Washington, D.C.
Hitwise has reported that for the week ending May 26, 2007, Revolution Health was “ranked #11 in the Health & Medical – Information category, and traffic increased by 113% since the week ending April 28, 2007, when it was ranked #23.”
As NextNet further elaborates, this gives RH.com a 1.57% market share in this category — and the rise is “due to traffic sent by search engines like Google and Ask.com.”
Washington, D.C.
Dave Attell put on a hilarious show Friday night. But I left wondering a perplexing question: Who’s more obscene – the notoriously offending comedian … or the foul-mouthed HBO employees running his tour?
When we got to the Lincoln Theater around a half hour before the doors open, my buddy and I marched to the end of a line already stretching down the block. Ushers assured us though that there would be enough seats for all of us. They were right and soon we were filing inside, where there was the typical buzz that accompanies taped events like these (i.e., sound guys checking mics, camera cranes getting in position, etc.). Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary.
But no one could’ve prepared me for the army of headset wearing producers, running up and down the aisles, barking orders at anyone in sight. A group sitting next to us was told by one particularly pleasant lady that since they were sitting in front of the cameras, they would not be allowed to stand during the show. When they objected and asked to be moved, the producer asked them where they thought they were going.
Another real loon was just uttering every possible obscenity into thin air (or, her little headset), while most of the audience looked on in bewilderment. We thought she might be part of the opening act. Alas, none of it really mattered once Dave got on stage. He was a truly class(less) act and brought the house down.
For those not there, hopefully, the HBO special will be out soon. Unfortunately, for those watching at home, it’ll only include the obscenities from the comedian — and not his traveling sideshow.
Washington, D.C.
Kiran Chetry, the co-anchor of CNN’s American Morning, got painfully shook this morning during what should have been a pretty easy interview. Her subject was Evan O’Dorney, the 13-year-old eighth-grader from Danville, Calif. who won the Scripps National Spelling Bee yesterday after nailing “serrefine.” Unfortunately, there’s no YouTube video of this train wreck, but I’ve been able to hunt down a transcript. Some of the highlights:
Chetry gets off to a great start, by mispronouncing the kid’s name:
CHETRY: Evan, thanks for being with us.
O’DORNEY: Did you say my name wrong? My name is Evan O’Dorney.
CHETRY: Evan O’Dorney. I am sorry if I said it wrong.
Then, the well-researched questions and every broadcast journalist’s nightmare — zero elaboration on answers — begin:
CHETRY: Were you surprises that you won?
O’DORNEY: Not really.
And:
CHETRY: What did your mom say when you finally won?
O’DORNEY: Well, I don’t know what my mom said. You better ask my mom if you want the answer to that question.
CHETRY: All right, let me ask your mom. You’re making this tough for me today, Evan.
Fed some random fodder from a producer, she continues:
CHETRY: Well, here’s one thing I hope I’m right about. You like to eat a Subway tuna fish sub before every competition? You didn’t get to do that yesterday.
O’DORNEY: What did you just say?
CHETRY: I said you didn’t get to do that yesterday?
O’DORNEY: No.
CHETRY: Why not?
O’DORNEY: I’m not sure. We just — well, they had the — they had a special dinner before the bee.
But the real magic happens at the end, when Chetry attemps to give O’Dorney a word to spell (why does every interview with these champs have to include some futile attempt to trip them up?). Check out the brutality after the jump.
UPDATE: There’s video available. And, Best Week Ever has just discovered the mess, too.
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Marc is the co-founder and CEO of AcceptU, an edtech company based in Boston. 
Marc Zawel 