Jack Diamond and Rachael Ray

I’ve mentioned before that I hate Jack Diamond and his dumb morning show on Mix 107.3 with a passion. I’ve also mentioned that I wake up to the Jack Diamond morning show every weekday.

I hate Jack Diamond, I hate his little sidekick, Jimmy, I hate the old traffic and weather girl (Chili Amar), I hate the new traffic and weather girl. They aren’t raunchy or anything, in fact they’re the other extreme.

And yet, I cannot not listen! Every morning I wake up, lay in bed and wonder what dumb thing Jack Diamond or the other folks on the show are going to say next.

My love/hate relationships extend to TV, as well. A couple of months ago I went to a Nats game with an occasional Nice Boys blog reader. We got into a conversation about the Food Network (which I love) and the topic eventually got around to Rachael Ray, hostess of $40 a day and various other programs.

My friend loves Rachael Ray, while I despise her. I generally like the perky, girl-next-door type, but she takes it way too far. She’s cloying.

So she does this $40 a day show, where she goes from town to town and eats breakfast, lunch and dinner in this town for under $40. Her total tab at the end of the day is always $39.96 or something. I wonder if there’s ever been a time that she went OVER $40 . . . I’ve noticed she’s not a very good tipper, either. But my biggest gripe with her is she ALWAYS loves every bite of every single thing she eats. She always takes her bite, closes her eyes, and says, “MMMMM, this is the best ____________ I’ve ever had! It’s so delicious!” Blah, blah, blah!

It drives me insane and turns me into Howard Beale. Seriously, not all of that food can be perfect! There have to be duds every once in a while. Things are regularly over- or under-cooked! Maybe she signs some agreement with the restaurant she visits that says she won’t disparage the food. I don’t know. Whatever the case, I long for the day when she takes a bite of something and says, “you know, I could really live without this. I wish I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead.”

Like Jack Diamond, I find that I have to watch her show whenever I come across it. Curses.

g.