in case there was ever a doubt...

ludacris is the best cameo-rapper, period. i could list them all, instead i'll provide an mp3 of his latest masterpiece - jennifer lopez's "do it well." he just single-handidly made this a "certified banger."

click here to listen.

the subtitles SO add to the experience.

making you smile...

one picture at a time.

verne troyer ridin' dirty in toronto... atleast they didn't catching him peeing in public!

yawn.

mtv confirms that britney will open the vmas.

that's so a couple weeks ago on this blog - the first blog on the net to report it.

c'mon now.

so funny right now.

so i just got back into the studios here at bht from the starbucks. drive-thru line looked a little long, and i had a few minutes to spare. inside it was.

i get in, and thankfully there's a small line, but unfortunately, there's a newbie taking orders.

"this is going to get fun," i think to myself.

i proceed to the counter, "hey, iced grande coffee, non-fat, two splendas, shot of sugar-free vanilla."

c'mon, you knew my drink at the big-bad-bucks.

"whoa, sorry man, gotta slow down, i'm new here," the green-eared and aproned barista responded.

suddenly from the back comes a more experienced worker, who politely takes my order while showing the new guy what buttons to press on the screen.

"yeah, it'll take you a while to get used to that," he explains to the amateur.

like i'm some kind of weird species or something. ORDER FAST OR GO HOME!

okay, i'm calm now.

as i was saying...

after working many many holiday weekends, especially of the labor day variety, i could appreciate being able to have lengthened weekend off. spent it in scenic stamford, ct with the gf. i left in the wee hours of saturday morning, after hosting club bht from the woodlands. arrived at her place a little after 5a, woke-up around 9:45a to catch an 11a train to nyc. from the train to the 4 - we headed uptown to the bronx. and then we saw this.

yup, ball game over, yankees win!

from there it was downtown, times square to be exact. i was going to take pictures, but they'd be the same stereotypical tourist shots you've seen/snapped yourself. so i decided to just enjoy the view.

we met my mom, sis, and aunt at bubba gump shrimp, right in between the hard rock cafe and mtvizzle. the rest of the fam was in town to see the taping of ellen's show - it aired yesterday. she had hillary clinton and usher as guests.

you wouldn't think of a seafood place as having amazing burgers, but indeed they did. hotness i tell ya. the fried calamari was also excellent. and the wait staff is hilarious - i particularly enjoyed the quiz on the movie forrest gump before our food was served.

i also left my driver's license in my car back at the train station. yet through smooth talking, a little sympathy, and i guess my non-boyish looks - i drank miller lite all day throughout the tri-state area.

after another subway trip, a lengthy walk through half of harlem and a train ride - we were back safe and sound in stamford after a nice day gallivanting throughout nyc.

stayed through tuesday morning, and drove right back to work as i pulled down i-81. as usual, the long weekend wasn't long enough, but hey, i'm not complaining.

a father-son affair.

spike lee, brad pitt, and their sons enjoy last night's yankees win. now THAT'S being a father.
oh, and go yankees!

been a minute.

hey hey.

i know, it's been a while. i usually don't blog friday-sunday, and with monday being a holiday, and tuesday being catch-up day (and wednesday being catch-up from tuesday day)...

yeah, you get the idea.

last night on the show i talked about whoopi goldberg making waves on her first official show as new co-host of the view. right off the bat - whoopi causes a stir by "defending" michael vick. i'll use quotations because she didn't necessarily say, "i defend michael vick." she simply said dogfighting in the south is a cultural thing that people can't understand.

but peta responded in an appropriate fashion today, saying that whoopi needs to understand the cruelty behind the "sport," and that isn't a culture-thing, it's a cruelty-thing.

touche.

whoopi did a little two-step on today's show, clarifying yesterday's remarks. but the damage has been done.
---

tomorrow on the show - r. kelly's trial, postponed, again! michael hundgen from tmz gives us the reasons and the latest.
---
oh thanks for asking about my labor day weekend! it was superb. i cannot remember the last time i had a chance to do nothing but eat hot dogs, drink beer, watch baseball, and lay around all day - on a holiday or for that matter any other day. spent it with the gf... pictures to come later.
---
along with much more.
uno!

love the e-mails.

received this tonight...

From: ____________________
To : ralphie@97bht.com
CC :
Date : Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:40:04 -0700 (PDT)
Subject : hey there

---

i listen to you every night on the radio..ive even spoken to you. I have to say that you are a breath of fresh air on the radio...you make my nights soo much more fun. You are soo energetic and i just love your voice..its very sexy. I hope i am not embarrassing you. Perhaps someday we will get to meet in person.

Take care.
__________________

oh no - thank you! and i thought the new britney song or the tmz interview was cool. this so made my night!

tonight on the ralphie radio show!

- every hour i'm giving you free passes to this saturday's foam party at club energy! its a 21-and-UNDER event.

- at 9:15 michael hundgen from tmz gives you the latest on nick hogan and his erratic (understatement) driving.

- plus we'll get you on the guest list for club x at the woods tonight w. marinoooo!

the ralphie radio show w. ralphie aversa - 7-12a - 97bht - 97bht.com

the takeover, the break's over!

no, the subject line is not referring to one of my favorite jay-z songs, or my favorite track on fall out boy's new cd.

97bht took over camel beach last friday. proof below! (and next time i'm bringing my trunks, that place is awesome).

the bigger the better.

gotta love when karma strikes twice, in a good way, at a place you already enjoy visiting.

that is what has happened to me in two of my past four visits to starbucks here in wilkes-barre. if you didn't already know, i'm a big fan of the bucks. like daily visitor big fan. like to the point where the workers will eventually know my name fan.

last week, i hit up the drive-thru (and btw, i have never loved a single drive-thru more in my entire lifespan), and i am forced to wait an extremely inordinate amount of time for my current beverage of choice.

current beverage of choice: grande iced coffee, non-fat, two splendas, sugar-free vanilla.

the gentleman at the window charges my card - and comes back a good six minutes later with my drink.

and voile! my drink has been pimped. i am now rockin' the venti at grande price. holler.

today the drive-thru line was long, and i had a little time, so i went in. and the same thing happened again!

i'm tellin' ya, it's the little things in life...

the deaf kid tries to become america's idol.

geoff herbert, known to thousands in syracuse, ny by his alias of "deaf geoff" - is already an idol to many who suffer from disabilities.

herbert was born with a hearing disorder that left him legally deaf in both ears. however through lip reading and hearing aids - you almost never have to double-speak when talking to him.

but his abilities do not end there. herbert has defied all odds in his profession of choice - professional radio disc jockey.

the syracuse university graduate also mixes at clubs and parties on the weekends. but this past weekend, herbert drove from syracuse to philadelphia in hopes of a more national spotlight - american idol.

(photo credit: deafgeoff's myspace page)

over 17,000 people showed up at the wachovia center for yesterday's tryout, setting a show record. click here to listen to the perspective of an idol-wannabe who's hearing-impaired.

heard it here first!

world premiere on the show last night... so hot right now... madonna f. pharrell - the beat goes on. can't even post the whole thing or else i'll get screamed on by warner bros. records, that's how exclusive this is! click here for the clip.

pre-mature dancing.

tmz leaked the new cast for the upcoming "dancing with the stars" contest on abc.

the fellas...
Aaron Carter
Wayne Newton
Mark Cuban
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Lou Ferrigno
Richard Quest
Helio Castroneves

the ladies...
Jane Seymour
Tori Spelling
Jennie Garth
Nia Peeples
Gisele Bundchen
Sabrina Bryan

personally i think the guys lineup is WEAK. wayne newton is okay - but no one cares about mayweather, and aaron carter is disgusting.

if i leave the studio TV on abc - its clearly because gisele was competing (and the yankees weren't playing).

he said his prayers and took his vitamins.

nick bollea, known to adoring fans of his family's reality show as "nick hogan", and simply known by millions of wrestling fans as "the hulkster's son", is out of the hospital after crashing his car into a tree pole in clearwater. authorities have stated that nick was speeding, however his speed is unknown at the time. earlier this month, florida authorities cited nick for driving 82 in a 45.

(photo credit: cnn)
damn.

his friend in the car though is still in critical condition. nick's mother, linda, released the following statement:

“My son Nick and a friend were involved in a car accident last night. Nick suffered minor injuries and has been treated and released from the hospital. At this time, his friend, John Graziano remains hospitalized. Nick is currently at the hospital with John and his family. His sole concern is for the well being of his friend. On behalf of my family, we ask that your thoughts and prayers be with John and his loved ones.”

rockstar-personified

my job is pretty sweet in that i get multiple perspectives on events and situations that the average person would be fortunate to see from one. backstage passes, meet and greets, afterparties. i mean, its no entourage, but its still pretty cool.

its through these experiences that a story like this really doesn't faze me - but i'm sure you'll find it extremely intriguing. i share those thoughts - but simply put, this just isn't something i haven't seen/heard about before.

nikki sixx plays bass for motley crue. can you imagine touring with tommy lee?

well, now if you're interested in dishing out the money, you can read about it in the bassist's new tell-all book.

click here for a little taste. caution - mention of mothers, daughters, grandmas, and erectile-disfunction pills is included.

new beginnings and a fresh start.

at syracuse university, it took me a while.

the first two years, i would travel home for it, sometimes it being the only reason i sped down i-90 in my maroon '99 ford contour. no change, just a little extra driving. nothing i couldn't handle.

but as my time away from niagara falls increased, so did my need to move on. so i did - and was happy for about a year.

but then the style changed, and so i began experimenting.

i'll pause the story and quickly fill you in on the context of "it"... a haircut.

okay play. as i grew my "fohawk" - all was well at the shoppingtown barbershop, the closest thing i had to ross and joe c. back in the falls, on and just off of pine ave. respectively. the whole set-up certainly was a sight to be had... just imagine eight italian barbers of three generations, all wearing matching shirts with their name embroidered above the pocket sleve. tony, vinny, anthony jr., sal, frank... you get the idea. the walls plastered in sports memorabilia - commemorating everything from the yankees 26 world championships to the lemoyne dolphins dII national lacrosse titles.

i called this shop mine from the end of my sophomore year to the beginning of the senior campaign.

the "fohawk" broke new ground for me, uncharted territories if you will. never had i ever invested more time and thought into my thick, black, curly hair. things were cool for a while - some of you liked it, some of you did not.

but then it got out of control. looking back on pictures - i should've realized sooner that it was time for a change. the curls were unmanageable. the hawk turned into a pile of onion curls. for a lack of a better term - it became ridiculous.

and you can't have ridiculous hair on your national tv debut.

so i head to shoppingtown in search of a trim that will take my "do" back to a respectable level. with my vast experience in receiving haircuts, i account for the time it will take for my hair to grow back to normal after the cut, as well as my itinerary and the schedule of the shop.

a week in advance it was. for once in my life, i planned something ahead of time and executed. and in a round-about way, it paid off - although not in the fashion i anticipated.

see, vinny, sal... whichever barber's number i drew that day... he did not understand how a fohawk works. or atleast how mine shaped. for example, even though i spike the top, all the sides are cut close-to-even, so that when the hawk "erects" - it doesn't look disproportional to the rest of my head.

yeah i just typed that.

furthermore, there is no "fade" on a fohawk. again, steady and even all the way around. including the back.

as i walked out of the mall, i feared for the worst, because the past twenty minutes had not once touched on steady or even. my hair was a mess, and i needed to look my sharpest for the biggest career moment to that date.

but thankfully my hair dilemna was a blessing in disguise. it forced me to buzz off my hair - which certainly made me more presentable as i reported on a student matricide case with rita cosby during a msnbc news block.

furthermore, it led me to find renee, who up until i left for wilkes-barre, was my stylist. reasonably priced, nice person, knew how to cut my hair - AND introduced me to the paste i now use, which helps to guard against the "ridiculous" and "onion curls" that my hair once encompassed.

there is a third reason why this all worked for the better. it involves mtv and an interview i had with them. but as my old professor dr. rick wright would say, "that's another story."

now on to the rest of this one - once again i'm in a new town, and once again i have to find someone who can cut the fohawk. unfortunately attempt number one ended up a disaster. so, now via self-portrait, please welcome the ralphie you will see for the next 45 to 60 days...

tmz on the ralphie radio show.

tmz's michael hundgen joined the show thursday night (8.23) with breaking news on lindsay lohan and the drama surrounding mtv's the hills.

click here to listen to the fate of la lohan.

click here to listen to michael and ralphie discuss the feuds on the hills.

now you see her...

now you don't.

on the same day that lindsay lohan pled guilty to a number of misdemeanors, nicole richie surrendered to authorities and began her jail term for the DUI conviction.

eighty-two long minutes later, richie was released due to overcrowding.

the l.a. county sheriff's department had this to say to tmz...

"On August 23 2007, at 3:15 PM Miss Nicole Camille Richie reported to CRDF and surrendered herself following a July 27 arrest, she was sentenced to serve 96 hours in County Jail. Miss Richie was accompanied by her attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley and her boyfriend Joel Madden. Miss Richie was booked and processed into the jail system. Miss Richie was cooperative during the process. Based on her sentence and federal court guidelines, Miss Richie was released at 4:37 PM today."

anyone taking bets on how long they'll keep lilo in once she begins her 24-hour sentance?