IT Update – it seems the Little IT and I will be going to see Hannah Montana after all.  A very kind co-worker (ok, my boss) read my blog and saw that we were in need of tickets, and he was able to get them.  Cassie, her best friend from the “Inside Edition” piece got tickets as well, from a MileyWorld.com post-sale.  Seems they sent out notices to everyone who didn’t use their pre-sale codes inviting them to use them in a post-show sale.  But they got smart – you have to pick up the tickets at will-call the night of the event, and show the credit card you used to purchase them as ID.  I guess they are trying to make up for all the scalpers who got a hold of them.  Hooray for MileyWorld. 

We gave Little IT the tickets for her first night of Hannukah present.  We were going to wait till Christmas, because then I would only have hear about the concert for 2 days as opposed to 23, but c’est la vie.  We know of a few others in town who were getting tickets at the same time, and we figured we’d just go for it.   She screamed when she saw them, but it didn’t really sink in until the next morning when she proceeded to talk about  the concert.  A lot.  Sigh.  It’s going to be a long month.

By popular demand (no, I am not kidding) here is a link to the Inside Edition/Hannah Montana piece on YouTube.

Here’s the story online.  They used a screen shot of me where, blissfully, I don’t look awful. 

Sarah and Cassie are mentioned in it, which is fun. Cassie called the house after she saw the broadcast and asked if Sarah told her classmates. Sarah said she didn’t tell anyone, to which Cassie replied, “I told EVERYONE!” So cute.

We just got done watching ourselves on Inside Edition.  We were all happy with the way it was edited, and what was said.  I was impressed that the editing did not make us look ridiculous, or exploit the girls.  It was all good, and the girls were thrilled to see themselves on TV.  Me, I have to work on that extra chin…

REALLY UPDATED!  Here’s a link to the segment transcript on the Inside Edition page.   

UPDATED!  They showed a preview of Tuesday’s show – looks like the Hannah story will be on then.  I was on in the preview, so it looks like they used some of our footage.

 If you’re here to read my story of how I was interviewed along with my daughter on the Hannah Montana/Ticketmaster controversy for the syndicated TV show, Inside Edition, these are the posts you want to take a look at.

Here’s the blog post that the producer saw that drove her to contact me in the first place.

Here’s part one of my play by play on the interview

and part two

and part three

Enjoy!

Continued – more of in which Little IT and I are getting ready to be interviewed by “Inside Edition” about the Hannah Montana ticket controversy…

7:42p – IT Boy, having been asleep since 6:30, gets put in his crib in his room. In the meantime, I meet Holly, the very nice AP who has a camera and sound guy with her.  She asks to use the bathroom, looking very tired from her day.  Everyone is very pleasant.  As they begin setting up, I panic, which seems to be my mode for the day.  Why am I doing this?  Is this some perverse desire for fame for me, or worse, my kid?  Have I become the Dina Lohan of Center Lane?  Am I selling her out in an effort to make her the next Britney Spears?  Do I really think I could get Hannah tickets out of this for Little IT?  Having Mr. IT scowling in the kitchen helps matters not at all.  I settle down with the knowledge that it’s just a fun thing for the girls to do.  Heck, maybe it will help my blog traffic.  Maybe we get tickets out of it for the girls somehow.  How bad could this be?

7:50p – Nice sound guy sets up the shoot with nice camera guy.  They want to shoot us in front of the newly de-cluttered dining room, on chairs.  But we have no chairs that fit the bill.  Mr. IT runs downstairs to find folding chairs.  As the guy puts the mike on me, Holly helpfully points out that I have spit up on my shoulder, and sends me upstairs to change, for the fourth time that day. I switch to a kimono sleeve cashmere sweater which R declares to be the best one of the day. I bemoan the fact that my hair was not done, and wonder how I can go on film that way. And, Julie’s words ringing in my ears, I reapply my lipstick.

Meanwhile, C’s brothers, A and S, who are part time DJs and all-around AV geeks, arrive with their friend K. K is wearing an iPod Nano shirt. The brothers start asking what kind of microphones they are using and what range they get. My geek peeps have arrived. I ponder how I much value I can gain if I update my LinkedIn profile to read Television appearances: “Unwrapped”, Food Network; “Inside Edition”, Syndicated.

7:55 – Little IT and I are in chairs ready to spill our guts about the Hannah ticket mess.  As Holly asks questions and directs our answers, I realize that she’s hoping I’m going to get mad…really mad.  Screaming irrational psycho parent kind of mad.  And I’m really not that way.  Yes, I’m disappointed I didn’t get tickets.  She keeps saying that parents are suing Ticketmaster, that tickets are going on some sites for up to $3,000, doesn’t that make me MAD?  Well, yes and no.  Mad at the scalpers for finding a way to do that.  Mad at Ticketmaster that I’ve been buying concert tickets for 25+ years now and this keeps happening.  Not mad at poor Miley Cyrus, who seems like a decent enough kid living well under a morality clause from the Disney Company. 

Then the producer starts refering to a web article that lists something about the Missouri AG who is suing Ticketmaster alleging fraud, and Ticketmaster suing some ticket broker who has found a way around their systems. All of which, unfortunately, is news to me. Reminded me of the time in college that I was giving a presentation on the PLO in my “Nationalism and Terrorism” course. Yeah, you laughed at me for taking that course in 1988, but now, really, who looks like a sage now? Anyhow, the professor for the course went easy on most kids in the presentations. However, unbeknownst to me, he was a nationally recognized expert on all things PLO. Who knew? He managed to stay awake through my whole presentation (he was the oldest tenured prof at the university at the time, so he took cat naps through most of the other students’ works) and asked questions every third sentence or so. At the end, he asked me what I thought about the latest skirmish between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Trouble was, I was a typical college student in the 80’s. No TV, certainly no Internet, and worse, because I was working so hard on this paper, I had no time to read any newspaper, much less one that would have told me a thing about this latest confrontation. So here I was, up to date on the Dawson’s Field hijackings almost 20 years earlier, but utterly clueless when it came to something that happened about 2 weeks ago.  That was a tangent, but it brings me to this point…How was I supposed to realize that I had Hannah homework?!?

8:15 – Having failed with me, Holly turns to Little IT. Meanwhile, A and K make a run for it, but S wants to stay. Now, whose who know Little IT know that she’s no shrinking violet. However, when the camera turned on her, she became quiet and shy. They really tried to work in some questions that could be answered coherently, but Little IT didn’t give them much to work with. C’est la vie.

8:25 – Holly decides to get some other shots for B roll footage- Little IT and C dancing in front of the TV to a Hannah Montana DVD, the three of us doing homework at the dining room table (look out for the Dummies product placement here), and the girls putting on their identical Hannah Halloween costumes in Little IT’s bedroom. Holly made the girls repeatedly say how much they love Hannah and, in unison, “Hannah Montana, please help us.” I start feeling a little icky and look at R. R with one look says I don’t need a shower, and it’s kind cute. I worry that I am exploiting my child, who has no concept about boundaries, and isn’t that what I am there for? To stop the madness. I don’t, thinking if it’s really all that bad, Mr. IT or R would have stopped me. The person who may have had the best time of all was S, who got to hold the boom mike and talk with the sound and camera guys about how they do what they do. He’s still talking about how much fun it was.

8:50 – Everyone leaves, and I am left with Mr. IT and Little IT. Mr. IT says that they’ll never use any of the footage, because I didn’t get screaming mad on camera and he was proud of me for that. Awww…that made me realize that I probably was doing the right thing all along, and if my moral compass really was challenged, I wouldn’t have let it go that far.

Holly said the story will probably air either tonight or tomorrow. I will tape it – if they edit it so that I look crazy or the girls come out as spoiled brats (which they are not) I won’t let Little IT watch it. R still has the dream that somehow someone will come through with tickets for us. I’m kinda past thinking about that, unless another show gets added to the schedule.  

 What did I learn?  I’m still pondering that.  I guess because my motives for doing the appearance were never solidified, I don’t feel like I accomplished any goal.  Hopefully, Little IT will be excited to be on TV.  And so will C.  If they did end up getting tickets, great.  But as I emphasized to the producer, we didn’t get tickets, but life goes on.  There will be other things for her to get excited about.  It wasn’t the end of the world then, and it certainly won’t be now. 

Continued – in which Little IT and I are getting ready to be interviewed by “Inside Edition” about the Hannah Montana ticket controversy…

 12:17 – run downstairs to babysitter.  Explain situation.  Explain that I need her to help me get the house, which is “cluttered” on the best of days, in TV show shape.  She reminds me that if the crew is coming at 4:30, Little IT has a playdate that will keep her out till 5:30. 

12:18 – Call the house of the kid where the playdate is.  Get the woman’s MIL, who doesn’t really appear to speak English. Not confident message is received.

12:30 - Call R.  R is the mother of Little IT’s best friend, C.  Leave panicked message on cell phone asking to be called back immediately.  R is the one that bought the Miley World membership in the first place, with the intention of buying 4 tickets at the presale, but y’all know where that went, now don’t cha…

12:45 – R calls me back.  “Are they going to give us the tickets?!?”  No, I say.  “Inside Edition” is a tabloid format magazine show.  They ain’t Oprah.  It’s just going to be me talking about how I could not get the tickets.  Regardless, R says that she and C will be there for the taping.  R has cell phone # for playdate mom.  Call it.  Leave message. 

12:50 – I call my friend Julie to ask her to come and do my makeup.  I planned to style my hair but I really didn’t have the time, being on the phone and all, and it’s pretty dry from the shower right now.  Julie says she will be over right before the camera crew does. 

1-4p – I finish work, while babysitter throws all possessions into pack and play.  Babysitter picks up Little IT at school, intercepting the mom (who she had never met before and had no idea what she looked like) who was trying to take her for the playdate just in the nick of time.  Little IT comes home all confused.  She never knew anything about the Hannah tickets, so she’s getting a little disappointed that we never got them in the first place.  Great. 

4p – I join babysitter in trying to clean up the dump.  Make mental note apologizing to the me of the future who will be looking in vain for all this stuff shoved into unrecognizable locations, cursing the me of the past all the way.

4:10 – Julie arrives, calms me down, and does a wonderful job on my makeup.  “Don’t forget to reapply the lipstick!!” she says as she leaves.  “What are you going to wear?” she asks.  Black T shirt and jeans, I reply, as I strip off the pj shorts and the tie dyed shirt. 

4:20 – Andrea calls.  Camera crew is running late on Marion Jones thingy.  They’re coming instead at 5:30.  I alert R to come an hour later.

5:30 – R arrives.  No camera crew.  Yet.  Little IT and C begin playing in the other room.  I decide to feed IT Boy his dinner.  Cereal, macaroni and cheese, and banana yoghurt.  None of the rest of us have eaten, other than the occasional potato chip. 

6:00 – Andrea calls.  Camera crew still in White Plains.  Not sure, but she thinks they are leaving now.  Politely gives me her cell phone to call her if they’re still MIA.  I get Mr. IT on the phone.  He’s on his way home.  Ask him to pick up dinner. 

6:30 – IT Boy is playing on the floor and falls back and hits his head.  Full disclosure, this happens about every other day.  He’s a little guy learning his way in the world, and doesn’t have the best muscle control.  It happens.  I pick him up to comfort him, and in one honk, he barfs up dinner all over me and the floor.  I rush upstairs to change, at the prompting of R, who strips him down and cleans the floor. 

6:40 – New outfit of Wiley shirt (product placement!) and black capri pants, which while they resemble pajamas are in no way sleepwear.  Mr. IT arrives with dinner.  He’s ranting and raving, but that usually happens when the Mr. returns home.  R at one point tells him to shut up, and suddenly I am glad he is acting up so she can see what I am up against sometimes.

6:50 – Holly, the AP on site calls.  NOW they are leaving the courthouse in White Plains.  NOW.  They should be here in 20 minutes.  I do the math – White Plains to my house on a Friday traffic night?  7:40 on a good day.

7:00 – Little IT and C eat chinese food.  I take a bowl and pig out on vegetable dumplings. 

7:40 The camera crew arrives. 

To be continued. 

How was your weekend?  Odds are, you didn’t find yourself recovering from the kind of Friday that I experienced…let me take you through it, moment by moment.

 5:50a – IT Boy wakes up.  Again.  He’s already in bed with us, after waking the first time at 1a. 

6:30 – Mr. IT heads off to the shower.  I put IT Boy in the playpen and crank up the computer to check email.  I get breakfast going.

8:00 – Little IT Girl heads off on the bus to school.  Babysitter arrives for IT Boy.  Babysitter reminds me that she’s leaving early today for a weekend getaway.

9:00 – Sitting at the computer and the phone rings.  Caller ID shows “Unknown Name, Unknown Number.”  Generally, this is a phonecall from a machine with a valley girl voice that begins, “Hiiiiiii, it’s Jessica from Limited Too calling!  I wanted to make sure you got our latest catazine…” I do a killer impersonation of Jessica, BTW.  Kids love it.  But today it isn’t Jessica. 

“Hi I’m Andrea* and I’m a producer with “Inside Edition” – I’m looking for Ellen Gerstein.”

 ”Hi, I’m Ellen,” I said with trepidation.

“Are you the Ellen who writes the blog ‘Confessions of an IT Girl’”?

Fame at last…”Yes, yes I am.”

“We’re doing a story on the Hannah Montana ticket sellout controversy and wondered if we could interview you and your daughter for a show airing next week.”

Oh.  “Oh.  I suppose so…when, where?”

“We’re not sure yet, I’ll have to check with my AP – can I call you back at this number?”

Sure.  “Sure,” I said.

9:10 – spend the next 10 minutes explaining all this to the babysitter, who thinks I’m crazy.  I tell her that I work with media outlets like this all the time, and the odds that I will be called back, much less appear on TV are minuscule.

12noon – I take my lunch break and decide to shower.  Since I work at home on Fridays, showering is optional, as is hair and makeup.  I’m wearing a tie-dyed shirt that is a size too big (debated between the L and XL, went with XL, big mistake) and long shorts with my hair in one of my daughter’s headbands.  Basically, I resemble the 4th grader across the street who himself looks like Jerry Garcia Jr.   When I throw the shorts in the hamper, I notice that the tag on them says “sleepwear”.  Great.  I’ve been wearing my pajamas around town for months, and no one says anything. 

12:15p – phone rings.  Camera crew is covering Marion Jones thingy in White Plains, they’re going to be here between 4 and 4:30.  Oh, and if the kid has any friends who are also into Hannah Montana, can they come too.

12:16p – utter and complete panic sets in.  What have I done?

To be continued… 

* Names changed to protect the innocent