OK, well first I forgot these stories from Letterman last night.

1. Tell you this one later but it's about Mel's (Mel Gibson the other
star in Signs) breakfast shake. But he told most of it on Live with
Regis and Kelly so I will tell you then, OK?

2. Joaq was telling Dave about Mel Gibson, real pro and all that and
how great the kids in the production were too. And about all the
eating he told Dave, "Well I eat vegan, but well I mean, I think,
like Mel must have eaten a whole cow every day"! Hahahahahaha!
evrybody laughed. So guess Med Gibson is a big eater and don't like
his veggies.

Good Morning America

To get into the spirit of this show you gotta know that of the
morning talk shows, this one on ABC is sort of the smart persons one.
They do some good reporting in it. And you gotta know that of all
the National News Anchors and TV Journalism Correspondents, Diane
Sawyer has all that. Sort of like KATS (our listowner here in Across
The Way). Like the consumated professional, recognized by everyone,
beautiful (like older mom beautiful - warm, gracious, very classy -
but probably like well preserved 30ish, ok?), so just you know, all
that and everything. OK, ready?

The Joaq walks in in the same dark suit looking a little rumpled like
from shaking a million hands and all and getting his picture took
with all the girls in line outside the studio and probably getting
kissed and everything too (*sigh, the life of a star is tough*). So
in he comes and they are showing a tape of him at the premiere
walking up to the crowd and he's holding hands with (what's that
color hair called on girls where it's like brown with sort of reddish
hightliters?). Well we can only see the girl from the back (which is
pretty good view anyways!), well he's in a suit and she's in a black
dress (my sister said it was a "modest" style). Hair just down like
1/2 way on her neck, not all fluffed out or curly, but more a
professional type cut, very classy chick. Ok well she drops Joaqs
hand and he has to move ahead to shake hands and the cameras flash
and she moves shyly backwards a step and CUT back to the studio! We
never get to find out who the Joaq is holding hands with!

Ok, so comes in a little tired and a little rumpled. Sits in a
special studio they got set up with a dark blue curtin in back and
tow chairs facing each other but turned a little towards us. The Joaq
flicks his hair to the side like the Riv, and brushes it into place
with a quick move of his hand like the Riv.

So this is more of a professional type interview than like Dave.
He's introduced as a major talent of his generation, oscar nominated
for Gladiator, *cut to the academy award clip they showed of
Gladiator* - think they did that so they could give Joaq a glass of
water while we weren't looking. So anyways, big star intro. and no
mention of River. Joaq is really his own person now, very big, you
can just see it. The Riv is just with him, you can tell that too, but
Joaq is his own man, clearly his own talent, like River said to about
him... oh, ok back to the show.

So they talk about where Joaq has come from and show a clip from
Parenthood...(the one where see his parents are getting divorced and
they are living apart and their father isn't coming to see them and
it's hurting Gary (Joaq at age 13 I think). And he wants to go and
live with his father (who's living with a new girlfriend now). Well
this is the really hard scene where his mother encourages Gary to
call his dad and tell him he wants to come live with him. Well you
see Gary just basically get his heart broken on the phone when He's
telling his father he needs a place to live, and for awhile and we
don't hear what the father says, but the tears in Joaq's eyes tell us
all we need to know) - that scene.

But they don't go too much into depth on any topic. It's not really a
causual type interview. They talk a little about Signs and the host
directs the conversation to discuss Joaq's role as the brother to Mel
Gibson's character. And the host talks about how the "chemistry"
between Joaq and Gibson really make those roles work. And show a cool
clip (this is the only funny part I remember), where the boy (one of
the Caukin brothers) is in the back of the car and in the front
drivers side is Gibson and Joaq is in the passenger seat. Well the
boy has the baby monitor (like a walkie talkie you put one by the
baby so you can hear them and take the other with you so you can
listen for when they wake up). So there is a really weird sound on
the baby monitor - definitely no normal baby sound! So the kid goes
that's probably from the aliens that made the crop circles, like they
are hearing cross talk from the space ship or something. So Graham
(Gibson) and Merril (The Joaq) look at each other like totally what
the kid (Morgan) said is like so crazy off, like little kids can say
sometimes, that it's not even funny and so they have to like tell him
the whole heads up. So Graham tells him that's crazy. But Merril
goes into this great line about how that's what nerds, a bunch of 30
year old boys who never had a girlfriend been making up stories like
that about crop circles for like 30 years! And now a whole new
generation of these boys who never even had a girlfriend have
inherited this nerd thing and are making up sounds and stuff. So
good scene!

They talk more about the chemistry of Joaq and Gibson for the plot
and how good it works. Then the interviewer talks about an interview
Joaq did with Diane Sawyer (remember the real classy News Anchor
lady? - her) several years ago and there is a clip. And in it Joaq is
still in his Cali boy huggy touchy feely mode (that only happens here
in certain parts of Cali, boys do not hug, specially other boys here,
only under very special circumstances. But like River, Joaq is still
sort of huggie). So they show Joaq hugging Ms. Sawyer at the end of
their interview. And Joaq is totally in the dark about what they are
leading up to! We are too sorta but we are catching on, but Joaq
isn't and he jumps up in his chair and gets all excited and goes
like " Oh yeah, I had a big crush on her for a long time!" And so
now the host points behind him and there she is walking on the set!
Well like Joaq jumps up and almost runs off the edge of the set to
meet her and gives her biggest hug ever. OK, so he's standing and
all and being like a real gentleman like offering her his chair and
all, and you can really see in his eyes like when you get a crush on
your teacher and all the sudden she comes like Ms. Sawyer does and
pays some attention on you! I mean he is like sort of awed a
little. Well she says real graciously, oh, no, no , please sit down,
sit down, it's fine, I'm only here for a minute. So finally, I mean
what can he do? She's the one telling him to sit and so finally he
sits back in his chair.

And just as the host starts to pick back up and Joaq is telling him
about his crush on Ms. Sawyer, BLAM > could never happen! But it
does! Ms. Sawyer is in Joaq's lap! Haaahahhahahahhhahah! So you see
a cool smile flash across his face, a real friendly one, not the kind
my brother would do if she jumped in his lap (he would have a sort of
learing one). Well Joaq is also showing like shock, embarrasement
and trying to hide all that, trying to like adjust her right on his
lap cause (well I won't go into that) and trying to be cool and all.
So yep, we really get the Joaq has had like one of those school-boy
crushes on Diane for a long time, and it's pretty clear: the queen of
US Anchorwoman has had her heart very warmly touched by a very
special Phoenix.

Ok, so that's it, and they cut to commercial and now the gotta get
The Joaq over to the other studio up a bunch of floors, fix up his
suit and hair and dry him out and all that too, cause Live with Regis
and Kelly is already counting down.

Live With Regis & kelly

Live with Regis and Kelly, warms up and does their openers and joking
and all. Now this is a set with like a real homey bright kitchen
coffee clutch kind of feel. And Regis (real old guy) and Kelly
(hot!) sit on these stools with like low backs. Kelley is dressed in
a very like good fitting black real pretty dress, low-cut but not too
much, and with like these boy handle openings where her pretty skin
is flashing from each side at her waist where the top tucks in I
guess. And she's dressed in this classy hot chic way cause The Joaq
is gonna be on.

Now would be good if you could get Mel or some of the girls who
watched this one to tell you how Joaq looked and all cause for
American boys there is a very major sort of distraction going on here
on this show.

I only remember seeing him when he came on and when he left. He
looked great, all fresh and refreshed in his dark suit, white shirt
and tie. Another big into for Joaq (again, Joaq is never in River's
shadow anymore, He's his own Pheonix and come through clearly). OK,
so they talk much more about the kids and neither host remembers
their names! but Joaq is right there with the names to so the kids
get perfect credit! And Joaq tells how natural, quick and incredible
the kids were remembering a scene with Bo (Abigail Breslin - like
only about 6 year old little girl) coming on to do a scene with a lot
of emotion and stuff and how she does it perfect in like two takes.

So they discuss about how Joaq was a child star and all and how did
he do scenes like that, but the Joaq guides the talk right back to
how great these kids are by comparison to him. And you can tell Joaq
really means it, it's not theat false hollywood modesty thing going
down. He really likes those kids and really enjoyed them and it
comes through in the way he talks about it.

But it's also clear Regis and Kelly have done their homework on Joaq
and are really very respectful towards him. Joaq is his self-
effacing self. Oh and there is no talk of hippie parents or
wandering missionaries in their childhood or any of that bs. Joaq
has graduated to a new level of respect from the America Media. So
there is an "equalness" among the 3 professionals, a very easy sort
of openess and mutual respect going on here. And Joaq is guiding this
interview just as much as Regis and Kelly!

Well they give a lot of attention to the roles of Merril (Joaq) and
Graham (Gibson) in the Signs plot. Joaq now gets very serious in
telling us what it was like to work with Mel Gibson. Sorry I didn't
get much besides Joaq was a little in awe of Mel, really respects
him, really feels blessed to get to work with him, and a little
shocked at not only how down to earth Mel is but how much of a funny
trickster the guy is! Hahhahahhahahahahah! But IO was sort of in
some fantasy world on another part of the set.

Ok, then I tune in again when they show the same clip about the nerds
with no girlfriends making the crop circles and all, that they showed
on Good Morning America. Joaq also talks about how the movie is not
just scarey and serious, but there are funny parts to it. He really
respects the director M. Night Shyamalan. (BTW he's a neighbor of my
cousins here and they got a big pool, think that was the one we
sneaked over to and swam in one night we were camping in my cousins
backyard. And see they made Signs on the other side of Philadelphia,
out in Bucks County - pretty there and if you see Sixth Sense, he put
a lot of where I live in there).

So Regis and Kelly want to know how they kept up that level of energy
and everything in the cast and all to do all this. So Joaq talks
about how great the cast all was and how Mel is like a real practical
joker on and off camera IN REAL too! So he starts telling all the
stories. And they are joking about the stories going around hollywood
about Mel Gibson and Joaq goes like yeah he's like a real rare
combination of amazing talented actor and like and he hesitates a
couple times... like, like, and he bursts out laughing and
says, "well, a criminal" ! hahhahahahahahahahaha! So Joaq has to
tell his Mel stories. Well he would do stuff like put vaseline on
the doornob of the trailer and Joaq would go in the trailer and like
close the door and then Mel would like make some incredible awful
dying sound outside and Joaq would run to the door to open it and go
find out what happened but he couldn't turn the doorknob cause of the
vaseline on it! hahhhaha! Ok, but then Joaq is sort of getting used
to Mel being a practical joker now. So one day for this scene Joaq is
downstairs and in a closet and talking to himself and the Mel is
supposed to come down the steps and open the door and say a line for
that scene. Well Joaq goes in and closes the door. So the next thing
you know, the whole set goes dark (not in the script either) and he
can hear Mel walking down the steps and all outside the door. But Mel
never opens it! So Joaq says his lines and Mel never opens the door!
So Joaq decides to be cool and NOT open the door either! So well
there is like this stand off for like, he said he waited in that
friggin closet on this dark set for like 35 minutes before he opened
the door and Mel is like just sitting there waiting for him!
Hahhahahahhahhhah! Poor Joaq! But he had fun.

So talking about how intense it is living with each other and working
with each other for 3 solid months Joaq is telling how you get to
know other cast members in different ways. Well Mel had his own
special breakfast cocktail. Now this is where you can still see
Joaquin's shyness and politeness and all. So he pours Joaq some of
it (all natural vegan stuff in it). So Joaq is trying to be nice and
polite and like drink this stuff which is a color somewhere between
snot and green fuzzy mold, so it's green with chunks of something in
it that is like vomited up stew! Now last night when he told this
story he said he wasn't sure of the exact ingredients, but thought
hubcaps were in there too. So it's not easy, but Joaq does get some
of it down. So Mel wants to know how he liked it. So Joaq is nice
and says, yeah, well ahhh, it's fine, I mean great! So Mel says , oh
great, well I make one for ya every morning then if you want! Well I
wish I could have seen Joaq's face at that moment cause his face
telling the story went almost a lite greenish pale white!
hahhaahahahahahaha!

Well then Regis challenged Kelly to a thumb war. (with your friend
you bend your four fingers of your right hands into like a claw and
lock them together, so the only thing that can move is your and their
thumbs on top. Then you each count up to three while you square off
your thumbs, first you each place your thumb to the right of theirs,
and count one and then to the left, two... like that to three and
that means GO!, which is when you fight just with your thumbs to try
to get your thumb on top of the other guys and hold his thumb down
and then you win. So Kelly (she cheats :-) beat Regis really bad. So
they are having fun and she moves over to the seat next to Joaq and
tells him in fun "Phoenix you are goin down!". And they are all
laughing. But Kelly is up and changing chairs and she is really
looking mighty fit and fine! So I probably would not have been able
to watch the thumb war with Joaq and her except the camera went right
in on their hands and you couldn't see the rest of her. But I was
really shocked! I knew Joaq would let her win because he's a
gentleman. But I mean she cheated in like such a sexy way! She
clamped his thumb between her fingers (illegal but very fresh! :-),
and like just held it there!

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