Archive for the ‘Cooks Questions’ Category
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
TV and radio talk about snow days like they are a disease. The “talk” makes it easy to join in. But, just thinking about the white stuff makes me happy because of my daughters. Last snow, seven year old Quinn decided to build a “snow fort”. In between shovel scrapes, I heard her singing to her self. The level of joy a sound like that adds to the world can’t be measured. It can’t be measured, but it can certainly be forgotten or overlooked.
A few days ago, my four year old daughter Ryan won a great prize. She was given the honor of shampooing Quinn’s hair when they took their bath. While she worked, Ryan also hummed a song to herself. I almost missed it. I barked on and on talking about work, trying to make a point about something that doesn’t matter. The shampoo job was nearly finished, soon it would end along with the beautiful song. By the way, I wish I could say that any situation that brings all four of us into our tiny canary colored bathroom is odd and infrequent, but it happens all the time. Quinn’s lathered head was so big that her head looked like Leslie Nielsen had grown his hair to Richard Simmons length. A sloppy rinsing was next. Somehow, I stopped my gossip.
“Ya know, she has been singing this whole time.”
My wife squinted back at me. Then she said, “I know, it is too beautiful.”
She kind of threw it away as if fully considering this magnificence might cause her to tumble to the floor in heartfelt tears. She does that a lot. Sometimes, I guess our hearts are a handicap that way.
 Quinn, Ryan and Jack Cook That’s when I realized that the melodies our children sing are heaven’s angels trying to make their way into our cluttered lives. Hearing these beautiful tones gives us just enough healthy space between the silliness. Real life worries and headaches decorate everyone’s life these days. In the bustle, we may believe that it’s not absolutely dire to be present with the kids in every moment. But Quinn and Ryan have shown me that this is not an either/or. One makes the other better. I know that your next 24 hours will be blessed if you take a moment to listen for the child melody that may be drifting through your home.
Thanks for reading and listening,
Paul Cook
Tags: Paul Cook, snow days, st. louis, y98
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
David is blessed to have fans like you. I have been overwhelmed by the response to my David Cook post. In tough times, putting your faith in a guy like David is so important. I respect your choice.
On Tuesday, David Cook and I were talking baseball and he said that he couldn’t pitch lately because he didn’t want to tear his new tattoo. The tat is simply a #14. Obviously, every curious cell in my body wanted to know what it means. So we asked him. He said there is a ton of speculation about it’s meaning, but it’s something close to him and he’s not telling right now. We all started guessing that it might have some significance with his brother, but I have no direct knowledge there. David is also unique in that way. Losing his brother must be one of the most devastating things to happen to him, but he will talk about it a little if you ask. Certainly, that is not a question you want to ask, but when I expressed my condolences in May, he was open and steady on the subject. My respect grew for him a huge amount that day.
Paul Cook
www.COOKEDinLA.com
Tags: #14, Cooked in LA, david cook, Paul Cook, tattoo, y98
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
In the Summer of 2008 we brought the Y98 Afternoon Show on the road an unprecedented number of times. It was so rewarding doing the deal in different locations and meeting more exciting and unique people. Well, in the Summer of 2009 we broke last years record! And we’re still going.
Six Flags and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater were the destinations most of the time. I got to sit and chat with the incomparable Natasha Beddingfield in the Y98 Studios at Six Flags. She is so easy going and fun. Colbie Caillat was also awesome, but more lowkey. Both oozed Gratitude!
At VWA in Earth City, I really enjoyed my chat with Andrew from Jack’s Mannequin. He’s smart, funny and humble. I wish him a long career in music, but I don’t think he’ll need my luck. Lance and I also enjoyed being backstage for Coldplay, The Dave Mathews Band, New Kids On The Block and No Doubt. I noticed that all of them take their preparation very seriously during soundcheck - that was neat to see.
 Great Up-Doos Boys! We still have a few left, I hope I can meet you at one of those opportunities. Thanks to everyone who makes these types of broadcasts happen: Trevor, Primetime, Patrick, Lance, Lindsey, Laura, Cory, Mark, Fred and All of the Y-Terns. Without them, it would be just me carrying a bunch of equipment and we would surely never actually get on the air.
Thank You!
Paul
Tags: concerts, lance, new kids, Paul Cook, summer
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Monday, July 20th, 2009
I’m fully honored that the “Walk For Recovery” organizers have asked me to be a speaker at this year’s walk in Tower Grove Park on September 5th. The Walk For Recovery seeks to erase the stigma that is erroneously put on addiction and mental heath issues. 
We know so much more now than we even knew 15 years ago. It is quite incredible. Mental Health and Addiction are NOT conditions of poor will. The “snap out of it” diagnoses doesn’t work and only hurts a hurting person. THAT is the real aim of my book too. The publisher wanted to know how come I was an alcoholic? They asked about my childhood and about some big bad event in my life. And I had to keep telling them that nothing bad like that had ever happened to me, I WAS BORN THIS WAY. And THAT fact is what we know today. People don’t look down on others with breast cancer and diabetes and they shouldn’t do it to alcoholics and people suffering from clinical depression. I hope I can do my part to help to erase the stigma.
Will you help me? Let’s walk together after I speak at the “Walk For Recovery”.
Please look for the “COOKED in ST. LOUIS TEAM” on the team page. I can’t wait to see you! www.WALKforRECOVERYSTL.org
Paul
Tags: addiction, Cooked in LA, mental heath, Paul Cook, recovery, y98
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Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Michael Jackson’s Fatal Demerol Addiction No Suprise To CBS Personality And Previous Addict
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Paul Cook survived similar cycles of addiction and knows why Michael Jackson would risk all with a fatal shot of Demerol
| Published on June 26, 2009by Paul Cook
(OfficialWire)
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Paul Cook survived similar cycles of addiction and knows why Michael Jackson would risk all with a fatal shot of Demerol.
“When the autopsy comes back the toxicology will be shocking.” - Liza Minnelli on the CBS Early Show 6/26/09
CBS personality Paul Cook — previous addict and author of COOKED in LA — is available to describe the cycles of Michael Jackson’s probable addiction.
Paul Cook is available to explain why, on the verge of his career rebirth, Michael Jackson would risk it all with a fatal shot of Demerol. With a huge 62 million dollar London tour in front of him, Michael Jackson was in high spirits. Earnings on this tour would have brought him new celebrity and financial wealth. Jackson was set to rule the video game world as well with a brand new Michael Jackson video game coming out on Playstation 3 and Wii.
Why Did Jackson Risk it All?
Radio and TV personality, Paul Cook, knows why. The author of COOKED in LA shows you that Michael Jackson may not have been much different that the type of addict each family in the world deals with. He is ready, as a guest, to begin talking about the anticipated toxicology — while everyone is still reporting on “heart attack.” |
Tags: addiction, michael jackson, Paul Cook
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Thursday, June 25th, 2009
I decided to begin a list of the people to watch in recovery. Everyday a celebrity is busted for drunk driving or some other substance abusing offense, but some of them are great examples of healthy thinking and living. At COOKEDinLA.com I give the Top 3 and I explain why even compiling a list like this is frowned on by millions.
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Thursday, June 11th, 2009
Hearing about Martha Stewart losing her cat today got me thinking. It sure is fun giving your pets people names. In my single digits I was blessed to have a chicken named “Kevin”; he loved to roam the neighborhood and harass the Schwan’s Man. As if being known as the “Schwansman” wasn’t humiliating enough. Many a summer’s night around “supper time” the neighbors would hear my tiny voice calling out for “KEVIN” (kiss-kiss sound) “Kevin!” And that chicken would always stop what he was working on and come flying down towards our modest cul-de-sac for the evening. I look on those sweet days fondly(getting misty). But one day in my ninth year I beckoned, and Kevin never appeared. For weeks my older sister Shannon claimed that our neighbor, the voodoo tinkering witch who ran the H.R. department at Saks, had gotten him. So after that I would picture Kevin up in heaven being fast friends with Lisa Bonet’s character in “Angel Heart”. And that was good enough for me.
But I swore that if I ever procured another animal it would have a gosh darn human name. So now I introduce “Ted the cat” from the first 5 chapters of Cooked in LA. Life can be tough for an autistic feline who has changed homes 8 times. Most cats are permanently grooming, Ted couldn’t care less. On Bastille Day 1998 we decided to make a purchase intended to give his life some life. “The Litter Box - Litter Robot” came with a 90 day money back guarantee and 2 replaceable rakes. The idea is that this contraption is a self cleaning kitty box. Twice a day the Litter Robot beeped a small sound to alert the house cat that its rake was about to do a fly by to clean the box. Ingenious, right! Three consecutive days after the purchase my wife and I did a happy dance after getting home from the long work day to find a completely clean box, more perfectly raked than an Asian garden. Ted looked worried, but that wasn’t new.
It was that forth day I’ll never forget. Ew, the horror! I knew something was wrong when an odd mix of fluoride and feces entertained my nostrils as I jiggled the lock. On the other side of that door stood what looked like the remains of a contained 5 day petting zoo rave and a feline version of downtown Beirut. Matted clumps of kitty hair and 3 days of dumplings decorated every inch of the carpet. Much of the Litter Robot’s “special” litter was still air-born awaiting inhalation. Ted was in the corner bashfully licking his Bastille Day gift; they appeared almost connected at the waist. After some investigation, I discovered that with his parents off at work, Ted decided to grab a relaxing session with his new kitty box. At precisely this time the Little Robot figured it was all systems go for a cleaning. Ted didn’t hear the beeping. As the slow rake approached our squatting kitty he must have been going over a to do list in his head. Time surely stood still as Ted’s tail got rolled up in the Litter Robots mechanisms. A confused and furious fit ensued and Ted flipped and dragged that box of poo all over our apartment, deciding at one point to try and ditch the attachment in the bathroom. How in the hell he picked up the open tube of toothpaste I’ll never know.
Ted successfully made 5 more moves with us sporting his new cat hearing aid. That was the only apartment that gladly held on to our appartment security deposit. Really that was just the beginning of the fun we enjoyed with Ted “the human named” Cat. If he had only known that he would become a character in a book maybe he wouldn’t have planted those drugs on me.
Paul Cook
CookedinLA.com
Tags: Cooked in LA, litter robot, Paul Cook, ted the cat
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Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
What is on your mind this week? Hit me here or at http://COOKEDinLA.com.
I’ll tell you what was on my mind most of last week: a warped fuzzy feeling of gratitude. I used to believe that an exhilarating life only existed in places like Los Angeles or New York. But while driving around LA all last week the prominent thought bouncing around my little head was, “get me back to the S-T-L.” LA has always been a place of false appearances, but I had never recalled it being so cold and phony.
 James Frey is still up on me I was blessed to be in Hollywood for the biggest show of the year and for my very own book signing - what a cool deal! But really I felt out of place. I discovered that I can no longer stomach putting on the LA Poker Face just to look cool and disinterested.
St. Louis is a genuine and sincere place. Somewhere, somehow, doing the next right thing was put in most St. Louisans DNA. And when you visit some of these other exciting cities you can feel the deficiency in sincerity. This is the 3rd time in a year I have felt it while traveling.
The rest of the country is going to get a real treat for the All-Star Game in July. St. Louis will stick with ya.
Paul
Tags: Cooked in LA, hollywood, los angeles, Paul Cook, poker face, st. louis
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Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
I get asked one question more than any other: “When do you sleep?”
I am so blessed to have the jobs that I have. And even though I am seen and heard a lot, I still get plenty of rest. Before getting the TV job at KMOV, I was one of those people who needed at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Well, now that doesn’t happen - at least not all at once.
Actually most people probably work harder than me. I just work at odd times. Here’s the breakdown:
Wake up at 3:45am to get ready for AWAKE on KMOV. Get there by 5am. Stay on the air till usually 8 or 8:30. Come home and play with the girls (Highlight of Day!”) Then try to grab a 2 hour nap until 11am. Wake up and workout or write till 1pm. Then try to get to Y98 by 2pm. Do the radio show till 7pm. 7:30 time for din-din. Hug wife for one full hour and thank her for loving me. Read and play with girls. Then try to fall asleep by 9:30pm, usually takes till about 10:30. Wake up and start it all over again. Whooopeee!
I knew from very early on that if I didn’t stay busy I was screwed. My mind doesn’t work well on idle. That’s why I’m so blessed to have a little chaos. All I have to do is stay away from anything that looks like a pink slip!
Tags: AWAKE, KMOV, Paul Cook, schedule
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