Fancy Pants' Blog

I've been watching the FOX 7 Football Field Trips this week. We've already been to Liberty Hills, Dripping Springs and Hutto. Still to come are LBJ, Hays, Westlake, Plugerville, Lake Travis and Stony Point. Click HERE for the official schedule.

I am relatively new to the Austin area and know NOTHING about the high schools around here. So, I checked out the ranking of the area schools on the FOX 7 SPORTS site, but I want to know what you guys think about the high schools in our area. Who is your favorite team? Who has the best band and cheerleaders?

Let me know so I can come out and shoot some special promos with YOUR team!

Austin Idol auditions were held last night. The first 50 people who signed up at myFOXaustin.com got to sing in front of four local judges - FOX 7's Keri Bellacosa, 96.7 KISS FM's Tony Cortez, Austin Chronicle's Margaret Moser and singer/songwriter(and daughter of Willie!) Paula Nelson. The winner, announced today on GOOD DAY AUSTIN, gets a guaranteed audition in front of an American Idol rep in Kansas City. See the winner announcement right HERE!

Unfortunately, there are no Texas audition cities this year so that's the closest audition city. If you are hoping to wow Paula, Simon and Randy, the Kansas City auditions are THIS Friday. Get complete audition details at http://www.americanidol.com/.

The judges.

The crowd.

Contestant # 1.

Keri Bellacosa's comment cracks everyone up - even herself!

Me and Paula Nelson!

See coverage of the event on last night's FOX 7 News Edge at 9 right HERE!

I hit the Austin Monthly 2008 Bachelors party at the Gibson Guitar Showroom last night.

Saw Coverboy(is that the opposite of Covergirl?) Brad Womack there but did not get a pic. However, he was on GOOD DAY AUSTIN last week. Click HERE to see the interview.

I did snap some pictures of a few of the bachelors - and some other hot shots as well. Check 'em out:

Me and GOOD DAY AUSTIN Guest Booker Regina Gilbert

The scene at the Gibson Guitar Showroom.

96.7 KISS FM's Bobby Bones

The Sno Cone Stand Man Travis Knapp and associate - The Sno Cone Stand Inc. premieres in September. Click HERE to see the FOX 7 feature on the film.  

The Black and White Years play on.

More snapshots of the scene.

Jill McGuckin of McGuckin Entertainment PR, Bachelor Paul Kaderli and GOOD DAY AUSTIN's Regina Gilbert.

Bachelors Felipe Correa and David Tripoli

The cover of Austin Monthly.

Check out my pics from Billy Bob and the Boxmasters rocking out at Stubbs on Saturday. And spot the other celeb superstar mingling with the crowd! Tea Leoni and Billy Bob just wrapped a movie together(though not shot in TX).

I haven't picked one of these up yet...but you know I will.


Austin Star Map offers complete detailed walking and driving directions for celebrity homes, filming locations, favorite restaurants and hangouts.

The first time I visited Austin, I demanded my friend take me to the Tarrytown house where MM was busted with bongos. I can't for the life of me locate it now. Luckily, it's on the map!

So are other homes of almost every celeb who has ever lived in Austin as well as filming locations for Dazed and Confused, Office Space, Varsity Blues, Miss Congeniatlity and more.

HERE's a link to the site where you can find out more about the map.

And HERE's a link to the page where they list local celeb sightings.

Maybe I can be a contributor!

Following appearances on Conan and the Today Show, Alejandro Escovedo swings by the GOOD DAY AUSTIN studios this Thursday. Check him out between 8-9am on FOX 7.

His new album "Real Animal” drops tomorrow(Tuesday) and he'll play Thursday and Friday at the Continental Club.

You can also catch him at the Keep Austin Weird Fest at Auditorium Shores on Saturday. Wristbands are ten bucks. Also performing are What Made Milwaukee Famous, Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears, Feeding 5000(who will perform Friday morning on GOOD DAY AUSTIN) and more.

I am a big advocate of avoiding drinking and driving. I will admit that I was stupid enough to do it in my youth. Thank God, I never hurt myself or anyone else.

Now, I am lucky enough to be able to take the bus out downtown and then grab a cab home when I am boozed up. But before I lived on a bus route, I would drive out, leave my car and cab it home.

BTW - if you have never looked into the Cap Metro bus prices, it is $10 for a monthy pass. $10! That is insane. I almost want to write the city a letter. I almost want to tell them they are probably losing money with the current gas prices what they are. I almost want to tell them it's OK to charge more.

Almost.

Back to the d&d thing...Everytime I hear someone talk about how they are or were OK to drive, I think about how they're only thinking of themselves. Noone ever seems to consider that while you may FEEL fine, do you know how your body - and more inportantly - your mind would react if a small child jumped in front of your car?

I produced this PSA once that I really felt good about. It had heavy sound effects of partying, street sounds, crashing and then a sigh of relief as it said, "You drink. You drive. You crash. You live."

Next, I showed a picture of a super sweet looking small child as it said, "She doesn't."

Not that the child needed to be super sweet looking, but you get the point.

Do you get the point?

Who knows if anyone ever got the point.

The point is this: You may think you are okay to drive. But that doesn't mean you are. And even after just a few drinks, your defenses are most definitely down. So stop thinking about yourself and think about how you would feel if you killed someone.

OK, enough deepness for the day.

This was all a lead in for my actual Austin related entry.

When you are too drunk to get yourself home and aren't willing to leave your car parked around town, there's an Austin company you can call to come to your rescue.

Zingo pops a portable scooter into your trunk, drives you home and then zips on out.

All you have to do is schedule a pick up and hand over your keys and address. I'm guesing it's best to schedule a pickup if you're panning on downing a few drinks. Ever tried grabbing a cab at 2am? It's B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

The price is a bit steep but much less than a DUI/DWI - whichever the heck it is - and definitely better than the alternative(re-read rant posted above).

Check out their site for more details or see the story that ran on FOX 7 this morning right HERE.

First off, Dennis Quaid is moving to Austin. Quaid told Extra at a film festival in Hawaii that he and his Austin-native realtor wife are packing up the twins and heading to town. They will build on a plot of land he bought on Lake Austin. Makes sense to me. I would hate to raise kids in LA. And, actually, when moving this last time, I took kids and education into consideration(shocking, I know, right?) and also thought Austin would be a decent place to raise a family.

On a completely unrelated note, while on the website of Extra(“extra!”), I saw the following headline:

New Dude Tickles Fickle Pickler's Fancy?

I know I can get a bit punny, but I’m not even THAT queer.

Lance Armstrong is on Letterman tonight – no word on whether he’ll mention Kate…or if she has Lance in her pants. Ewwwww. Did that Lance commercial run here or was it just an East Coast thing? Either way it was a down right creepy campaign. Apparently, they are holding a commercial contest for that campaign. You can check out the viewer videos HERE and perhaps even submit your own. You know you wanna!

TMZ reports that Paula Deen might want to cut down on the butter. A small fire -- caused by a bunch of greasy rags -- broke out Sunday night at her restaurant in Savannah. Deen's son Jamie told a local paper "I think if we get one round of fried chicken goin' in here you won't smell the smoke at all."

Do you think Jamie actually said that or is that a TMZ as lib? Either way, it's pretty funny. As is the way TMZ ended the entry...

When she heard the news, Paula rushed to the scene in her bathrobe and slippers.

I shouldn't make fun. Paula Deen really is one of the sweetest women I have ever met.

Anyone see the cover of this week’s US WEEKLY? Andrew Firestone is on it. ANDREW FIRESTONE! Who gives a BLEEP about Andrew Firestone? No offense to Andrew. I mean, if I could get cash for a cover, I would too. But why would US Weekly pay for that story? And why would people pay money for that issue?

Thankfully, my subscription has run out and, after five plus years of service, I am cutting that BS out of my budget. I realize that celebrity news and gossip is not earth shattering stuff, but I really do enjoy it. I do not, however, enjoy reading about Speidi, Bromance, Bachelors and their babes, Audrina’s fake Hills, Kim Kardashian's killer whale of a behind, etc. etc. etc.

I’m done with it.

Done with the tabs…

Done with the TV shows…

Even done with(GASP) Fafarazzi.com.

It’s late night shows, The Soup, Best Week Ever and a few select websites from here on out.

Maybe a People Magazine from time to time.

Who knew all it took to force me into maturity were a few faux reality stars and some horrible headlines?

Yahoo recently posted the TV shows they think everyone should add to their summer iewing list.

Here they are:

Freaks and Geeks

The Wire

The Office (BBC)

Mad Men

Arrested Development

Damages

Weeds

Friday Night Lights

Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

Rome

Sports Night

Lost

I only watched two of these series' so I'm not sure I agree...and I'm sure there are many, many more that should be added to the list(HELLO, 24!)

What do you think should be added to the summer rental queue?

I just read this article about how Coca Cola is using some hybrid vehicles for distribution purposes. Four hybrid-electric trucks to be exact. The trucks cost the company $48,000 more than the other $70,000 nonhybrid vehicles of the same size.

I commend Coca Cola for investing that extra money to help cut back on gas use and pollution emission. Though it is a very small amount of their large fleet, just think of the positive effects we would see if every company did the same. I hope other companies will follow this lead.

On another note, I read another recent article on Coca Cola's slogan for their Olympic advertising. "LIVE OLYMPICS." The article discussed how there is a feeling of pride, peace and teamwork surrounding the Olympic games and that we should keep that Olympic feeling with us.

I'm not sure Coca Cola gives me that Olympic feeling, but I think it's a pretty decent tag.

What do you think?

I've decided that making the same big, bold promos that look like every other TV station may not be making viewers sit up and take notice.

So, I took a creative leap and went another way with our new SUMMER on FOX promo.

You may think it's bananas, but I think it's pretty funny.

Please post a note and give me your thoughts.

Anybody know how the term Hotlanta actually originated? I googled it and could not find a clear answer - which was quite annoying b/c I thought you could find the answer to anything on the internet.

The Devil Wears Prada author Lauren Weisberger was at Book People last night introducing her new novel Chasing Harry Winston. FOX 7 Reporter Keri Bellacosa joined me on this outing.

Lauren read two passages from the book and, I will admit, they did not get me psyched to read this story. But, when Lauren finished reading she said something to the effect of, "If you liked these passages, please buy the book. And if not, I'm sure there are other passages you will like so please buy the book too!"

She is probably right. I did enjoy her second book Everyone Worth Knowing - despite disappointing critic reviews.

Following the read, she opened it up for questions from the audience. Here is what I learned:

1 - She is in discussions with Hollywood brass about doing something with this current novel.

2 - She enjoyed the movie version of The Devil Wears Prada - which she stated is an unheard of author reaction. I do believe, though, that it is possible to like both the book and the movie if you try desperately not to compare the two(ie. Gone With the Wind).

3 - While working for a travel magazine, she honed her fiction writing skills in a writing class that Joy Behar also attended.

4 - Yes, she did work for Anna Wintour and yes, Devil was based on some of her personal experiences. Duh. I can't believe someone actually asked her that.

5 - She planned to have a post appearance dinner at Hula Hut. When I mentioned that Lance and Kate had dined there recently, she informed me that she doesn't buy the Kate/Lance pairing.

After snapping a pic with her, I told her how Devil got me through a difficult time and helped me find humor in my own misery. She told me that she understood what it's like to go home crying every day, calling your dad and begging him to help you. When I said my dad had actually even offered to pay for me to come home she told me her father told her to "suck it up!" Her father, standing nearby, then said, "I told her to write a book about it."

Dang. Why didn't my dad do that?

That headline could SO be taken the wrong way.

Blue Bell came by the station today. Hip hip hooray!

I sampled the fare then went back to do some research for this blog. Someone compared me to Tatum O'Neal researching crack. That's actually not far off. I am a bit addicted to ice cream. "They're making blizzards!" That dang DQ commercial gets me every time.

Here are the details on today's tastes:

Chocolate Extreme - which I did not try b/c I do not dig chocolate.

Chocolate ice cream with chocolate fudge swirl, chocolate peanut butter cups, roasted pecans, almonds and walnuts.

Key Lime Pie - which was introduced when Blue Bell ventures in the sunny state of Florida. I give it a cones up.

Creamy key lime with chunks of graham cracker crust and whipped topping swirled in.

Southern Hospitality - which makes me wonder when Northern Rudeness will be introduced. This one garners a two cones up from me.

Homemade vanilla with chunks of pineapple, pecans and strawberry swirl.

I heart ice cream. Now go get you some!

He took home the title on American Idol and now he's also taken home Season 2's Kimberly Caldwell who co-hosts TV Guide's Idol Tonight. See the video confirmation HERE. 

Apparently, when the show started he was dating an MBA bound co-ed at the University of Tulsa. And then there was that pesky rumor about Lacey Schwimmer - season 3 finalist on So You Think You Can Dance.

I guess that David really COOKS!

I am such a punny dork.