Visibly Drunk… or Invisibly Medicated? The Inaccuracy of Impressions of Paula Abdul

Visibly Drunk… or Invisibly Medicated? The Inaccuracy of Impressions of Paula Abdul by Roxanne McDonald

She was reportedly “visibly” drunk, but was Paula Abdul olfactorily drunk? Or does her condition warrant medications that make her appear loaded?

Paula Abdul has been accused of public drunkenness before. The comments usually took the form of

joking—about what she was drinking in that big Coca-Cola cup at the panel table on American Idol sets. But it has become “news”. Just recently, Paula, doing the obligatory press junket on the Northwest coast, was accused of making a “curious appearance” on Seattle’s Q13 FOX Morning News, reportedly “slurring” her words, “giggling”, and not “knowing what was going on” (as the satellite tech problems distracted and confused her [her rep responded].
But if one would review her history, one would have more information than implication to work with:

First, Paula was involved in a cheerleading accident in 1979 that ruptured a back disc.

Next, in the 1980s, she was in “a couple of car accidents” (according to MSNBC.com). These would be followed by another in 2005.

In 1992, Paula was on a plane which had to make an emergency landing.

In 1998, she became paralyzed—long enough to be plied with [experimental] drugs and pain killers and hurtful enough that, along with the aggravation of the previous incidents and more recent diagnoses, she has come to require heavier meds than her critics could likely handle.

Now, Paula Abdul has survived what has finally been discovered as a rare, painful [chronic] neurological disorder: Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). So while the years of trials, experimental drugs, physical therapy, acupuncture, and even live leech therapy have been traumatic enough, the drug she now takes, prescribed Enbrel, while it relieves some of her pain, does little to tone down the drama queens who wrongly infer Paula is drunk.

She is, however, tougher than they—having gone through pain so unbearable no outsider, no onlooker can ever accurately know. Evidently.

SirLinksAlot American Idol Links

Rob and Amber Making a Real[ity] Living

Rob and Amber Making a Real[ity] Living by Roxanne McDonald

Rob and Amber Mariano have obviously found their working niche: by way of Survivor, Amazing Race, a publicly aired wedding, and now a poker career/reality TV show.

Rob and Amber Mariano have obviously found their working niche: by way of Survivor, Amazing Race, a publicly aired wedding, and now a poker career/reality TV show.

Rob offers a rational on his and his wife’s new show “Rob and Amber: Against the Odds” when he says that there is no way he can go back to doing construction work for a living. While he explains that he and amber have been all over the world, he also admits to being in love with or

obsessed with poker, now—all of which (the travel, the Vegas scene) are far too exciting to give up.
Amber is not so convinced, wishing for some down time in their Pensacola home where she can stay in one place, garden, do domestic duties, and just relax from being always on the go for the last five years. Amber also fears failure (losing their Survivor winnings, for starters) and chooses—in the first episode—to be the more rational one of the two, telling Rob at one point that he is not a poker star but a simple reality star, so, she tells him, he should deal with it.

Rob has rational moments of his own. He explains how fortunate he and Amber have been to have such wonderful opportunities (as those afforded by “Survivor”, “Amazing Race,” and now, “…Against the Odds”)…but they would not have had any of them had they not been willing to take the necessary risks. Good point, Boston.

Also noticeable in the first episode of “Rob & Amber: Against the Odds” is how respectful each is toward the other. Sure, they have tiffs and a couple of major disagreements, but Amber says to the cameras that while she is scared [of such a risk as signing on as a professional poker player’s wife], she also wants to be a supportive wife. And Rob says that while he may have had his feelings hurt by her what-if-we-lose reaction, Amber is his wife and he loves her and will comply with her final decision of whether or not to risk a Vegas venture.

(read more…)