a question for jessica alba...

does this baby have a high risk of contracting herpes from you?

welp, at least the alledged reason why wasn't a player named as on the joice in today's mitchell report...

randomness from the panera.

greetings.

i feel like it's been too long since i've had a post that really didn't serve a single purpose - but instead kind of touched a number of different thoughts. now that i'm nessled into a comfy panera booth, let me welcome you inside my deep, inner thoughts...

- this really isn't that much snow. how come at noon i couldn't drive half of the speed limit ANYWHERE? 81, 309, 115, wilkes-barre blvd... killin' me smalls!

- in case you're wondering what my current panera office configuration is... half greek salad, bowl of low-fat chicken noodle, bottle of water - and of course the lapteeze and blackbleeze!

- of course i'd be remiss if i didn't mention the new bht lineup - with kidd kraddick from 5a-10a, marino til 3 while you work, a.j. in the afternoon til 7, and myself til midnight. how pimp right?

- once again big thanks to everyone who came out to see drake bell last weekend. more of your photos will be posted soon here.

- NO - THE JONAS BROTHERS ARE NOT COMING TO THE MALL AT STEAMTOWN. gotta love wishful thinking high schoolers who start rumors with my name on them.

i'm going to return to my regularly scheduled browsing and grubbing. more updates on the way...

ralphie.

the first dance...

atleast they have a nice sense of humor...

the latest from... simple plan?

yes pierre and the boys are back recording and releasing new material - they've even shot a video for their new single, "when i'm gone."

if you like old simple plan, you'll like new simple plan. same pop-rock sound.

call or e-mail me and i'll tell you about all of my crazy simple plan stories... getting them buffalo wings, buying them drinks... yeah pretty raucous stuff.

free jay-z album!

so this dj in washington d.c. took jay-z's latest album - american gangster, and threw the remix on it using led zeppelin songs.

i know, i think the idea sounds dope too.

click here to download it fa free!

no final jeopardy for trebek.

tmz and a slew of other media outlets are reporting that jeopardy! show host alex trebek suffered a mild heart attack. the game show host is fine and resting comfortably.

trebek is 67, and has hosted jeopardy! since september of 84.

wilkes u says sex helps prevent the flu.

watching msnbc the other day - and a story about this article in newsweek came on tv. apparently there are many non-intimate reasons to have sex on a regular basis.

fighting the flu? really? the most ironic part is that the study regarding love making and flu-fighting eminates from our backyard - wilkes university.

i'm getting to the bottom of this... no pun intended...

drake bell - the interview

pretty sure this is my last drake bell post for a minute. click here to listen to the interview that aired on my show monday night.

YOUR VIEW : Drake Bell

thanks to everyone for e-mailing me pictures, and it's not too late... ralphie@97bht.com

mariah caught drake on the guitar and myself on the mic...

sara left a happy person...

mannat shows a little creativity...



lindsay sent in a couple shots...

krista didn't want drake to feel bad, so she took a picture with him as well haha...

kim made drake laugh with a funny pick-up line...

kelsey and friend rocked out with drake...

jordan snagged a few shots with his sidekick...

dawn's daughter harley met drake at the radisson...

annika left the mall happy...

gracias abby!

amanda sent these in...

ralphie and drake on an mtv website!

click here to read the full article written by ralphie about drake's appearance...

drake and ralphie make the sunday times!

12/09/2007
Nickelodean star attracts multitude to shopping mall
BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER
STAFF WRITER

A crowd of tweens and teens gathered around the center stage at the Mall at Steamtown Saturday afternoon, welcoming singer and Nickelodeon television star Jared Drake Bell with deafening screams and chants. But there were far fewer people and much less commotion made for the 21-year-old “Drake & Josh” actor than when the downtown Scranton mall hosted Emily Osment, the 15-year-old actress from the “Hannah Montana” program, in August.

The result this time around was an orderly event — if, that is, 3,500 children yelling “We want Drake” can be called orderly.

Jill Kelly, of Scranton — who brought her 5-year-old smiling “Drake” fan, Marisa, to get an autograph — said things went much more smoothly than August’s fan event.

“That was a disaster,” Mrs. Kelly said. “But this, this was great. It went much better.”

It also helped that Mr. Bell arrived on time. Miss Osment, stuck in traffic, was a half hour late for the event in August. The same amount of security, including Scranton city firefighters and police officers, turned out for both events, said Jim Walsh, general manager and vice president of the mall. He said it was the “sheer number” of people who came out for the “Hannah” event that made the difference.

About 3,500 people came out to see the “Drake” star, Mr. Walsh estimated, down from the 7,500 children and parents who thronged the shopping center when Miss Osment came to Scranton.

The mall also limited the number of fans who could personally meet Mr. Bell, giving out free “Golden Tickets” prior to the event, Mr. Walsh said.

“We caught fire with the free-for-all last time, so this time we used tickets,” Mr. Walsh. “I think it was a phenomenal success, though I wish more people could have turned out.”

Despite the fewer numbers, there were die-hard fans in the crowd. A group of children, all of Scranton, wearing “Drake & Josh” T-shirts arrived at the mall around 7:30 a.m. to be the first in line to meet Mr. Bell.

Two of them, Maritza Cherry, 10, and Sarah Williams, 10, hoped to get the star to sing happy birthday for them. Their birthdays are this month. Another girl, Brooke Rowlands, 10, hoped she would have the chance to give Mr. Bell a kiss.

Sarah said she woke up around 3 a.m. she was so excited.

“It’s Drake Bell!” the girls screamed when asked why they woke up so early on a Saturday.

Ralphie Aversa, a night show radio host for BHT 97 FM who emceed the event, said it was fun to be on stage, getting the fans ready for when the pop star showed up.

“This is a demographic that is passionate about who they like, and they like Drake,” he said.

Contact the writer: cschillinger@timesshamrock.com

tweens scream and drake two steps: full drake bell recap.

It seemed like a typical mall appearance by a tween idol — in this case Drake Bell, known mostly to the thousand or so people packed inside the Mall at Steamtown for his Nickelodeon show “Drake & Josh.” After four successful seasons, both actors walked away to pursue other gigs, with Drake set to hit the silver screen in March with “College” and a month later in the spoof flick “Superhero!”

However Drake’s subtle smiles, occasional cheek-kisses and melodic, catchy sounds weren’t the only eye-catchers inside Center Court Saturday.

Before any of the aforementioned, FeFe Dobson caught eyes — or at least mine.

Yes, that FeFe Dobson. “Take Me Away.” “Everything.”

As I stood onstage hosting the event, I noticed her to my left and immediately thought, “Wow, she really looks like FeFe Dobson.”

How awkward would that announcement have been over the PA?

“You look familiar,” I inquisitively stated to her about 20 minutes later, after Drake had finished performing two songs, including the MySpace über-spun “Makes Me Happy,” which is closing in on 1 million plays, and “I Know,” which has almost twice as many listens.

She responded, “Yeah, I think we’ve met.” Which we had, back in at a Buffalo, NY, radio concert in 2003.

“Wait a minute …”

“Yeah, yeah it’s me.”

Dobson flew in from Toronto to see Drake. The Canadian-born singer is currently working on new material in T-Dot, which she assured me I would be listening to early next year.

“By the way, can you give this to him?”

Yes, I even passed a note to Drake from FeFe. Lined paper, folded in fours, written with blue ballpoint pen. Feeling like I had re-entered high school, I obliged and brought the message to Drake. FeFe took off for her flight immediately after I walked away. Drake opened the note, looked it over with an exasperated expression across his face — folded the note and placed it under a stack of promo photos.

Drake’s day began at the crack of dawn on the West Coast, where he’s finishing up production for “Superhero!” in Hollywood. After landing in Scranton around 8 a.m., he headed to his hotel, where about 100 adoring fans were treated to a special breakfast with Bell. Conveniently enough, the renaissance man brought his guitar, and at the request of a few kids, performed a song right in the banquet room. Parents eagerly snapped photos and assisted their children in snagging an autograph or three from their child’s Nickelodeon hero. And the breakfast food itself didn’t disappoint either.

From the hotel, Drake, along with his entourage of none and mall officials, drove down the street and inside the mall. Fast forward through two-hours of meeting and greeting, another four songs, and a special half-hour question-and-answer session, and almost every screaming 12-year old and their exhausted parent headed back on the Scranton Expressway and I-81 satisfied, to say the least.

During our impromptu Q&A, which came about only because Bell greeted hundreds in a seemingly record time, I asked Drake who was the most famous person in his cell phone — an iPhone no less. After he responded with Jesse McCartney (to the cringing of most), I asked if there are any other celebrities he chums up with.

“Yeah, Zac Efron sometimes.”

“Does he bring Vanessa (Hudgens) around?”

“Nooooo, that’s just a front.”

A moment of awkwardness later, and Bell quickly retracted, backtracked, sidestepped, and changed topics.

Drake Bell — actor with two movies coming out early next year, musician with a new album slated for April, and as we found out at the end of his appearance Saturday, an accomplished dancer.

(everyone at 97 bht would like to thank the mall at steamtown, the scranton police and fire department, and everyone who showed up saturday and made this such a great success!)