Wed Dec 30, 2009

Larry Lipson - Costa Rica Wine Correspondent
Larry Lipson co-hosts "What's Cooking?"a restaurant, wine and food talk show that airs from 8 to 9 a.m. Wednesdays nationally on Cable Radio Network (CRN) and National Radio Network (NRN), heard locally on KPXN-TV (ITV) Channel 30 SAP;Time Warner Santa Monica on C 74 SAP; Time Warner San Fernando Valley on Channel 1/97 SAP and 25; Time Warner West Valley on Channel 6 SAP and 960; AT&T on Channel 6 in the Valley and Channel 44 SAP in Los Angeles; Charter Communications on Channel 33 SAP; Time Warner Lancaster on Channel 37; Time Warner Simi Valley on Channel 8; Charter in Hidden Hills/Malibu/Agoura on cable FM 97.5; Avenue TV Cable Ventura on Channel 83; Charter San Gabriel Valley on Channel 34 SAP and Channel 56; Time Warner Canyon Country on Channel 960; Time Warner South Pasadena on Channel 6 and 960.  

Nelson Head  Founder Chairman of Board - "Dixie Bones"
Our restaurant was originally located on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. When the lease there expired we moved to Woodbridge, VA, and opened in our current location on January 1, 1996.  My family has been in the food business in the South for over 100 years. I am personally committed to continue our family tradition by serving the "Worlds Best BBQ" and the best prepared side dishes, rolls, sauces and desserts.  All our food is made daily using only the finest ingredients. We do not cut corners by using generic brands and other cheap ingredients, nor do we take short cuts in the process of baking our pies and rolls. And last but not least, we don't use microwave ovens or buy food in cans. Our cooks actually cut potatoes for potato salad, slice cabbage for coleslaw and pick collards to prepare our greens.  We make real pit barbeque, using hickory wood to smoke our meat. No preservatives are used and it is not served swimming in sauce. We serve pork shoulders, beef brisket (for you Westerners), chicken and St. Louis cut pork spareribs. Our catfish (Mississippi farm raised) filets are breaded with cornmeal and other secret spices and fried to order.  Every morning our bakers prepare pies, cobblers, brownies and bread pudding. For our sandwich buns, they make dough, form the rolls (that are allowed to rise three times) and bake and slice the hundreds of dozens required. They also bake cornbread several times a day in cast iron skillets using fresh ground cornmeal from central Virginia. The only non-traditional thing that we have done is to call our restaurant "Dixie Bones" rather than using our family name the usual tradition in the south.

Masi Oka  -  "Hiro" on the hit show "Heroes"
Now the energetic star is hoping to find thousands of real HEROES to help the American Red Cross during this critical time of the year.   One thing that people forget during the holidays is that the need for blood and donations continues and even increases during the holidays.  We hope you'll let this unique celebrity share his important story with your viewers.   It's a story that could save lives!  Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 6 years old. He graduated from Brown University with a major in Computer Science and Mathematics and a minor in Theatre Arts.  Masi spent a number of years working for visual effects studios, most notably George Lucas's "Industrial Light & Magic." During this time he worked on such popular films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, War of the Worlds and Star Wars (episodes I - III).  Masi has acted in a number of popular television series and films such as Without a Trace, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Austin Powers in Goldmember and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. Masi spent a number of years working for visual effects studios, most notably George Lucas's "Industrial Light & Magic." During this time he worked on such popular films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, War of the Worlds and Star Wars (Episodes I - III). He has indicated that he worked in programming the tools that the artists use in CGI special effects. Masi has acted in a number of popular television series and films such as Without a Trace, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Reno 911!, Robot Chicken, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Get Smart, and Fired Up!. He also wrote the short film Chester's Big Night. Productions in which Masi has appeared alongside other Heroes cast members include Fired Up! with Nick D'Agosto and Janel Parrish, Robot Chicken with Seth Green and Breckin Meyer, Austin Powers in Goldmember with Greg Grunberg, Seth Green, and Dan Warner, Less Than Perfect with Eric Roberts, Scrubs with Adam Harrington, Along Came Polly with Missi Pyle, Balls of Fury with Marisa Tayui and Darryl Chan, and Gilmore Girls with Karl T. Wright.

Carson Daly  host "Last Call"
"Last Call" host Carson Daly will ring in the New Year live from Times Square with "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly." The two-hour New Year's Eve special will air live on Thursday, December 31 -- beginning in primetime from 10-11 p.m. (ET) -- and continuing at 11:30 p.m. (ET) with the countdown to 2010 and the first performances of 2010. Beginning at 11:30 p.m. (ET), CNBC will join in the countdown festivities by simultaneously broadcasting the New Year's Eve special. "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" will broadcast in high definition from the middle of the world's most famous New Year's Eve destination -- Times Square in New York City. Viewers will be a part of all the action with Natalie Morales, "Today" co-host and national correspondent, and Alison Stewart will help Daly's coverage of the celebration with live reports from the heart of Times Square among the one million expected spectators.  Carson Daly began his career as an intern at KCMJ-FM in Palm Springs, California. He quickly moved up the ranks of radio, and in the summer of 1996, landed one of the most coveted positions in the business--that of the early evening voice of Los Angeles' influential and top-rated KROQ-FM. MTV soon recognized his talent and brought him to New York City. It was at MTV that Daly became the entertainment icon that he is today. His popularity exploded in the era of 'N Sync, Britney Spears and Eminem. As host and executive producer of MTV's "Total Request Live" (TRL), he transformed an afternoon music video program into a must-stop on the publicity circuit for musicians, movie stars and entertainers alike.  In January 2002, his loyal fans followed him to NBC and tuned into his late-night television show "Last Call with Carson Daly," which is currently wrapping up its eighth season as a part of the network's top-rated, late-night lineup. While the show boasts diverse bookings in the worlds of entertainment, politics and sports, it is the progressive music bookings that have earned Daly his bragging rights among the late-night crowd. Since day one, "Last Call" has been the show that gives many of the hottest bands their first break on U.S. television. These bands include Panic! At the Disco, The Killers, Maroon 5, Jack Johnson and Gavin DeGraw, among many others. Also, it was on "Last Call" that fans celebrated with hip-hop superstar 50 Cent when his first album reached #1 on the Billboard charts and Green Day gave an unprecedented television performance when the band premiered their 9-minute song, "Jesus of Suburbia," the centerpiece of the Grammy Award-winning rock opus "American Idiot, " and recently he had them as a musical guest for an entire week. For the past five years, Daly and Universal Media Studios have produced New Year's Eve primetime special "NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" in Times Square, hosted by Daly