By Seth Rudetsky
26 Oct 2009

I also got to interview Amanda McBroom who wrote the beautiful song, "The Rose." Turns out, the way the song came to be is bizarre. Amanda was a singing actress when she wrote the song, and not a songwriter. She was driving home and heard a Leo Sayer song on the radio (so '70s) about love. She thought, "That's how he sees love, but not me." She began to think about the many different views of love and the song just came to her. She went into her house and wrote it all down. I asked her about the signature vamp at the beginning (the two notes making an open fifth) and she said she did that because she's not a very good pianist and it was easy for her to play just two notes! That night, she played "The Rose" for her husband and he asked, "Do you know what you just did? You just wrote a classic." She played it for some more friends and that was that. Well, turns out, one of her friends worked in the film business and played the song for a film executive who was trying to get a theme song for the Bette Midler film based on Janis Joplin. The crazy part is, Janis Joplin was known as "The Pearl" but the film couldn't get the rights to that name so they changed it to… "The Rose"! And Amanda's song, purely by accident, happened to be named "The Rose." How crazy is that!?!?! Turns out, the film executive didn't like the song, but Bette Midler did and it became a world-wide hit. But, because it wasn't written expressly for the film, it wasn't nominated for an Oscar. But, Amanda told us, it did pay for some major renovations for her house so it's all good!

My great friend Jack Plotnick is visiting with me here in Newport Beach and then we're going to stay at his place in L.A. He was recently on a "House" premiere episode (playing the anorexic) with Lin-Manuel Miranda and said it was torture because it all took place in a mental institution and all the actors had to be in the background of every scene. They weren't allowed to sit and read a book, but they were allowed to sit and do a puzzle. But the director didn't think the patients should be good at the puzzle (I guess because they had mental problems?) so every time they got a section of the puzzle put together, a P.A. would come over and completely mess it up all up and they'd have to start it all over again. It's a horrible combination of "Groundhog Day" and Sartre's No Exit.

Jack told me about sitcom audition he had where he was having trouble finding the comedy in the script. He went to the audition and tried as hard as he could to get laughs. He left the room exhausted because he had hauled out so many comedy chestnuts, but he knew he really worked every possible laugh. He then got home and found out that the "sitcom" he auditioned for was actually a drama. He was mortified. However, the double/triple whammy is... he got the gig!

OK, I have to take a shower and get ready for the benefit. Speaking of showers, yesterday I was in a bath towel and about to step into the shower when I saw that James used up the shampoo. I left the room on the hunt for a nearby housekeeper I could get shampoo from. I figured that they were used to seeing people in their skimpy shower towels so I wouldn't be embarrassed. I heard a vacuum going in a nearby room and knocked. No answer. I figured the housekeeper couldn't hear me knock above the sound of the vacuum, so I knocked harder. Finally, the door opened…and it wasn't a housekeeper with a vacuum. It was a hotel guest staring at me in my towel. "Um…isn't the housekeeper vacuuming in there?" He replied, "No," and continued staring. Then his wife walked to the door holding the hair dryer that sounded like a vacuum. I felt I should explain so I said, "Oh. I, uh, wanted some shampoo, " and then realized it made me sound crazier. I fled to my room, towel a-flapping, and hoped that the image of my exposed chest and calves spiced up their love life that night. Anybody? And I close with a decisive, nobody. Peace out!