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Interviewing celebrities, breaking national stories, blogging daily, and offering candid commentary on pop culture is just a small sample of what he does. Ralphie Aversa is the relentless, tireless, non-stop-always-go host and executive producer of “The Ralphie Radio Show.” Check out his links above, and his blog below - and thanks for swinging through!

5.14.2009

TMZ'S LESLIE HARRIS: "The Office" Star Craig Robinson Catches a Break

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Good news for Dunder-Mifflin employee "Daryl" came via a judge in Los Angeles. TMZ's Leslie Harris explains how Robinson may be rewarded for his work - and it doesn't involve a pat on the back from Michael Scott (although I'm sure he'd be proud).


Catch Leslie on TMZ TV - Weekdays at 6 on Channel 38 - The CW.

From TMZ:

"Craig Robinson, one of the stars of "The Office," got a gold star today from the judge in his drug case. The headline -- his felony drug conviction will be dismissed.

Robinson was busted in 2008. Cops say he had meth and ecstasy in his car and coke in his system. His lawyer, Blair Berk, says he was busted for driving "while large and Black."

The judge today was impressed Robinson completed his drug ed class, so the felony charge will be dismissed next February."

RALPHIE REWIND: Why's My Watch 5 Minutes Ahead?

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Ralphie noticed something interesting: after his friend Dina set his watch to the correct time/date - it read 5 minutes fast. Was Dina trying to drop a hint to Ralphie?

DAILY DOWNLOAD - New FOB, Jonas Brothers...


05.12.09 : Fall Out Boy - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown... (Originally featured in Oct. '08)

05.11.09 : Jonas Brothers - Paranoid

FOREVER THE SICKEST KIDS w/ Ralphie!

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Forever The Sickest Kids chat with Ralphie on their tour bus in Allentown about the incident regarding Philadelphia Police and upcoming projects.


Read Ralphie's report on the Philadelphia incident here.
Check out Ralphie's 2008 FTSK Warped Tour interview here.

Band and crew members of We The Kings and Forever The Sickest Kids were involved in an alleged altercation with the Philadelphia Police Department on Sunday night, following the Bamboozle Road Show at The Theater of the Living Arts. According to Twitter updates from both band's camps, three people were taken in to custody, some beaten with nightsticks by police who were "abusing their power." However, a spokesperson for the PPD denied the incident on The Ralphie Radio Show.

What is agreed on by all parties involved is that police were called to the venue after the conclusion of the show to prevent any disorderly conduct from concert-goers. Furthermore, Philly enforces a curfew for people under the age of 18, so authorities arrived at the venue to ensure that teens complied with the law.

The similarities in the stories end there. According to an officer in the PPD's Public Affairs Office, the involvement of the patrollers ended there. However, Twitter updates by We The Kings front man Travis Clark and Forever The Sickest Kids guitarist Caleb Turman, along with a disturbing online video, paint a drastically different picture.

"Philadelphia cops just beat us up for nothing!" typed Clark on his Twitter account at approximately 8:13 PM. He updated ten minutes later, "Chris V is bleeding from his head, every cop is completely abusing their power!! This is so messed up!"

"Chris V" handles merchandise for WTK. In a video posted to MySpace by production company Artist Approach, Chris is shown face down on the ground, surrounded by police officers. The video ends with a still photograph of the “merch guy” looking up, his upper face covered in blood.

Forever The Sickest Kids' Turman also "tweeted" during and immediately after the alleged incident, attempting to update fans and build a case against the officers.

"Everyone tweet about the #phillycops and how they wrongfully assaulted us!" wrote the guitarist. "Philly cops just assaulted ftsk and we the kings!"

According to the aforementioned MySpace video, Turman and WTK Road Manager Trevor Fair were the original reasons why police entered the venue. Text in the video states that after cops arrived to clear the crowd, an officer wrote a parking ticket for a trailer belonging to the band Mercy Mercedes. Turman went outside to see what the commotion was about, and a cop immediately withdrew his baton and ordered him back in the building. Fair then followed, only to be forced back inside as well. After Fair repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to open the door, officers entered the venue to arrest him for disorderly conduct. As police dragged Fair out of the venue, "Chris V" can be heard yelling, "Are you kidding me?! F*** you bro, f*** you. What's your f***ing badge number?" to an officer. Police then attacked the merch handler to subdue him.

WTK lead man Clark updated his Twitter on Monday, assuring fans that all parties involved were okay and out of jail, and that there'd be no interruptions in commitments. Some of the bands on tour attended Monday night's Phillies game to relax.

None of the three bands involved have released any formal statement – and Philadelphia Police continue to deny such an incident even occurred.

THE WHITE TIE AFFAIR w/ Ralphie

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After playing 97 BHT's "High School Hookup 2009" at Riverside - The White Tie Affair met up with Ralphie at T.G.I. Friday's, and you could tell that they weren't speaking in front of a high school anymore.

Check out photos from "High School Hookup 2009" here.

It felt like a bunch of my old friends I grew up with comprised The White Tie Affair, a pop-rock band from Chicago. Sitting at a table at T.G.I. Friday’s in Wilkes-Barre, the fellas and I chatted candidly about porn videos, gossip, and (alleged) sexual escapades with or by friends and tour mates.

Then, I turned on the microphone and began the interview. If you think the band tamed the lingo – well, you thought incorrectly. In between dishing on the group’s next MTV cameo (in a couple weeks on The Hills) and Lady GaGa (they opened for GaGa on “The Fame Ball”), TWTA jumped at every spare moment to change the subject. The guys constantly mentioned premature ejaculation (or as guitarist Sean P. commonly referred to it: premature evacuation) and Daryl Strawberry.

“A lot of times what happens, there’s like premature evacuation going on and you don’t want to be embarrassed by the way you evacuate due to weather,” the guitarist all-but-blurted out. I didn’t care to inquire as to the origin of the inside joke, but the constant references to the former baseball player Strawberry peaked my curiosity.

“Was Daryl Strawberry there?” keyboardist Ryan McClain asked after a question about the group keeping up with the storylines of The Hills. “Candle (Sick and Tired)” first gained notoriety after the show featured the track and TWTA.

After a few more mentions of the former Yankees and Mets outfielder, lead singer Chris Wallace attempted to shed some light on the joke.

“We did this event in New York at CitiField, the Mets new stadium, and we heard Daryl Strawberry was gonna be there,” said Wallace.

“I’m a huge fan,” continued McClain. “Apparently, he had some problems back in the day.”

Those problems were alluded to early in the interview, when Wallace abruptly speculated that he heard Strawberry, “could no longer smell.”

Perhaps a lack of sleep could be attributed to the meandering of the interview. Wallace wrote the next day on the band’s MySpace blog that TWTA pulled an all-nighter – driving from Rochester, N.Y. to Wilkes-Barre. The next stop: Riverside High School, where Wallace and his crew performed for 97 BHT’s High School Hookup 2009, complete with a few of the group’s own tracks and covers of GaGa and Kanye West.

Anyways, the interview moved on, or at least I attempted to move it on – asking the guys about touring with the aforementioned GaGa.

“Let’s just say, she’s very polite and very generous with her ‘givings’,” Sean P noted. He couldn’t elaborate any further without inciting an FCC fine, however the guitarist did revert to a familiar topic in the conversation.

“If you were to run a city and there was a hurricane to come, you don’t want to be caught up premature evacuating even though it’s safer, and you get what you get done, I would never want to say that I premature evacuated a city when a tornado was coming.”

And on that note, I did not find anything premature about exiting the interview – after all, I knew the “tornado” of an editing task that awaited me before I could air the conversation.

RICARDO/E&R ENTERTAINMENT ON LIL' WAYNE'S ARTIST RIDER

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E&R Entertainment's CEO, Ricardo, chats about Lil' Wayne's artist rider, which leaked on to the Internet. Ricardo brought Weezy to the Wachovia Arena last fall.

E and R Entertainment is also bringing "The Terrific Teen Tour featuring Mitchel Musso" to the Wachovia Arena on Thursday, July 9th.

- Lil' Wayne's Wilkes-Barre Concert
- E and R Entertainment
- Lil' Wayne's Rider

TMZ'S LESLIE HARRIS: Manny Being Manny... or Barry?

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TMZ's Leslie Harris talks about the reaction from Los Angeles after MLB suspended former Red Sox/current Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez for 50 games after he failed a drug test.


Catch Leslie on TMZ TV - Weekdays at 6 on Channel 38 - The CW.

Ramirez released the following statement:

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me.

Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy, that mistake is now my responsibility. I've been advised not to say anything more for now.

I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past 5 seasons. 

I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. L.A. is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

WINGMAN WEDNESDAY: The Wedding Date-Crasher

The Wingman's wedding date didn't work out as originally planned, so he made the best of the night... until the date awoke to an unpleasant surprise.


Initial Wingman Story:

The Wedding Date Calls Up!:

The Wingman's Mother's Day Plans:

Visit The Wingman on MySpace.

RALPHIE REWIND: Coldplay Copyright Infringement?

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Yet another artist comes forth to claim that Coldplay copied a melody for the song, "Viva La Vida." Hear both tracks in this clip and judge for yourself...


From Reuters:

"Singer-songwriter Cat Stevens agreed on Monday that the Coldplay song, "Viva La Vida," sounds like one of his 1973 songs, but he stopped short of saying he would sue for plagiarism.

"My son brought it to my attention and said: 'Doesn't that sound like 'Foreigner Suite?'" the musician, now known as Yusuf Islam, told Reuters.

"The song definitely sounds like it," he said of his song. "It has such logical chords and the melody has to be what it is..."

Read the full story here.