One back to school rite of passage I suppose is when our KTLA college interns return to their schools from their summer experiences at the station. We had an especially great pack of interns this summer. Bright,energetic, and they never failed to surprise; which we will get to in a moment.

   I guess I have been at this long enough that some of my interns have already gone on to considerably bigger and better things. Mike Miller, his real name; used to come to KTLA every day in a suit and tie. Now, he dresses much more casually as he effective runs the TV show 'Extra,' in a very senior position. Lucas Rider, his real name, was filled to over-flowing with enthusiasm and a totally willingness to do absolutely anything. Which he is doing now, all over the world; working on 'The Amazing Race.' Dionne Wonderbrat, not her real name, is perhaps our most accomplished intern. She now lives with one my colleagues and may become his bride.

    The inter-office romance was a little surprising; but today, as she said so-long one of my interns from this summer really shocked me. Just before Debbie Ambitionne, not her real name, left; she asked me to sign something for her. A letter of recommendation. The interns really do work hard for us for months; early hours, no pay, you know the story. And of course, I am more than happy to provide letters of recommendation for the deserving. I have suggested in the past that interns might want to come up with a few paragraphs suggesting what they accomplished and learned during their time with us; and I might take some of their words and weave them into a letter.

    Well Debbie didn't just write a few paragraphs. She wrote a full two page, single spaced, opus; all about....all about Debbie. Her accomplishments, her attitude, her incredible can-do spirit. It was impressive; far and away the most impressive thing she has done during her entire internship. Yes, Debbie has been a good intern. But as I read through this astounding letter of recommendation I thought to myself, "No one is this good...ever....in the history of interns....or employees for that matter." But the interesting thing about 'these kids today' is that it would have never even occurred to Debbie that this letter was the least bit of the top. My guess is that someone like Debbie, who is praiseworthy, has been subjected to so much OVER praise for so long, that she wouldn't be able to write a simple, believable letter of recommendation. Only a total over-the-top novella would do. 

    Debbie returns now to one of the finest journalism schools in the country; where she'll enter her junior year. Maybe in these last two years of college there will be a course in personal modesty; or maybe, armed with her amazing letter of recommendation she will end up with a spectacular new job. 

    Did I sign the letter? As much as I hate to admit it, I did. After all, who was I to tell Debbie that she wasn't quite all that.

    One back to school rite of passage I suppose is when our KTLA college interns return to their schools from their summer experiences at the station. We had an especially great pack of interns this summer. Bright,energetic, and they never failed to surprise; which we will get to in a moment.

   I guess I have been at this long enough that some of my interns have already gone on to considerably bigger and better things. Mike Miller, his real name; used to come to KTLA every day in a suit and tie. Now, he dresses much more casually as he effective runs the TV show 'Extra,' in a very senior position. Lucas Rider, his real name, was filled to over-flowing with enthusiasm and a totally willingness to do absolutely anything. Which he is doing now, all over the world; working on 'The Amazing Race.' Dionne Wonderbrat, not her real name, is perhaps our most accomplished intern. She now lives with one my colleagues and may become his bride.

    The inter-office romance was a little surprising; but today, as she said so-long one of my interns from this summer really shocked me. Just before Debbie Ambitionne, not her real name, left; she asked me to sign something for her. A letter of recommendation. The interns really do work hard for us for months; early hours, no pay, you know the story. And of course, I am more than happy to provide letters of recommendation for the deserving. I have suggested in the past that interns might want to come up with a few paragraphs suggesting what they accomplished and learned during their time with us; and I might take some of their words and weave them into a letter.

    Well Debbie didn't just write a few paragraphs. She wrote a full two page, single spaced, opus; all about....all about Debbie. Her accomplishments, her attitude, her incredible can-do spirit. It was impressive; far and away the most impressive thing she has done during her entire internship. Yes, Debbie has been a good intern. But as I read through this astounding letter of recommendation I thought to myself, "No one is this good...ever....in the history of interns....or employees for that matter." But the interesting thing about 'these kids today' is that it would have never even occurred to Debbie that this letter was the least bit of the top. My guess is that someone like Debbie, who is praiseworthy, has been subjected to so much OVER praise for so long, that she wouldn't be able to write a simple, believable letter of recommendation. Only a total over-the-top novella would do. 

    Debbie returns now to one of the finalist journalism schools in the country; where she'll enter her junior year. Maybe in these last two years of college there will be a course in personal modesty; or maybe, armed with her amazing letter of recommendation she will end up with a spectacular new job. 

    Did I sign the letter? As much as I hate to admit it, I did. After all, who was I to tell Debbie that she wasn't quite all that.

        

        This not so sordid story started innocently enough on the air on Friday morning. Somehow the topic of this weekend's Playboy's "Mid-Summer Night't Dream" party came up, and I mentioned that for whatever cosmic reason, I was on the mansion guest list, and what's more, I had a drive on parking pass. The vast majority of guests have to take shuttle buses, but a lucky and select few can bring their own cars on to the property.

        "Take me, take me, take me," Megan virtually begged. "It is something I have always wanted to experience." 

        "Heck, I'll go too," added Jessica. The two intended to make a girl's night out of it. Our plan was to link up later in the evening, around 10 p.m. when the bash would be in full swing. My wife, Leslie and I, already had plans for Saturday night to have dinner with another couple; and guess what, they wanted to come to.

       I have one of those massive SUV's that I usually use primarily for kid transport and soccer games; but this Saturday all three rows were filled, as the six of us made our way to the famous 'talking rock' at the base of the Playboy mansion driveway. I think this is something most men do, or maybe I am trying to draw others into my own web; but that idea that I could get all these people into the party was impressive --- at least to me.

     "It's Sam Rubin from KTLA, I am on the list," I told the guard at the gate, who, rather than admitting to watching the Morning News, insisted on looking at my driver's license. 

     "How many people are in this car with you?" the guard asked. "Oh, it's me plus five," I said with the unintentional emphasis on the word "me." A series of walkie-talkie communications later and the guard said, "Well, Sam and just one guest are on the list here." I thought it might get me in trouble later to ditch everyone and just go up the driveway with Jessica, so I said to the guard, "Tell them I have brought the entire KTLA news team."  Maybe the word 'News Team' has the right touch, because after several minutes, we were all waved through. Needless to say, Jessica and Megan were cheering.

     Once inside the palatial yet somewhat dated estate we made immediate contact with two celebrities. I exchanged knowing glances with Scott Baio and high-fives with Kato Kaelin. Then, it was time for the tour.

     Along with Leslie and our two friends, we escorted Megan and Jessica through the highlights of the mansion. The grotto prompted Megan to say, "Wow, it's really humid in here." I asked Jessica if it reminded her of family home in Florida. We went to the somewhat secret game room, and the very secret "orgy" room; a round room full of mirrors and deeply padded floor. The orgy room was inactive yet occupied; and Jessica and Megan both placed their feet on the floor, one suggesting it wasn't nearly as bouncy as I had indicated it would be.

    From their we went outside the game room to the famous, "bop rooms," Leslie's phrasing for a the red and blue bedrooms, that are open for, well, for whatever. Both rooms were empty, bop-less as it were, things maybe were slowing down at the mansion.

   Back the main party; Larry Elder, Donald Sterling, David Cassidy, Crispin Glover; and several other men, happily considerably older than me. Mostly though it was one barely dressed, barely legal woman after another. So many, so much pure 'quantity' in fact that Jessica said, "There is no other city in America where you could gather this many women - like this - in these numbers. See, this is why it is barely possible to find someone who would want to settle down in Los Angeles. We need to talk about this in the 9 a.m. show."

   Which I sincerely hope that we do. 

    Not to ever tell tales out of school, I texted Jessica this afternoon and told her I was going to blog about our Playboy adventures.

    "Sure just don't make us out to be hoochies. Keep it real."

    And so I have. By the way, both my TV playmates, I mean colleagues, looked tasteful and beautiful. Megan in an all black number; Jessica in sunny yellow with her hair up. And both met and shook hands with Shaq, which is maybe three notches better than my exchange with Kato.

    I will await their full reviews, but for me, the Playboy Mansion continues to "deliver." Whatever any teenage boy thought it might be growing up; it turns out pretty much to be exactly that and more in real life. I am not sure if Jessica or Megan or Leslie for that matter will want to tag along anytime again soon; but I hope that, if nothing else, I am able to keep my drive-on.