Randi's RedAlert Blog

Lent is a few weeks away and we're bringing back "Fish Fry Friday's" to FOX-2 News in the Morning.  Want your favorite fish fry place featured on the air?  Here's what you do:

-respond in this blog..let me know:

location, unusual menu items, prices most importantly...

what are some neat tidbits about your church, VFW hall or eatery?  Is there someone wonderful and unusual working in the kitchen?  how long have they been there helping with the fish fry.  Is there something great about the school or the sports teams there?

is there a great story behind your fish fry place...fire, adversity, etc???

The best, most unusual and fun items get on the air...Thanks.

Randi

(PICES..sign of the fish, ironically)

 

We're talking this morning about SAD.."Seasonal Affective Disorder".  The Winter Blues..dio you get this??  If so, who do you combat it?  What do you do to get yourself out of the funk???

It must be a St. Louis thing...telling jokes for candy on Halloween...OK, we're going to have a segment on Thursday morning about some of the best jokes you heard from Trick or Treaters.  The good ones get on TV...keep it cleen peeps!

Love,

Randi

I just found this item about the biggest Pet Peeves at work.

What DON'T you like about your workplace? People in it? Policies?? Let's dish!

 

Work colleagues who spend their day gossiping, organizing their home lives, or who press "reply all" on e-mails are among the biggest nuisances in the office, according to a survey released on Monday.

A poll on the biggest pet peeves in the workplace by market researcher Harris Interactive found 60 percent of 2,429 U.S. respondents listed gossip as the biggest annoyance.

The online survey, conducted for staffing firm Randstad USA, found the second biggest peeve at 54 percent was poor time management which included people making personal phones calls at work or surfing the Internet during work time.

Messiness in communal spaces, such as unwashed dishes in the kitchen sinks, irked 45 percent of respondent while potent smells like perfume, food, or smoke, came in fourth in the list with 42 percent.

Rounding out the list of seven office peeves came loud noises such as speaker phones, loud talking and loud phone ring tones at 41 percent, overuse of electronic personal communications devices in meetings at 28 percent and misuse of e-mail at 22 percent.

Eric Buntin, managing director of marketing and operations for Randstad, said the survey indicated people had not changed their behavior as office layouts changed, becoming more open, so people heard colleagues talking and knew more about their home lives.

"If you were sitting in your office with the door closed no one would be able to hear you unless you were very loud but if you open the door then people hear everything, blurring the lines between personal and work lives," Buntin told Reuters.

"People are not taking into account that the workplace is very open now and they need to think about that interaction with their colleagues."

He said the misuse of e-mail was among the top peeves, with people particularly irritated when people e-mailed to "reply all" on an e-mail unnecessarily, or used blind carbon copying (bcc).

"And people who think e-mail is private? No e-mail is private. Everyone knows if they are bcc-ing an e-mail it is like standing up and shouting fire in the middle of a building," he said.

But when it came to taking action against the offending colleagues, people were not so willing to act.

About 42 percent said they would say something directly to a person being too loud but only 34 percent would raise their concerns about gossiping and only 25 percent address a person directly about misuse of e-mail.

Does anyone know of any great day trips, festivals or events for the weekend of Sept 29th?  I'm looking for something to do for my 19th anniversary which is October 1st.  I'll be on vacation that week, but I'm staying in town...got any suggestions???  Thanks.

Day 1 in Hollywood! Got here late and we were crunching to get to the venue this afternoon..LA traffic is everyting they say it is...awful...anyhoo, we made it OK and made it on the air...

Here is a list of folks I got to speak with:

Peter Noone
Constantine Maroulis
Ace Young..he gave me a shoulder rub....niiice!
Paula Abdul (she was QUITE loopy))
Taylor Hicks...was very happy
Chris Richardson...Sooo cute in person
Melinda Doolittle...sweet, sweet, sweet

Phil Stacey (The bluest eyes EVER!) and all the other top 12, EXCEPT for Sanjaya....where was Sanjaya? No explanation given, from what they told us, he will be on the Finale.

Speaking of the Finale, they can't tell us but some of the contestants hinted that LEDGENDS will be joining them on stage for the big finale. Wondering how they can top last year with Prince. They did tell me that former Idol winners will be ther..hmm, Carrie? Kelly? dunno, dying to find out. There was a silly rumor going around that Britney would show up and sing, this family show wouldn't do that, would they? I wouldn't bet on it. I sure hope not.

Tomorrow I get to go inside the Kodak Theatre and see where the Big Shoe is going to happen. I got ALOT of great photos so far, many of which will be uploaded very soon. I'm going on 17 hours working..I'm tired, time to get a few hrs. of sleep and be back on the AM show. What will tomorrow hold?? Tune in to find out, Reporting from HOLLYWOOD, Randi Naughton FOX-2 News.

OK,  we want to know, Where's the best fish fry?  Any special or unusual menu items??  Anybody been there for years and years??  Does your organization do anything special with the $$ raised???  The more creative, unusual or interesting gets you mentioned on FOX-2 News in the Morning.  We'll be featuring  Fish Fry's every Friday until Easter.   We needs locatiion,s phone numbers, prices, etc.... So swim on over and let us know why we need to mention YOUR Fish Fry next Friday!

Randi here...if you saw Idol last night, you now know that the top 24 have been chosen.  Among them, Melinda Doolittle...born in St. Joseph, Mo, lived in StL area as a child and still has a close friend here....Alot of great talent!

What do you think??  Who do you like?  Who's gonna win, based on what ypou've seen of them so far?    Want to know how my interviews with them went??  Would you like to know what they're like??  Talk to me!

Randi here...I love magazines...ask my husband who complains about them being all over the house,  I recently discovered one called, "Mental Floss":  Where knowledge junkies get their fix.  It's filled with all kinds of great articles, photos and tidbit about everything.  For instance, this issue had 13 photographs that changed the world, the evolution of executions...ewww, "Where are they now??:  Manual Noriega, Hanging Chads, Leaded Gasoline."  It's fun,  quirky, and informative...give it a look.  And yes, dear Hubby, I AM subscribing to yet another mag! 

Randi here...I recently spent a few days in Hollywood with the American Idol Folks.  The top 24 to be exact.  Now, don't ask me anything about it, because I've signed my name in blood and I'm sworn to secrecy as to what I know.  You'll know soon enough!  But I can tell you this...you will NOT be disappointed in this year's choices...especially folks in the Bi-state area...nudge, nudge, wink, wink!!  Be sure to keep it on FOX-2 for ALL of your Idol updates.  I got a chance to talk with all 24 of them and you'd be surprised at some of their thoughts, ideas and connections of STL.  I also interviewed Taylor Hicks on Wednesday night.  He looks great..dropped about 15 pounds.  He says he mainly did it running..it paid off.  He was gracious to sign a few items for me, which I'll be turning over to charities to hopefully make money for them.  He was very personable and after almost a year of "Idoldom", it doesn't seem that any of this stardom has gone to his head or made him a diva...that was nice to see.  Taylor is kicking off his nationwide tour this month and YES, he WILL be in the St. Louis area...March 21st and 22nd at the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles.  We'll be keeping you posted on anything and everything Idol on FOX-2 and you'll be seeing those interviews in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, have a great weekend and I'll see you back on the air Monday morning.  Randi

OK, American Idol, season 6 is here!!! We've seen enough of these shows to know what the judges are looking for, who performs well under pressure, in front of a live audience and ultimately, who will sell music. Your assignment: Pick the winner! When Carrie Underwood auditioned in season 4, I wrote her name down and said, she could be it. I want you to do the same with this season's auditions. I know we have a number of shows with auditions..but watch carefully and post to this blog and let me know your predictions. Who is the winner??? Who knows, there might be a little somethin-somethin in it for you when the winner is announced...IF you're right! So predict away...who will be the next American Idol??