Your time to make the donuts is up...

It's times like this when I'm sad that there aren't any Dunkin' Donuts in the L.A. area:

Sleepy-Eyed Dunkin' Donuts Actor Vale Dies

To my friends on the East Coast, please eat a Munchkin donut in his memory.

Mmmm...Munchkin donuts...

A return to the Japanese garden!

Finally!!!! Another thing to look forward to in 2006, boys and girls...

Police Squad - Long-Awaited Naked Gun Films' Forerunner Finally Coming To DVD!

HOORAY!

More holiday updates!

Put up two more never-before-seen-or-heard-on-the-web goodies from "The Ted, Larry, and Mandel Holiday Special".

The first is a deleted scene from the video...This was the original ending to the video. We had wanted to do a whole Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice sort of thing, but as you'll see, we just couldn't pull it off. Damn you, dutch oven!!

The second is the demo to "Keep Christmas Gay and Bright." As with many a demo, you'll see that the lyrics changed between the original song and the final product. And as with many demos, you'll hear really, really off singing...and in this case, it's all by me! Be sure to have earplugs handy before listening to that one!

Keeping Christmas Gayer and Brighter

Did the first of a few updates that I'll be doing this week to "The Ted, Larry, and Mandel Holiday Special" page.

The first update...the COMPLETE version of the special including an introduction and a series of outtakes that have never been posted before on the web...until now.

The video is available in Quicktime format and MP4 format (for those of you video iPod-heads out there).

More videos and audio files for the holiday special to come later this week! Keep an eye on this site for more updates!

Not just standing "Idol-y" by...

Sunday night, Ted, Larry, Tim, Scott, and I decided to pool together our resources and throw a big holiday party. As with many previous parties, this one had a theme. And the theme this year..."Holiday Idol." Guests had the opportunity to sing in our own version of "Idol." Ted and Tim served as judges along with the Sharper Image "ALIVE! Chimpanzee" that Ted and Larry got me for Christmas.

About a half dozen or so of the 60-something guests that showed up braved the stage to perform. Dudley did "Feliz Navidad," Michele did a double-bill of "Santa Baby" and "The Christmas Song," Morgan did "The Chipmunk Song" with a little help from Tim, Tiffany did a bit of Britney Spears, Jimmy did "Jingle Bell Rock," Lou did "The First Noel," Randy did "Blue Christmas," Rod did "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," and Larry and Leland did their special version of "Carol of the Bells."

The guests at the part voted and Larry and Leland took home the grand prize (a copy of the new "American Idol" DVD set and a copy of "From Justin to Kelly"). Morgan came in a close second and took hom the runner-up prize of "The Apple," the wonderful 1980 movie musical choreogrpahed by "American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe.

It was a great night and big success and a great way to end the year...It was a cool mix of new friends whom I've met this year and friends whom I've known for years.

You can see pics of the party as well as my New York trip here: Photo Album. Just scroll down to the "Manhattan" and "Holiday Idol" links.

Enjoy!

Mandel Takes Manhattan

This past week, I was fortunate enough to go to New York along with some of the "Reality Remix" gang including Lynn and Alex from "The Amazing Race."

Why New York? If you were able to catch some of this week's shows, you would have seen that we were able to get access to the finale party for "The Amazing Race" at CBS Black Rock and "The Apprentice 4's" finale party red carpet at Planet Hollywood in Times Square.

I had such a great time there! The last time I was in New York was about 7 or so years ago when I visited my friend Sam while he was still living out there. And even then, it was just for a day or so. This is the longest trip I had taken out there. I stayed at the Paramount Hotel on 46th near Broadway, so I was deep in the heart of Times Square.

I didn't realize how close it was to pretty much everything. Just a few blocks away was the "Good Morning America" studio. Pretty much just across the street from there were the TRL studios. WOO, Damian! Oh, sorry...got in the TRL mood there. And of course, along the street were musicals like "Fiddler on the Roof," "Mamma Mia," "The Lion King," "The Producers," just to name a few. Right across the street from my hotel were "Movin' Out" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

As a coworker rightly predicted, I had many moments of sensory overload. I was lucky enough to have a little bit of time to do some exploring. I was literally a kid in a candy store at the Hershey's Store. The Toys R Us store was HYOOGE, to use a Trump-ism!

The shoots I oversaw for "Remix" were awesome. Lynn and Alex were our correspondents for "The Amazing Race" finale. Got to meet Phil Keoghan and chatted with many of the families including the winning Linzes (YAY!) and the Paolos, who could NOT be any sweeter. I take back anything bad I said about them earlier in my blog. After the viewing party at CBS Black Rock, we rushed over to Planet Hollywood for TARCon. I had read about past TARCons for years on Television Without Pity, but had never been able to go one. Quite an interesting mix of people. Not only were there fans, but there were also Racers from the past and present there.

Wednesday, we taped a bunch of segments with Lynn and Alex around the Big Apple for "Reality Remix's" special version of "The 12 Days of Christmas." The song will make its broadcast debut as part of our big holiday show this Friday. A version should be available online quite soon. I'll post the link when it's up.

And Thursday, Heidi Bresseler from "The Apprentice 1" served as our correspondent as we covered "The Apprentice 4's" season finale party red carpet. Got to interview all the big names from the show and even got some time to talk with George, Carolyn, and the Donald!

But that's not all that happened during my trip to NYC. I also had a bit of time to catch up with some friends while out there. My first day there I had lunch with my friend Vatnak from college whom I had not seen since we graduated! It was great hearing about many people whom I had not heard about since college. Made me realize that I need to rekindle some of those old college fires.

Wednesday night was an even bigger doozy...I got together for dinner with my friend, Ben. Now, here's the thing...Ben was one of my best friends in grade school from 1st up until about 8th grade when he left to go to another school. We lost touch with each other. He went off to Yale as I went to Harvard. And then a couple of years ago, I did some random name searching on Friendster and found his name. I dropped him a message and didn't hear back from him...until this past Thanksgiving weekend. I opened my E-mail box and there was a message from him...telling me that he lived in L.A. for two years up until recently when he moved to New York. D'oh!

But how fortuitous was it that I had a trip for work to New York not too long after? I called him up and we arranged to meet up for dinner in Chelsea Wednesday night. It was WONDERFUL. It was so great to see him after not having talked to him in 15 years. There was much to catch up and I think we covered quite a lot of ground. And judging from how great dinner went, I think we won't be having to wait another fifteen years until we see or talk with each other again. It's amazing how even with a great separation of time, one can still feel a bond with somebody.

Drew connected me with his ex, Ryan, who lives in New York. And after I was done with dinner with Ben, Ryan showed me around the Chelsea area. We went to a few bars and he was quite the awesome tour guide. Ryan, if you're reading this, thanks for SUCH a fun night! It was cool seeing Chelsea. It was hip in its own way compared to West Hollywood. The crowd also was a bit less homogeneous.

All in all, I really loved New York. This trip definitely sold me on visiting there more often. I still could never see myself living out there, but I'm not going to wait seven years until I go back there again.

Thanks to everybody who made the trip such an enjoyable one! Pics to come tomorrow!

Worst Buy: The Next Generation (Part 8) - The FINALE!

Well, it's finally resolved...the Toshiba TV is gone! But the conclusion to this story wasn't without any drama...

Friday night, I got Jim A. and Iowa Jim to lend their helping hands with moving the TV from my apartment to the Best Buy. For those of you not familiar with lifting plasmas, they are VERY, VERY heavy. Iowa Jim pulls his pickup truck into the garage and we all head up to the apartment. We lift the television and with much grunting and shifting are able to get into the elevator. We then head out of the elevator and attempt to load the TV into Jim's truck. As set the TV on the ground, Jim A. takes a look at his hands and wrists. They're all bloody! ARGH! The TV cut his hands and wrists. I start feeling sick and awful about this and grab some band-aids for him. I then get a few towels to cushion the apparently sharp edges of the TV and after a bit of heave-ho-ing we get the TV into the bed of the truck.

Off to the store we go...Upon arriving at the store, I feel a little resistance in getting help with moving the television from the truck (which was parked in the front of the store) to the customer service area inside the store.

Even after mentioning that I had a 42" inch plasma television, it's apparently assumed that the Jims and I would bring the television inside the store. When somebody was sent out to help, only one person was sent out and again, he was assuming that it would just be him and the three of us helping him with moving the TV. Not something we were wanting to hear especially after experiencing the scars from moving it into the truck at the apartment...

I am then directed to the customer service desk where I present the receipt along with the letter that corporate had sent me with the instructions as to how to exchange the TV. This is then given to Mike, a customer rep. Mike leaves and disappeares(I believe to talk to the manager) and then returns saying the television's ready to go, but that I'd have to purchase a new PSP plan.

I then explain that arrangements were made to apply the difference between the old and new TV towards the PSP plan. Mike says that I can't do that because it was "policy." I then point out what was said in the letter from you about applying the credit to the PSP plan. He syas again that it was against policy to this. So, essentially he wasn't following what corporate had wanted to do!!! I then ask to see the manager.

Mike disappears for about 20 minutes and he returns finally saying everything was good to go. In the meantime, I overhear one of the representatives behind the customer service desk, Heather, being given instructions as to how to process my exchange. In doing so, I overhear her saying, "I'm sick of these things."

OY...We finally get the TV home about an hour after going to Best Buy. I hook up the new sound system and Iowa Jim and I fire up the new deluxe edition of Queen's "Night at the Opera." Ahhh...sweet music to my ears...

So great to have a working home theater system...but can't believe I had to go through even more hassle...

I'm never shopping at Best Buy again...well, at least after I finish off the gift card that corporate is sending me for my troubles... :-)

Mission Accomplished!

It's official...I'm going to be able to exchange my broken Toshiba. The question is...will I be able to get the model that I want?

More to come...

Can't believe it's been 25 years....

What happened here
As the New York sunset disappeared?
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here - Elton John/Bernie Taupin

Life is cruel life is a bitch
Life is real so real - Queen

And if I say I really loved you
And was glad you came along.
If you were here today. - Paul McCartney

I’m shouting all about love
While they treated you like a dog
When you were the one who had made it so clear
All those years ago. - George Harrison

Worst Buy: The Next Generation (Part 7)

CURSES!

The CEO's E-mail bounced back to me and the E-mail to the SVP of Sales and Services received an "out-of-office" reply. The SVP is out until Thursday.

In the meantime, I've found Best Buy's corporate number:

(612) 291-1000

I got in touch with Elizabeth Sevcik, one of the nicest people I've spoken with there. She's Bradbury Anderson's assistant and according to her E-mail is their "Executive Resolution Specialist." Interesting...

Let's hope she doesn't disappoint...

* wrings hands *

Worst Buy: The Next Generation (Part 6)

Got the name of the Senior VP of Sales and Services at Best Buy...Shawn Score...YES!

Add another E-mail to the list...

:-D

Worst Buy: The Next Generation (Part 5)

Thanks to one of the readers of this blog, I was able to get the E-mail of Best Buy's CEO, Bradbury Anderson.

Mwhahahahaha

The battle goes on...

Worst Buy: The Next Generation (Part 4)

Wow...I think I should just copy and paste my previous blogs...

Called Best Buy again to get an update. None of the previous supervisors I had spoken with were there. OF COURSE...

They didn't have any info on the parts that were ordered. OF COURSE...

I asked if they can just simply let me replace the TV and they said no, it doesn't qualify though people there are researching my case. OF COURSE...

I spoke with a new supervisor (Robert) who was of NO help at all. OF COURSE...

I said, give me alternatives...Robert said he couldn't until Monday. OF COURSE...

Best Buy, you can kiss my skinny Filipino ass...you've lost a very loyal customer. It was nice knowing you guys. It was nice being able to buy my CDs, DVDs, video games, and other electronics equipment all in one place for a somewhat decent prices.

Oh, and let's just add Robert's extension to the list here...

Robert (ext. 6218)

The war continues...In the meantime...gonna check things out over at Circuit City.

Worst Buy: The Next Generation (Part 3)

Got a call from Juan, the repairman...Toshiba wants him to try two more parts before they call it "unrepairable." Blarg...

Aiming to get the parts installed on Saturday...

The saga continues...

Worst Buy: The Next Generation (Part 2)

[The first part of this post is below...]

Here's the latest update from my roommate:

"You should be hearing from the technician within 2 hours per Barbara at x-6506 (she's a supervisor).

Apparently he has been communicating with Toshiba and is waiting to hear something from them. So if you don't hear from him by 1pm. Call Barbara again!! "

I'll be eagerly awaiting...

* wrings hands *

Let the games continue...

Worst Buy: The Next Generation

So if you've read this blog and you've read my friend Ted's blog, you might be familiar with the angina that Best Buy has caused us.

Both he and I have had nothing but drama with their customer service.

Coincidentally, the drama surrounded problems with our plasma TVs. My drama with the plasma has been going on for over a year now. The picture on the TV has been screwed up for pretty much that whole time. At first, the screen would flicker and then go black. You'd have to turn off the TV and turn it on to the picture to pop up again. Called the repairman for that and that proved to be unsuccessful.

A part was ordered and a repairperson came by last summer to install it and it seemed to resolve the issue...until October...A new picture problem happened. The pixels weren't refreshing fast enough to the point where a couple of weeks ago, the pixels just went dead. An initial picture comes up on the television and then it literally dissolves and trickles away in a sea of green.

I called 1-888-BESTBUY last month to get a service person out to check the television. Simple enough...The repairperson (Juan) comes by to the apartment to check the television out. He orders a couple of parts for the television and says they should be in within seven days. Seven days pass...no parts...Two weeks pass...no parts and no call from Best Buy...Three weeks pass...ok, it's time to call them.

So, my roomie Scott calls Best Buy while I'm out in Florida for Thanksgiving. He called on a Saturday so they said we have to call back on Monday. I call on Monday and ask about my parts. They said that it was reordered that day. REORDERED!!! And nobody had the sense to tell me that the parts had to be reordered.

I ask to speak to a supervisor because this is really ridiculous. TERRY, the supervisor says that he is sorry for the inconvenience but can't give me an ETA on the parts arrival. WHAT?!? So, he's basically telling me that it could be days, weeks, MONTHS before I get the parts. I could go months without use of a television for which I paid a good chunk of change. It doesn't sway him. I ask if I can get the television exchanged just to get this over and done with. But alas, I'm not eligible to do this. In order to do this...

1) THREE complete repairs must have been done to the television - or -

2) The repairperson must deem the TV unrepairable

Grrr...It got to a point where we were talking around in circles. I asked to speak to his supervisor, but he had none. Yeah, right. I then ended things telling him that if I don't hear by the following Monday on the situation that he needed to have some alternatives ready.

Get a call the next day from Best Buy saying the part have been shipped and that I should be getting them later that day. That was indeed true and I called up Best Buy to set up an appointment to have the parts installed. I did so for Saturday.

Saturday morning, Juan the repairman was back and he installed the parts...All good, right? WRONG. The parts didn't help out. I asked Juan if this meant the TV was unrepairable. He said probably but he couldn't give me a definitive answer until Monday.

Grrr...Yesterday, 1 PM rolls by...no call from Best Buy....2 PM...still no call...I call Best Buy at 3 PM asking what's up with my television explaining that Juan was supposed to give me an answer about the status. The rep on the phone said that they had no record of Juan's report. I ask to speak to a supervisor. They put me in touch with Karen...who frankly came off as cold, and uncaring...Simply put, your typical steely, lifeless, soulless customer rep manager bitch who'll try to cut you down but do it with a sneering smile. * shudder *

Karen says that they can't do anything until Juan reports to them. I ask them if they can call Juan. They said they can only E-mail him since E-mail is how they communicate between departments. WHAT?!? INSANITY! I then ask if we can just simply matters by getting me a voucher to exchange my television since it's still under warranty. They then gave me the usual B.S. about the thing need three repairs blah, blah blah...

Then, just to amuse myself, I asked them what the process would be if the TV were deemed unrepairable...Well, they said that it would take THREE to FIVE business days for the voucher to be approved by their authorization department. OY. I asked if I could speak to somebody there. She said she didn't have a number and that they communicate through interoffice E-mail.

Seeing how I had to get back to work, I left it at that, got her name and number and well...this is where you come in...

In sort of a "Fight Back"/David Horowitz-tribute, I've decided to enlist all of you in the crusade against Best Buy and their deplorable service department.

Here is the number of Best Buy's customer service department:

1-888-BEST-BUY

Follow the options for TV repair. Say it's been over 30 days since the purchase.

Here are the names and extensions of the disappointing supervisors who were no help at all:

Karen (ext. 6514) and Terry (ext. 6226)

The customer rep. should be able to connect you to either of the above extensions...

Juan was the name of the repairperson who still hasn't reported back to them. And please feel free to give them a call and ask them, "WHY IN THE HELL CAN'T YOU FIX MANDEL ILAGAN'S 42-inch TOSHIBA PLASMA TELEVISION?!?"

* wrings hands *

Let the games begin...

As I lay me down to sleep...

Here's what I need to get off my chest...

- YAY for Michael Copon winning "But Can They Sing?"!! There IS hope for the voting system!

- Did some Christmas decoration shopping with my roomie Scott over the weekend. Got a Christmas tree from Target. It's one of those pre-lit plastic trees. Thought to myself, it'll be simple...just assemble the pieces together and plug it in! Right? Not so...It took a bit of twisting here and there...a little fleshing out of the branches...a little "tree fluffing" if you will. It also required a bit of trimmage before it could get all halfway-decent looking. Pic to come soon...

- Went to Toys R Us yesterday to do a little Christmas shopping and tried out the XBox 360. Am I the only video game player that ISN'T excited by this system? I didn't get the first XBOX mainly because the controller was so bulky and didn't care too much for the 360's controller. Let's see what the PS3 has to offer...or better the Nintendo Revolution!

- Speaking of electronics, the Best Buy repairman came by to look at my diseased plasma and I think we're about * this * close to deeming it unrepairable which means...I get a voucher for the price I paid for the TV set to get a new one. The question now is...do I stick with plasma or go LCD. I think I'm going to "ask the audience," Regis. What do y'all say? The truth about the status of my TV comes on Monday...

- I think my iPod is psychic...Case in point. I'm driving out of my apartment garage to head to my friend Adam's birthday gathering at the Fiesta Cantina. His Evite had a "Golden Girls" motif to it (he's a big "Golden Girls" fan as many a gay boy - myself included - is). Now, as I pull out of the garage and the song in progress on my iTunes finishes...the next tune that pops up on the shuffle..."Thank You For Being a Friend" and not the Andrew Gold version, but the version from the show.

- Goodbye, David Wu...L.A. is going to miss you! Damn you, New York! OK, that's a bit harsh...especially since I might be heading there for some work-related shoots in a couple of weeks. Woo-hoo! Haven't been there in YEARS...

- Put up the pictures from my high school reunion. Scroll down to the bottom of the list to find the link.

- Got a chance to interview Baby V herself, Vonzell Solomon, last Thursday night. What a sweetheart! Made me even more happy that I voted for her all those times on "American Idol." Look for excerpts from the interview on Fox Reality early next year. Here's a pic we took after the interview:


Let the regular blogging continue from this point on!