Never mind Rachel we still love you in Manitoba!

Tansi/Good Day Folks:

Every so often one comes across an article which has it all - excellent writing, solid analysis blended with acerbic and humourous language. While we don't think Rachael Ray is that bad we could see how she might get on some peoples' nerves.

When your 15 minutes of fame are finally over, Rachael, you can always move to Manitoba to become Head Chef at MMF Headquarters. Better yet, why not challenge Rosemarie McPherson as Metis Womens Representative, that is, whenever they have their next "Annual" General Meeting?"

But not to worry Rachael. If you need backup we'll send Mike ("I like that - I like that a lot!") Homes from the immencely popular Canadian cable channel HGTV (Home and Garden Television). You don't mess with Mike!








Rachael, this is the flag for Canada ("The Great White North eh!")





This is Manitoba's - we're a Province which borders on the State of North Dakota





Our national symbols are the beaver, Mounties and DAMN GOOD BEER!

Now our candidate for, The Sharp Golden Tongue Award of the week!

Sincerely,

Clare L. Pieuk

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OVER cooked
When will chirpy celebrity chef/talk show host RACHEL RAY'S 15 minutes be up?
By Kate Zimmerman
The Winnipeg Free Press
October 7, 2006
Page F1

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/rachael_ray_sux/

RACHAEL - THE PUDDLE!

It's a wonder that scientists have yet to precisely calculate the shelf life of celebrities.

There must be an average time from during which a star of screen or CD vaults from obscurity to ubiquity and then begins the long slow slide down to lapsed-celebrity competitions like Dancing With the Stars. If only fameologists could tell us exactly when to expect our blast of shadenfreude regarding the particular celebs we never liked in the first place.

Schadenfreude, of course, is that great German word that means "joy in another's misfortune." I myself have been gloating in a most unbecoming fashion lately over the attempted media takedown of would-be Martha-cum-Oprah figurine Rachael Ray. I'd like to know how long I will have to put up with her before a maniacal binge of Krispy Kreme lands her on the cover of The Enquirer, her shows are cancelled, her books are remaindered and a regular appearance as a shill on the Shopping Network puts the final nail in the coffin of her career.

Ms. Ray is that pint-sized American gal who rose to fame on what my daughter used to call a "stirring show." At one point she had, apparently, five shows on the Food Network, although I have only been subjected to two of them. One is called 30-Minute Meals, the other is $40 a Day, in which the host travels to a city and ensures that she spends no more than that on three meals, all of which she invariably relishes.

Neither show's concept is atrocious, per se; it's Ray's strange brash, New-York-Meets-Cape-Cod accent and crazily chirpy manner that irritate me. Like many others, I find her inane chuckle and smurfy good humour hideously strident.

Sardonic chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain has referred to Ray as a "bobblehead." His fellow detractors have invented a drinking game (details at www.slobak.com/rachael-ray.html) where, "when you're up for getting sloshed within 30 minutes or less, "you have a sip each time Ray does something annoying. You quadruple your swigs whenever she drops something, giggles and says something along the lines of "Potato overboard!"

There's another entire website devoted to Ray's non-fans, called Rachel Ray Sucks. Compared with the degree of vitriol its comtributors hurl at Ray, I am one of the nicer popes.

Yes she is currently embarrassing herself all the way to the bank, with a baker's dozen of cookbooks, an Emmy, a magazine called Every Day with Rachael Ray, a line of cookware, a truly startling rating as one of America's 100 sexiest women. And now, egged on by her mentor/svengali, Oprah Winfrey, she has assumed the role of daytime chat show host.

Ray made the talk-show rounds herself before the launch of her prattlefest. She may have been named by Time magazine as one of its most influencial people of 2006, but David Letterman seemed both bewildered and exhausted by her high-spirited jabbering. She planned to do things like jump out of planes with her guests to help them defeat their fear of heights, she said, and was kicking off her first week by interviewing Diane Sawyer.

Ray is unapologetic about her lack of gravitas. Nevertheless, there is quite a difference between starring on a cooking show where it's you, a knife and a pair of onions, and trying to bond with a respected journalist who has herself interrogated many of the world's most famous people. Ray is apparently one of those never-say-die sorts who mistake fearlessness for wide-ranging talent. The first show received excoriating reviews.

In one of the warmer assessments, the Hollywood Reporter described it thus: "It moves along in energetic rat-a-tat-tat style via a series of manic Rachael McNuggets that casts Oprah's very own hand-picked youngster as a whirlwind of hyperkinetic charisma." Canadians were less gentle. In a story headed "Pat Sajak, We're Sorry, Come Back!" Rob McKenzie of the National Post wrote, "It's like they gave Miss Piggy a talk show."

He went on to imply that Ray must have made a deal with Satan to land her latest gig. Evidently, he said, the vegetables had been carring the entertainment burden on her other shows. "Sawyer and Ray discussed "slut shoes," McKenzie wrote of the episode he watched, "and Sawyer showed a cosmetics mirror that has a built-in flashlight, so you can use it in the back of a car at night. 'Shut up!' Ray thoughtfully observed. That is life-changing!'"

McKenzie noted that Ray's show may appear on Citytv affiliates but is "running 24 hours a day on closed-circuit TV in hell." Lee-Anne Goodman wrote for Canadian Press that Ray's high-decibel and often overbearing demeanour" is sufficiently grating that it seems to upset her guests. "Even Winfrey herself - whose company Harpo is co-producing the show - appeared shell-shocked by the end of her visit to the Rachael Ray set on Tuesday as her hand-picked star repeatedly and loudly spoke over her new boss and erupted into loud and nervous laughter ..." Goodman added that Hollywood Reporter TV columnist Ray Richmond said of the show, "She could attract a huge audience of people with their hands over their ears."

This sort of remark is unlikely to give Ray pause. As it turns out, she generated great numbers on her CBS debut, capturimg the highest rating for a first-run syndicated show in four years.

Naturally, Ray doesn't feel my pain. She's now rich, famous and despite being a stocky 38, is being described as an "It Girl." So please, Mr. and Mr. Scientist - get researching. I have to know: how long must I wait before Rachael Ray's 15 minutes are finally up?

Kate Zimmerman is a Vancouver writer who spends far too much time seeking out the stupidest television shows on cable.