night at the El Rey. So we went to the show. A good friend from college was in town visiting, so it was nice to have a friend from back east out for my birthday as well. Plus she was a great photographer.



There were too many great shows to go through all of them. 2009 brought me Regina Spektor, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, A Fine Frenzy, Green Day (twice), and U2 at the Rose Bowl.


Green Day at the Henry Fonda Theatre.

It was a good sports year. My Yankees finally won the World Series!




Most importantly it was a year for me to get re-focused on my acting career. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy coming out here. Things are not going as fast as I’d like, but I do feel like I finally have a hold on the lay of the land here. 2010 is beginning with a very clear plan of action for getting things going this year. Plus we are finally back to a normal schedule for “pilot season”. Thank you writer’s strike for messing up last year’s season.
So as 2010 dawns, I have a few hopes for the New Year. This is the year I am finally going to seek representation. I also want to do some theatre. I miss it and it will be a great way to keep in shape acting-wise. I hope the year brings more good friends, good music, and be an all around great year for everyone.