Andrew Aldridge Young is the former Edwards campaign worker and assistant who has claimed to be the father of John Edward’s mistress Rielle Hunter’s baby. Young has a wife and three children. Dallas attorney and John Edwards supporter Fred Baron recently confirmed that he financed Young, his family, and Hunter’s move to Santa Barbara, claiming to have financed the move and living expenses without the knowledge of Edwards. Young’s name does not appear on the Hunter baby’s birth certificate, which has kept open questions about whether Young is actually the father.

Now public records searches reveal a history of criminal charges and convictions that paint a potentially different picture of Young than that of a typical campaign worker. The records, published on the website WebOfDeception.com, appear to list over twenty different criminal offenses and a tax lien. The earliest offense listed is a traffic offense from 1983 but also include more recent charges including a August 2006 court disposition of July 2006 Possessing Beer On City Property offense and guilty pleas in 2007 for several DWI Level V offenses that occurred on September 12th, 2006. A Level V offense is the least serious DWI level under North Carolina state law.

In the middle of December 2007, Andrew Young made the following statement through his attorney.

“Andrew Young is the father of Ms. Hunter’s unborn child,” declared his Washington, D.C.-based attorney. “Sen. Edwards knew nothing about the relationship between these former co-workers, which began when they worked together in 2006.”

“As a private citizen who no longer works for the campaign, Mr. Young asks that the media respect his privacy while he works to make amends with his family.”

National Enquirer

I spoke to Joseph Culligan,the author of several books on investigation techniques including When In Doubt, Check Him Out : A Woman’s Survival Guide for the 90’s and webmaster of WebOfDeception. Culligan said that all the information was gained though public records searches.

I was able to confirm much of the information on WebOfDeception through a public records search using the service PeopleFinders.com.

(Note: Culligan’s site did not work properly in Firefox on my Windows XP machine but showed up fine in Internet Explorer.)

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So this announcement was nice…

Columbia Records will release Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s ‘Magic Tour Highlights’ on July 15 via all digital download stores, including the iTunes Store. The release will consist of four audio tracks with four accompanying videos, all recorded live in concert during the ‘Magic’ tour.

‘Magic Tour Highlights’ Track Listing
1. “Always A Friend” (performed with Alejandro Escovedo)Recording Date: 04/14/2008 (Houston, Texas)
2. “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (performed with Tom Morello)Recording Date: 04/07/2008 (Anaheim, California)
3. “Turn Turn Turn” (performed with Roger McGuinn)Recording Date: 04/23/2008 (Orlando, Florida)
4. “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” (Danny Federici’s final performancewith the E Street Band)

On sales of these downloads, the artists, songwriters, and music publishers are waiving all of their royalties, and Columbia Records is donating all of its net profits, to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. The iTunes Store is donating their first year’s net profits as well.

Bruce Springsteen News: brucespringsteen.net

And somehow connected, Madame Marie has left, too…

The psychic reader and advisor was 93. She became known worldwide from Bruce Springsteen’s homage to her in his music.

“Did you hear the cops finally busted Madam Marie,” Springsteen sang in his 1973 song, “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” “for tellin’ fortunes better than they do.”

“That was just the Boss,” said Asbury Park Deputy Mayor Jim Bruno. “She was never arrested. But Springsteen turned her into an icon.”

Boardwalk fortune teller Madam Marie dies | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

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And one of my favorite Mr. Show bits…it’s like taking a trip through a citrus mountain.

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Tonight’s episode - the Kitchen Nightmares season finale - is set in Moorpark, California at a restaurant with a French chef and a slightly weird menu. Talk in comments!

9:00 - The most stubborn chef? More than Sebastian’s? And more puking? Oh, man…
9:01 - They love the racial stereotypes, don’t they? This week - the French!
9:03 - It’s the secret door!
9:04 - Really? Nobody told them Gordon was coming?
9:05 - His gram-gram. Nice. And there are sure making Gordon out to be a total dick.
9:07 - Weird - it’s the season finale and Gordon hasn’t had one single good meal the whole year.
9:08 - The waitress says she doesn’t get complaints on the food. And the reviews I read were okay. So…gee, who to believe.
9:09 - wow - the season finale and every single chef or owner has been arrogant all season.

BREAK - Same old, same old, really.

9:13 - Okay - the maggot potato is gross. That is. Is it real? Not sure, but it is gross.
9:15 - I guess Gordon just seems like a total ashole tonight. Nothing of the helpful mentor, at all.
9:17 - Time for a dinner service - I predict it goes badly.
9:18 - Crusted. Crusted. Crusted.
9:19 - It’s 8:45 in Moorpark and there are few diners. I think I know why - because it’s 8:45 in Moorpark, that’s why.
9:20 - Arrogant. Blah blah blah. Arrogant.

BREAK

9:26 - Fake closed signs. Yow.
9:28 - Can we show more cooking, please? Maybe? Please…oh, no - it’s the end of season…
9:31 - Can I just cut and paste from every other episode?

BREAK

9:38 - Just a dick.
9:39 - Wow - Gordon bought them new stuff. And the Chef dude hates it!
9:41 - It’s like French Sebastian’s!
9:42 - Miss California just showed up? No…
9:43 - Unexpectedly a bus showed up? No…

BREAK

9:47 - Boilerplate Kitchen Nightmares
9:49 - He’s peesed!
9:50 - Gordon walks - and pulls out the ‘donkey’.
9:51 - They love those random shots of people turning around, don’t they?

BREAK

9:53 - Are we getting a happy ending tonight?
9:54 - Devon is a pretty gnarly California cook dude.
9:55 - Oh, here it comes - get ready to cue the happy ending.
9:56 - And another totally fake food critic. Do they not know that food critics don’t COMPLAIN?
9:57 - The producers gave the customers $50 though, right?
9:58 - Happy music! It’s a success! Shock! Stun!

That’s a wrap - I’ll be picking the winner tonight and announcing it tomorrow morning. You have until midnight Hawaii time to enter and maybe win a Gordon Ramsay cookbook by commenting a recipe!
9:59 - “Please do not screw it up” Copyright 2007, Gordon Ramsay

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UPDATE: I’m now convinced that Kitchen Nightmares just makes stuff up completely on a regular basis. Bill Pitcher from NorthJersey.com did a MUST READ blog that I mention and link to below. Great work, Bill.

I will have a overview post in the next few days detailing the mess of falsehoods and fakery that Kitchen Nightmares has become. It’s pretty pathetic really.

Now on with the show…

9:00 Opening shows empty restaurant ‘headed for disaster’, clueless chef owner…
9:02 Said Joe Cerniglia took over 18 months ago and ‘business seriously’ declined…more on this later…
9:03 People acting immature
9:04 Debt of the restaurant is overwhelming, as is personal debt. Is that scary looking ‘You better!’ guy for real?
9:05 Edited awkwardness….I doubt it really went like that….
9:06 Gordon tries the food - shock. He doesn’t like it!
9:07 Bad breath isn’t exactly the same as saying the food is bad, is it?
9:08 And didn’t like the chicken. But there’s a lot of editing going on.

Break: There’s another live blog you can follow, live from the restaurant here…

9:14 Joe is not an ‘inexperienced’ owner….that’s just untrue.
9:15 The lack of customers doesn’t jibe with any review I’ve read - but Fox has a script and that’s part of it.
9:19 More of the script - food is late and lame. But they keep bringing up the portion size so there may be something to that.

Break - Bill Pitcher is a very fast typist! He asks a good question “Let’s suppose for a moment that a customer just happened to do something so ridiculous and immature as to order a pizza from another restaurant. And let’s suppose that Fox just happened to have a camera on him. And let’s suppose that Fox just happened to have his phone wired up to record it. ” Yeah, just suppose.

9:25 Going to visit the wife….oy
9:26 I am willing to believe that Joe may have needed help running the business - but I don’t believe that it was that bad, really and I know they are portraying the owner wrong
9:28 Gordon says he goes to Sicily for meatballs - but the name of the restaurant is CAMPANIA, which ain’t Sicily is it?
9:29 Those T Shirts and hading out meatballs is totally cheesy - AND - that is not the kind of restaurant Campania seems to be - the menu is more upscale, fine dining.

Break : Bill Pitcher is my hero. I’m just quoting highlights, but he’s there on the scene and boy - the show just lies about stuff. No other way to put it.

Pitcher says…
““With the aid of Gordon’s recipe, Joe and his staff are now armed with outstanding meatballs,” the narrator just said.

Wow, that’s a blatant lie. That’s not even close.

The recipe is not Ramsay’s. It’s Cerniglia’s. And it’s so guarded, he once told me he’d share any recipe “except that.”

(snip)

The show has yet to mention a certificate that Campania has New Jersey’s best meatballs, a copy of which is posted here in the restaurant. We suspect that’s what Ramsay’s holding in his hands in this photo, taken by Tyson Trish at the restaurant’s reopening. (It hasn’t been aired yet.)”

9:35 The logo is better, yeah.
9:36 And the free makeover is really the only reason I can see to let Kitchen Nightmares come in and lie about you.
9:38 And - we had Gordon cooking for about 30 seconds…
9:39 This thing about selling the whole menu is Actually Interesting - good idea, very interesting….MORE of THAT, please

Break

9:44 Think about it - how would a new menu pack a restaurant instantly? The producers packed the restaurant….
9:45 The complaining ladies - my bet - paid ‘customers’
9:46 Why would Gordon talk to a customer that way? Why? And why let Fox make him look like a total asshole?
9:47 Hey - it’s time for someone to walk out isn’t it?
9:48 Orders are backed up - why? Because it’s about 48 minutes into Kitchen Nightmares. But - I predict a turnaround!
9:49 Yes - when the producers overbook the restaurant, orders go out late. Every fookin’ week, in fact.

break

9:52 Ah, New Jersey - love the drunken yelling in the parking lot.
9:53 Bill Pitcher says joe left because Gordon told him to - but we have to have a walk out…and noooooow…
9:54 The turnaround!
9:55 Cue the upbeat music….
9:56 Everyone had a app, entree, and dessert because the food was free…
9:57 Read the reviews - the food was always known for quality…
9:59 Wow. Fox just follows the same script no matter what, don’t they?

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I’ll be live blogging Kitchen Nightmares on Wednesday at 9pm Eastern, 6pm West. Come back and comment and also check out our Gordon Ramsay category for a ton of info about Kitchen Nighmares.

Next up on Kitchen Nightmares - Campania, an Italian restaurant located at 15-17 Broadway in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

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Campania is named for the Campania region of Italy, home of Naples and the original pizza. Chef / Owner Joe Cerniglia seems like one of the first U.S. Kitchen Nightmares chefs with a real restaurant pedigree. He even seems to be something of a minor ‘celebrity chef’…

Joe Cerniglia began his restaurant career at the famed Gallagher’s Steak House in NYC at the age of 23. A self-taught chef, Cerniglia soon became the executive chef of the landmark steakhouse Gallagher’s. From there, he became the vice president of operations, both nationally and internationally.

During his time with Gallagher’s Steakhouse, Cerniglia soon became known as a guru for all things concerning grilling, making regular appearance on national and local television shows such as the Fox News Channel, Good Day New York, WOR 11, NBC and a host of other radio and print productions.

(snip)

Cerniglia regularly gives live cooking demonstrations at Chef Central in Paramus and Macy’s at Herald Square in New York City.

ZoomInfo Web Profile: Joe Cerniglia

And the reviews of Campania that I’ve found are all good, although one or two do mention slow service, but not in a complaining way. Here’s a review from over a year ago - so there’s no ‘pre-Nightmares’ BS - but recent reviews are just as excellent.

By far the best Italian food in New Jersey!: The food here is absolutely outstanding. My fiance and I had heard about it a few months ago and first visited on a Saturday night - the (young) chef/owner is absolutetly brilliant at pasta - we had his homemade raviolis filled with braised veal and sage in a mascarpone brodo - heaven! A couple sitting next to us knew the owner personally and told us that he makes his own fresh mozzarella and pasta every day, along with a huge variety of seasonal dishes. We’ve since been back quite a few times and the food is just as exciting on each visit. If you like fish, the chef always highlights an exotic and totally fresh fish preparation - I had a piece of halibut baked under parchment paper with mussels and clams. The waiter presented it to us tableside and removed the parchment - this may have been the best piece of fish I’ve ever eaten (the parchment allowed the fish to steam and absorb the flavors and aromas of the herbs). The menu is extremely varied with an emphasis on food from the Campania regiion in Italy. Hint - this place gets packed on the weekends - go on a weeknight if you like a quieter dinner.

Campania Restaurant, 17-15 Broadway, Fair Lawn, NJ on Yahoo! Local

Huh. Packed house, great food - not much of a Nightmare really, is it? It will be interesting to see how they portray the restuarant. I think it actually could be pretty positive, unless Fox sticks to their stupid script. The preview videos on Fox’s website show Ramsay actually defending the chef - by attacking a customer. Bet she was paid…

Here’s an interesting related video and hey! It’s Chef Gordon Ramsay actually making food, something we rarely see in the U.S. It’s Ramsay milking a buffalo and making the first true Buffalo Mozzarella in Scotland. (Think water buffalo, not bison.) The clip includes fast driving, thick accents and the word ‘knackered’. Brilliant…

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LIVE BLOGGING The Lela’s Episode at 9east, 6West

As I said in part one of my Lela’s preview, we know how this one ends and it doesn’t end well. Is it just me or does that picture remind of you the last shot from the movie The Shining?   Everyone smiling, all doomed. We’ll see if learn tonight exactly WHY the restaurant closed.

Former employee Brian also has a few pictures of Lela’s closing on July 9th, 2007.

July 9 2007 025 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Gather Your Scraps

In other Ramsay news, here’s how you can prep for a job interview with GRrr..from a New York magazine article about the book Chefs To Know from StarChefs.com

Of course, we can’t open any book of chefs without seeing if our hero, Gordon Ramsay, is glowering back at us. Gordo takes the opportunity to plug his new Royal Doulton oven, but we like his interview approach: He asks candidates “to cook something from a selection of scraps and leftovers that I give them.”

What to Expect on Your Job Interview With Gordon Ramsay - Grub Street - New York Magazine

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Dear Critics in Arms,

I was so sorry to read all of the negative responses to my performance as the “food critic” on the TV series “Kitchen Nightmares.”

As many of you have pointed out, no real food critic would go on national television to review a restaurant.

As a new editor at Dan’s Papers, I was sent, along with the rest of the Editorial staff, to have fun, put on a show and get a humorous story for the paper that week.

Once the cameras were rolling, my job as an actress was to deliver my performance exactly as the producers and director instructed.

The resulting “review” and the story by my colleague about our experience on “Kitchen Nightmares” was meant to give our readers a taste of what it is like to be on reality TV.

My review of the food, however, was written in the spirit of my character on the show, as the producers of “Kitchen Nightmares” had requested it for use on the program.

I apologize if I have become the unlikely poster girl for food criticism; that certainly was not my intent when I agreed to join the cast of the show. Although I am an aspiring environmental and scientific journalist, I am not a food critic and have never written a serious, blind review of any restaurant and do not plan to do so in the future.

As anyone in the entertainment business will tell you, “reality” TV is simply an exercise in improvisational acting. The “reality” aspect is imparted by using unknown actors and laymen and by creatively editing many hours of footage to look like a seamless whole.

No wonder Samantha is having to comment - this is from the blog of paper she worked for…

We’ve been getting a lot of e-mails because of the Gordon Ramsey’s show Kitchen Nightmares that was shot last year at Finn McCools in West Hampton and aired last night on Fox. Our food critic waited over two hours before she could sit down and then was asked to complain on camera by the producers that were there to add drama to the show

People like the entire West Hampton fire department also left because the producers deliberately made them wait all night before they decided to leave once they figured that out to add further drama. Regardless, we hope that Finn McCools gets some good business because of it. They did seem like some legitimately nice people and we now understand that they were deliberatly screwing up that night to make a good television show.

DansHamptons - BlogHampton

And here’s the introduction to Samantha’s review…

Last Thursday, my colleagues and I were asked to review Finn McCool’s in Westhampton Beach, during the taping of a reality TV show. We arrived at 7 p.m., as per the producer’s instructions and although she told us that we would be seated immediately, when we finally found the restaurant manager, he told us that it would be a two-hour wait. Then the cameras appeared and the producer asked us to “act upset” and “talk about how the long wait will affect your review.” Like good reality TV actors, we did as we were told, playing the part of irate food critics. Because this is a restaurant review, not a critique of inept producers, the most difficult part of reviewing Finn McCool’s is separating the successes and failures of the staff from those of the production company.

Dans Hamptons

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Here’s a follow up to my previous post about Finn McCool’s.

I just had a very nice conversation with Finn McCool’s owner Buddy Mazzio and chef Brian Mazzio, who were featured on last night’s episode of Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. They both were genuinely nice people and the banter you saw on the show - that’s totally real. A lot of ribbing back and forth between father and son while they talked to me
They also both thought the experience was totally positive. They had a viewing party last night to a packed house and was also packed when we talked today. They’ve also been getting congratulations from all over the world on the show, including a fax from Ireland.

They got picked for Kitchen Nightmares after Brian was going through the casting process for another Gordon Ramsay show, Hell’s Kitchen. Chef Brian is a single father of a five year old and in order to do Hell’s Kitchen, he would have had to have gone to Los Angeles for six weeks which he says would have been torture. So a producer suggested Kitchen Nightmares and the rest is history.

Business has been booming since Ramsay taped there in late February and Buddy said they are proud that they’ve ’stuck to the program’, which includes Gordon Ramsay’s belief in fresh, local ingredients. Finn McCool’s got rid of their freezer for almost everything except french fries, buys their seafood locally and even has their own herb garden where they grow everything from arugula and zucchini to rosemary and parsley.

The show worked out well for the Mazzio’s but the show wasn’t completely accurate. It’s too bad that Fox piles on the fake drama, because the truth is more interesting.

For one thing, Brian was a lot less confrontational in real life than on the show. Brian is obviously a huge Ramsay fan and was completely open to Ramsay’s suggestions. And Buddy said Ramsay wasn’t confrontational, either - that he was warm, a great teacher and a good man who really responded when someone tried to bring their game up as Brian did.

In fact, Buddy said it was Brian who insisted that they stick to Ramsay’s menu when some of Finn McCool’s regulars wanted Buddy to bring back the fried ‘bar food’.

Another fabrication - Brian never walked out on the family. That van you saw driving away? That was the plumber. Really. The power of editing.

What actually happened was Ramsay wanted to see Jason (the bartender brother) and Brian to switch places to appreciate each other’s jobs. Then Ramsay put Buddy into the kitchen so he’d see what it was like. I actually would have liked to have seen all of that; it’s a great idea but I guess it wasn’t ‘confrontational’ so they made up the “Brian Storms Out!” part.

Remember that guy who dropped the chicken wing on the floor, then put it in the fryer and then on a plate? He doesn’t work at Finn McCool’s - he was hired to work the days that Kitchen Nightmares was taping at the producer’s suggestion.

Also, the show did overbook the restaurant on purpose in order to create drama. They usually book 50, the producers booked 150.

The Irish Spring Rolls that Ramsay hated? Still on the menu because people love them and Buddy said they are delicious. Buddy said they’ll be selling an Irish Spring Roll T-Shirt online soon because now they’re famous.

And Ramsay’s cooking? Buddy said “Honest to god, the Shepard’s Pie is the best you’ll ever have. Ramsay uses a lot of ingredients that you wouldn’t expect and it tastes really amazing.”

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UPDATE: My must-read interview with the Mazzios is now online.

This week’s restauarant is Finn McCool’s in Westhampton, New York.

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An article in the New York Post has good insight into the casting process and it confirms what I’ve suspected about the U.S. Kitchen Nightmares - restaurants are ‘cast for conflict’, not because the restaurant is really in danger of failing.
.

McCool’s ended up on “Nightmares” because Brian applied to be a contestant on “Hell’s Kitchen” last year. He didn’t get picked, but the casting agents remembered him and his volatile disposition, They called to see if he’d be interested in “Kitchen Nightmares” instead.

“Interested?” he grinned. “He’s the No. 1 chef in the world.”

On the food side, the family never thought that they had a bad restaurant to begin with. For one thing, the kitchen was always sparkling. Ramsay had no complaints there.

And business was not terrible. The regulars loved the artery-clogging, fried everything.

‘KITCHEN NIGHTMARE’ IN WESTHAMPTON

It seemed to me that the places used in the UK version were really on the verge of financial ruin - in fact, I know they were because one restaurant was basically repossessed from the owner’s during the show and another one is closed now. Also, the article points out that Ramsay spends four days at the restaurant, not the seven he’d spend in the U.K. - plus, there’s no follow-up.

What it comes down to is that the U.S. version really is a much more low-rent, slapdash, sloppy, worse version of the U.K. show and I don’t think it’s doing anything to help Ramsay’s reputation as a chef in the U.S. As a personality, sure. But they seem to think that having everyone repeat ‘Ramsay is the number one chef in the world’ is a substitute for SHOWING that he knows how to cook. I’m not letting Ramsay off the hook here; he made this deal. But it’s a damn shame if you ask me.

Update: A lot of other questionable edits in this episode; I’m not at all sure Brian really walked out of the restaurant, for example. And I’m pretty sure the show intentionally overbooked the restaurant so the kitchen would get in the weeds…only to pull it out in the nick of time. Cue the upbeat music!

Interested in Gordon Ramsay? We have a lot of other posts about him…

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Want to under the current Writer’s Strike? Check out my son’s interview with the head writer for Jay Leno’s tonight show….

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