The Tragedy in Connecticut

We opened up with the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and gave our personal reflections.  Brother Wease can't imagine the feelings that the families must be going thru.. and thinks the if there's any good to come from this it's going to be that we may finally see lawmakers go after gun control.  We talked about the stages of grief and how this situation is going exactly as grief counselors say they will.  Sadness and denial hit over the weekend, anger is hitting right now, and bargaining is next (which Wease says will be the gun control debate.. which we'll get to later).  Jamie is the father of two little kids and just can't imagine being in this position as a parent.  Wease said that he looks forward to speaking to some school officials (who we have scheduled as guests later in the show) about how hard it is for a stranger to get into a public school in the greater Rochester area.  He heard from a friend over the weekend that he has visited his son's elementary school twice this year and has had to do no more than tell someone sitting at a desk why he's there and then sign his name to get in.

The Wease Made A Nice Wager

Brother Wease decided to bet on the Seattle Seahawks yesterday.. figuring that he'd either see the Bills win.. or cash in on their loss.  It worked.. he cashed in.. getting so fired up for the Seahawks that everytime they scored (and they scored a lot.. winning 50-17) Wease would scream out "TOUCHDOWN WEASE!!".  We talked about the Seahawks running a fake punt when they were up BIG and Wease and Tools agreed that they didn't think there was anything wrong with it.. although Tools acknowledges that most sports fans will think that it was a douchbag move.  Tools said that in Pete Carroll's (Seattle's coach) press conference he game a very lame excuse for running the fake punt.. saying it was part of the gameplan going into Sunday.  They could have just canceled it right?  There were two one possible positives though from yesterday's game in Toronto.  One.. it's the 5th of 5 games the Bills promised to play there.. so unless they resign a deal with them we should get 8 home games next year instead of 7.  Also.. the Bills may not have put on the most horrible display inside The Rogers Centre yesterday.. Psy (the Gangnam Style guy) performed at halftime and it was terrible:

They Stole This Woman's.. Driveway!?

A Florida woman says thieves stole her.. driveway?!  Rachel McCarty told investigators she arrived at her home after work at about 6 p.m. Tuesday and felt a strange "bump" when she pulled into her driveway.  "I noticed there was definitely something missing in my peripheral vision," she said.  The 200 paving bricks that had previously been used to make her driveway were gone.  The story quickly turned over to Pauly.. whose landlord will NOT allow him to park in his own driveway because it is made out of brick.  This is something that has continued to bug Wease because he says that Pauly is a pussy.  Once and for all.. Pauly agreed to put Wease in touch with his landlord to see if they could work it out once and for all.  We just might have the landlord on later..

Kimberly Thinks She's A Celebrity

Over the weekend.. Wease heard a story that Kimberly from Kimberly & Beck recently moved because too many people knew where she lives and she was sick of answering her door to people who want autographs.  Now Wease admits.. maybe that's just hearsay.. but he heard it from a dude who isn't known for telling lies.  Wease laughed.. as did the rest of us.  Wease is by far the biggest radio celebrity in Rochester and he says that TOPS.. one out of 10 people have any idea who he is.. and he would never presume that he is any more popular than that.  That being said.. the very next day Wease pulled into his own driveway to find a guy at his front door looking for him just to meet him.  To be clear.. that does NOT happen hardly ever.. just quite a coincidence.

13WHAM's Doug Emblidge

-Tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.. funerals start today

-Rochester Mayor & Superintendent say schools are still safe for students/faculty

-Movement seen in Fiscal Cliff talks

-Today is the USPS's busiest day of the year

"I Am Adam Lanza's Mother"

A woman named Liza Long wrote an open letter this weekend that quickly went viral.  The letter was about the tragedy in Connecticut.. and about how she has a son who she fears could one day commit a heinous act like this one.  Here's what she wrote:

I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.

A few weeks ago, Michael (not his real name) pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan—they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me.

We still don’t know what’s wrong with Michael. Autism spectrum, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant or Intermittent Explosive Disorder have all been tossed around at various meetings with probation officers and social workers and counselors and teachers and school administrators. He’s been on a slew of antipsychotic and mood altering pharmaceuticals, a Russian novel of behavioral plans. Nothing seems to work.

I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am James Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.

We took a few phone calls from mothers here in Rochester who say that they have children who remind them of the son that Liza writes about in her above letter.  It was incredibly touching stuff.. and left us in tears.

Webster Schools' Security Director

Brother Neil Flood called in this morning to talk to us about security in our schools.  Neil is the Director of Security for The Webster Central School District where Wease's children go to school.  He told us that this morning all teachers have been given talking points to address the tragedy in Connecticut in their classrooms this morning.  Neil talked to us about the security measures taken at Webster schools and he told us that at the elementary schools you walk in and approach a desk where she show ID and then are given a pass.  At the high schools.. you have to be buzzed in (the doors are all locked).  He said that one thing he would like to see improve is for the elementary schools to move to a process more like the high schools.  He took calls from listeners and answered questions and did a very good job of assuring us that our kids are safe.

Rolling Stones Concert Review

Wease was PISSED when he realized that he completely forgot about the Rolling Stones pay per view concert Saturday night.  He spent the entire weekend watching news coverage about the tragedy in Connecticut and it consumed his mind so much that he completely forgot about the concert.  Billy did not miss it though.. he called in this morning (he has a vacation day) to give us his review and said that it was PHENOMENAL.  He even enjoyed Lady Gaga who was one of the many special guests.  Billy said that the show went 2 and a half hours which suprised Wease because he can't believe the Stones can go that long without keeling over.  Billy told Wease that the PPV is still available to buy and watch on replay.. but it's the same price as it was LIVE.. which none of us think is fair.  Wease says in this case though.. even if it's unfair.. he'll pay the money to see the show because he doesn't want to wait for it to come to HBO or come out on DVD.

Wease's Joke/Gun Control

Wease asked Jamie to break down a joke for him.. someone sent it to him yesterday and he didn't get it.  Why are bachelors so skinny and married men so fat?  Because bachelors come home.. check the fridge.. and go to bed.  Married men come home.. check the bed.. and go to the fridge.  We broke it down and got a giggle out of it but Wease still didn't find it very funny.  How did a set that started with that joke end up in a serious discussion about gun control?  We have no idea.. but it did.  Wease believes that this is the time for us to make assault rifles illegal and impossible to get your hands on.  There are 2 different ideaologies here.. liberals want no guns period.. conservatives believe that if everyone was armed we would live in a safer nation.  Wease knows that those are the two extremes.. and that the real answer lives in the middle somewhere where guns are controlled to the extreme and that the only way you can own one is if you are responsible beyond responsible.  We took a billion and a half calls on the topic and heard from both sides of the argument.

More On Gun Control/Video Games

The conversation on gun control continued as Wease took calls on the topic.  Wease reiterates that he would LOVE a full ban on guns but is willing to meet halfway with conservatives and just do a ban on assault rifles.. but he's worried conservatives won't want to compromise.  The conversation turned to violent video games as we learned that the kid who committed the terrible crime in Connecticut may have been a fan of violent first person shooter games.  We don't believe that video games make kids violence because look at how many millions of people play those games and don't commit a heinous act.  Pauly said that his brother is a big gamer and has a great response to this.. he says that he plays Call of Duty but doesn't think he could go out and cause destruction anymore than he thinks he can play basketball like Lebron James when he plays NBA2K13. 

Saturday Night Live

Wease heard great things about Saturday Night Live's Christmas show/winter finale but didn't see it.  Pauly said that it was a GREAT show starring Martin Short and Paul McCartney with guest appearances from Kristen Wiig, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Jimmy Fallon, Samuel L. Jackson, and Nirvana.  One of the most talked about moments from the show was when Samuel L. Jackson droped an F bomb and an S-H bomb within about 10 seconds of eachother and Kenan Thompson's very funny response.. saying "Come on Sam.. that costs money".  Paul McCartney performed his Christmas hit "Wonderful Christmastime" which Wease STILL does not recognize or ever remember hearing despite it being one of the most played Christmas songs of all time.  Another bit that we all loved involved a parody of a bunch of our favorite people like Al Pacino, Michael Keaton, Edie Falco, Larry David, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and more.  Check it out here:

Plugs/Tomorrow's Show

The Wease Show 24 Hour Christmahanakwanzika Spectacular is this Thursday.. we'll be LIVE on the radio from 6am on 12/20 until 6am on 12/21!!  The First Night of Funny will be held on New Year's Eve at The Auditorium Theater and Wease will be emcee'ing.  On tomorrow's show.. we'll have all the usual plus we'll have a brand new episode of Redneck News and much much more.  Until tomorrow.. it's nice to be important.. but it's more important to be nice!!