This picture of Regis Philbin at the end of the Macys fireworks special on NBC–this was during a break, taken by me–isn’t completely in focus. But I liked it because Regis was a sport all night, chatting with everyone, making sure all these “regular” people felt comfortable. He also posed with a lot of service men, various military and Navy guys, and about a dozen “Uncle Sams” standing on red white and blue stilts for hours on end. Not too many celebs in the VIP area: just Marcus Sameuelsson, Francine LeFrak and Rick Friedberg, and then Mayor Bloomberg traipsed in with a huge entourage. Patron Tequila was being given out free. There was no water anywhere. Someone told us that Macy’s in New York is going to have a $500 million overhaul. It needs it. The main floor looks like Sodom after Gommorah came by for dinner. Regis is missed on TV, that’s for sure…
…Meanwhile Wyclef Jean put on some show over at Pier 92. The place was packed. No one minded. There was lots of dancing in the heat. Clef played all his hits and gave a shout out to Lauryn Hill, his one time fellow Fugee. He did some freestylin’ political rap, and there were quite a few Haitians digging the scene. Later, Lil Jon came on –separate show– and the place got very rowdy. Someone cut up pillows, sending wet, hot smelly goose down feathers everywhere all over the place. A fight almost broke out by the stage, but Lil Jon spoke directly to the participants from the stage and shut it down. Freedom! This what the revolutionaries fought for! I hope they’re happy now…
