One of the cool things about being considered a “celebrity” is that you get asked to lend your name and talents to happy events and charities. And when the two are combined it’s the best of both worlds.

Such was the case with a recent appearance. A good friend of mine, Donna Drake-Dunninger (television producer, voice over talent, actress, artist and in this case, director of Public and Media relations for the Melting Pot) asked me if I would do the honors of cutting the ribbon for the VIP Grand Opening of the first Melting Pot Restaurant on Long Island, which also happened to be the biggest Melting Pot restaurant in the Country (out of 125). The occasion was dual purpose. Not only would this be their official opening but also a check was going to be presented to the American Cancer Society, as part of their commitment to supporting philanthropies within their community.

Since my Dad died of Cancer, this foundation has always held a special place in my heart. I was thrilled and honored to do the event.

Donna knew that November has been a crazy work month for me…with different type of gigs every day. So she was fine with the fact that I’d have to make a short and fast appearance. (Hey, who better to do that than the fastest talking female?)

I promised to entertain the folks with a taste of my fast-talking, cut the ribbon, do press photos, introduce the key players, say hi to the guests and stay for at least 2 hours. (Which I guess is not so short of time.) Then I’d sample the food (Okay this part I wanted to do), then drive home to pack and get ready for my trip to Minneapolis in the morning.

The event took place on a Tuesday evening. That morning I did a radio show, and then headed over to Queens to check on the progress of my Mom’s surprise kitchen that I am building, and then drove back to Putnam to make dinner for my Mom…then off to Farmingdale, Long Island for the ribbon cutting.

Donna had sent out invitations to the community and had notified the local press. She wasn’t sure how big the turn out would be…but was expecting a good size crowd of charitable fondue lovers.

Well, turns out a TV crew from Channel 55 (The big station on Long Island), and several of the local newspapers were in attendance. I guess they also agree that fondue and donations make a good combination.

I was supposed to arrive at the Melting Pot at 4:15 for the ribbon cutting. A local accident turned my two-hour drive into two and a half hours. Thus making a relaxing drive into a game of beat the clock. Add on top of that the fact that I had to go to the bathroom really badly, and you have one heck of a countdown situation.

I got off route 110 in Farmingdale, as per my instructions (God forbid I use my GPS….)…I was hoping that I would spot the place with no problem. Sure enough as I was trying to dial Donna on the phone to tell her I was near, I see the Melting Pot sign glaring at me from across the street. I quickly (but legally of course) make a U-turn and pull into the lot at 4:17. Whew, not bad.

I run inside, quickly B-line to the bathroom and then am ready for the on camera cutting ceremony. Of course, the photographers and news crew were already there.

As we stood outside ready to snap the picture, I was introduced to all the key players; The owners, Barry Brian, Jeff, Charlie, Dale and Bill; the management team of Eileen Pelcher, Rich and Rachel, the COO of the Melting Pot – Bob Johnston, the American Cancer team of Marie Cimaglia, Sylvia Diaz and Dee McCabe (Regional VP) and the press, the staff, etc. At that moment, I was wishing I had studied my memory course a tad better.

TV 55 recorded the event…with everyone gathered outside, Brian Bielanski, read a proclamation that was given to the Melting Pot, from county executive – Steve Levy. The proclamation was in honor of going charitable contributions in the past to St. Jude’s Children’s homes, and now to the American Cancer Society.

Once that was read, I was handed a pair of “Land of the Giant” scissors, and was supposed to snip the huge pink ribbon and welcome everybody to inside.

Well that was the plan in a perfect world. I had to attempt it 3 times before the ribbon actually cut. Talk about embarrassing. And to think, I work out. It’s not like I don’t have scissor cutting abilities…but for some reason, this was a stubborn ribbon, either that or they should have gotten the Ginzo Knife sharpening tool. Of course, I joked about not being able to cut it on the first try. Cameras of course were rolling…so I won’t be surprised if it shows up on some blooper show.

Finally with the ribbon cut…the Melting Pot was now officially opened. The crowd poured in…hundreds of them.

They came in, partook in the festivities, which included, sampling the delicious fondues, hor d’oeuvres, fine wines and tasty cocktails.

As you can imagine the lines formed quickly around the food table. Not to be outdone, I was in line myself. Hey, you gotta be crazy not to eat at an event like this. I stood in line and joked with guests. Invited them to walk around and check out the place.

Of course, I always had a full plate as I told them this,”Come-on, what type of presenter would I be, if I absolutely didn’t love the food there.”

The fondues were delicious with an assortment of melted cheeses…. and in the back room of the restaurant was a table that was filled with chocolate dips…yes, you could dip your choice of brownies, strawberries or pound cake in a variety of various mixes of cookies and cream, white chocolate, and several other sinfully delicious hot, creamy chocolates…Too hell with the diet…there was no way I was missing out on this.

After allowing people to sample their wares, it was time to make the presentation.

Donna introduced me; telling them about my world records and fast-talking abilities…I thanked here and then quickly gave people a sample of my fast talking. Then I introduced the people on stage with me. (I was trying to remember all their names…so I called them out and told them to wave…)

Then I turned it over to their COO, Bob who presented the check of $10,000 big ones to the American Cancer Society. A check that by the way was raised in just 3 days of time! Talk about fund raisers.

After there were more photo opts, eating, chatting and just enjoying the atmosphere.

I didn’t want to leave…but a plane was calling me…so I said my goodbyes, had one last brownie dipped in chocolate (okay had 5 more brownies dipped in chocolate and was tempted to take a doggie bag back to my Mom…but thought it might not look good…) and left.

On my way out I was handed a parting gift bag. When I got home I told my Mom all about the event and described the food, then I looked in the gift bag and smiled, “Hey Mom a gift card…now I can do one better, as soon as I have you up and sprinting around…I’ll take you there, then you can experience a slice of heaven yourself.”

We both laughed. When I turned my back, I saw my Mom slip the gift card in her pocket…nothing like added incentive.

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I recently did Fox and Friends. This was my second time on the show.

The first time was to promote my book, Almost a Wise Guy. It was great.

This time it was to promote the new Ripley's Believe it or Not – Remarkable Revealed book that I'm in. (Page 222...not that I have it memorized or anything)

The thing you learn when you are a guest on a TV show is that they have an agenda and you have an agenda. The goal is to make the two meet. Their agenda is to entertain their audience and to get you to answer their questions. Your agenda is to entertain the audience, be natural, get your message or projects mentioned and hopefully get invited back on the show.

Usually when I get asked on a TV show it's because they want me to demonstrate my fast talking talents, which I have fun doing. They come up with a whole bunch of ways for me to do that...read the weather fast, a newscast, tell a bedtime story...read a Christmas story, open the show, close the show, do the week in review, play a prank on a host...you name it...they try it. The funnier the better as far as I'm concerned.

However, since I am not only a fast talker but also a comedienne, motivational speaker, adventurer, author and spokesperson as well (Like the way I fit that all in?), I often have another reason to be there. This was no exception.

Fox wanted me on to do the sports review really fast. They thought it would be funny to have me do a synopsis of the game while the video was playing. They would speed up the playbacks and see if they could keep up with my talking. It would be like a silent film narrated by Alvin and the Chipmunks. That was their agenda.

I was game as long as I got a copy of the scripts before hand since I'm the fastest talking female, not the fastest reader. I also wanted to make sure I had time to work with the teleprompter person so that we would match speeds.

Besides demonstrating my motor mouth speed...my agenda was to make sure the people who booked me, namely Ripley's...got their moment in the sun as well. So Ripley's needed me to mention their new book and I, being a brand unto myself, wanted to touch on my upcoming projects, namely my Success Made Simple Seminars with John Basedow and my website where they could find out about it. I new I would have to flex my tongue for more than just the NFL and score a touchdown, if I was to get this all in.

As with all shows, the segment producer called to go over the game plan; how long the segment would be, what I would demonstrate, what I needed to bring to the set (I.e.; The Ripley's book) etc.

She also gave me other logistics, like what time the car would pick me up, and that they had a makeup artist.

When the show has a make up artist that's always a bonus. This way you don't have to dab the heavy-duty stuff on yourself. The professionals do a much better job of getting rid of that, "I just rolled out of bed ten minutes ago look."

The producer and I got along great. After a few minutes of talking we had our plan. In my three-minute segment; I'd be introduced, do the Three Little Pigs, chitchat with the host how I broke the record, mention the Ripley's book, and then do the sports.

She told me I'd have a chance to go over the scripts and practice with the teleprompter person, and I'd be good to go.

Since Fox and Friends is on early...and I don't exactly live around the corner from NYC anymore...I had to get up at 4 a.m. and the car was here at 5 a.m. Somehow talking fast before the sun is up doesn't seem right. Lucky my segment wasn't until 7:35. (Yes, every minute is accounted for on TV and radio.)

Since Fox and Friends is a live show, you want to make sure you are on the set and miked when your time has come, not sitting in traffic somewhere in the back of a limo, ‘cause lets face it, there are usually no cameras there...and if there are...well that's a whole other reality show.

So to prevent you missing your national coverage and leaving them with an absentee guest, TV stations like you to be at the studio between a half hour to an hour early. That's the insurance policy.

I arrived at Fox at 6:30 a.m. I was led through security by a wonderful assistant named AJ. Turns out AJ used to be a radio personality at Hofstra University and he interviewed me about 2 years ago... now here he is a graduate and working at Fox...pretty cool. He asked if I remembered him, and I did... because he had done a great job.

AJ now led me to the green room (which is usually not green btw).

I asked him for the sports scripts. He got them for me and I went over them as I was getting my hair done...then I was off into makeup. I do like this pampering part...they know just how to make you look great on TV. I was in the room with only a few guests...as the segment got closer I was escorted into the room with the other guests. My mike was checked, a hairdresser buffed up my hair and smiled and then I was seated next to the host Brian.

For our segment it was just Brian and me. I never did get a chance to work with the teleprompter person; such is the nature of TV (especially live when things are in a big rush)... so I'd have to read off the script.

As soon as we were on camera, Brian said, "I believe I met my match. Fran Capo is with me and she won the title of the Worlds Fastest Talking Female according to Ripley's Believe it or Not."

So far so good...the first mention was done...two more to go.

I thought he'd ask me how I broke the record or say other things that I've done...but he went straight to ..."How about you read the sports highlights and show people what you can do."

The one thing you learn in TV, especially live, is to roll with the punches. You don't want to have this dumbfounded look on your face like you were just shot with a stun gun. So I went into the fast sports mode.

I had no clue if I was on camera or not...so I tried to be animated.... just in case. Turns out there was a split screen with me on one side and the poor football people on tape trying to keep up. Since I couldn't see what was playing (not that it would matter anyway, since I have no clue about football...) I just kept speeding along.

At one point Brian said, "You are two pages ahead of the videos!"

I smiled, "Well then, they'll just have to keep up. "As I finished each page, I dramatically flung it into the air. Thank goodness I didn't give him a paper cut.

After the sports...Brian talked about the book again... I pointed to it and mentioned that I was on page 222. He asked me if my husband understood me...I said, "Well when I would get into a fight with my ex-husband he would say, "Was I in a fight?" And I say, "Not only were you in it, its over... you lost." The crew laughed.

At that point, Brian was about to close out the segment, but I still had two more message points I needed to get in... so I slipped in that I was a motivational speaker with my Success Made Simple seminars with John Basedow. Brian smiled, I think impressed that I slipped that in.

The clock was ticking on my three-minute segment. Brian asked me to close out the segment by reading the trivia question on the teleprompter. Since, we hadn't practiced our pacing I wasn't sure how it was going to go... but there I was on live national TV... it's sure as hell not the time to start whining... So I winged it.

I could tell the teleprompter person wasn't sure how fast to go either... it was like two people dancing together for the first time, sometimes stepping on each others feet, sometimes both trying to take the lead.

Since, I had no clue what was going to come up on the screen... I had my mouth saying one thing, and my brain trying to read ahead a few lines. After all I certainly didn't want to be like that guy in the movie Anchorman... who just read everything on screen. What if I get some jokester that says, for a good time call Fran at...

As I saw the final words come up on the teleprompter, I knew it was now or never to mention my website...so I did. Then I rested my head on Brian's shoulder and they cut to the next segment.

Brian shook my hand and thanked me. I thanked him in return. We both accomplished our agendas and were happy. There's no better way for a TV show to end.

Thanks Fox and Friends!

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You know one of the bizarre things about my life is that every week since college I look at my calendar and say, "Wow this week looks I can relax a little, and then somehow by the end of the week every moment has been filled with excitement.

This week was no different.

On Sunday night, my mom who's is still recovering from her six-month hospital stint says to me..."Frannie, my leg looks swollen."

Sure enough it was huge... it looked like a piñata without the candy. "Mom, this can't be good." After a few calls to the doctor, some quick medication to get the leg down, and some monitoring by the home care nurse... we decided that even though everything seemed under control... I should take her in on Tuesday for a Doppler test. (A Doppler ultrasound test uses reflected sound waves to evaluate blood as it flows through a blood vessel. (Basically I wanted to see if the blood clot my mom had was growing bigger.)

After the test on Tuesday, we heard those dreaded words..."Your mom needs to be admitted to ER to have an IVC (Inferior vena cava filter) put in." Not exactly how we wanted to spend our Tuesday afternoon. I left my mom, ran home to do a quick radio interview, and then came back with all her prescription medicines so they could give it to her while in the hospital. I also did some quick research on the Internet and found out the IVC was a quick procedure. The IVC filter... looks like a tiny metal tulip that acts like a net to catch blood clots. It is inserted via the blood vessels and is smaller than a penny. It can be inserted via the groin or neck. (Happy, happy, joy, joy.)

We were told they had to wait till her blood levels were okay to do this. (In other words that her blood wasn't as thick as molasses, or so thin she'd bleed to death.) During times like this even with simple procedures I like to stay with those I love.

However, there was only one minor problem... I had to fly to Denver in the morning for business, and since I was the spokesperson for their Qwest media event, it wasn't something that could be postponed. (Not to mention that I am the sole provider for my family... and it's not exactly like I can send in another world's fastest talker in my place.)

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