Here are few more photos from the Rocky Roast the other night.
There are also some other posts and photos at Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs Live Journal Page.
Links to news:
Rocky takes a couple of punches from his friends (Salt Lake Tribune)
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Posted: 7:34 AM- Rocky takes a couple of punches from his friends
With a jazz band belting out the “Rocky” theme, Salt Lake City’s mayor was led into the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center by a troupe of “cheerleaders” waving orange pedestrian flags and wearing “Free-Speech Zone” T-shirts.
On stage Friday night, Rocky Anderson pumped his fist as the booze-fueled crowd bellowed. Moments later, the mayor would turn red – and sometimes white – during a raucous fundraiser for the Salt Lake Acting Company billed simply as the “Rocky Roast.”
Between roasts – the panel ranged from former Utah ACLU Executive Director Dani Eyer to Utah radio icon Tom Barberi – Anderson was serenaded by homegrown satirists, the Saliva Sisters.
Here are some of the best zingers from early in the evening.
From Eyer:
Suggesting many Salt Lake City women must have a crush on the “passionate, articulate” Democratic mayor, she said she posed the following survey question to 2,000 women: “Would you have sex with Mayor Rocky Anderson?” The result: “67 percent of Salt Lake City women, when asked, responded ‘Never again.’
“In 1999, we heard the funniest thing we’d ever heard of – Deedee Corradini was going to sell a block of Main Street to the Mormon Church. Ha, ha, ha. We laughed all the way to the 10th Circuit. Rocky laughed along with us – for part of the way.”
From showstopper Jim Braden, spokesman for Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon:
— “If it wasn’t for Rocky, Merrill Cook wouldn’t have won anything at all.”
— “Rocky’s legacy: ‘You’re fired, you’re fired, you’re fired, nice tush, and you’re fired.’ ”
— “Congratulations: being the best-known Democrat in Utah is like being the thinnest guy at fat camp.”
— “If you can satisfy [House Speaker Greg] Curtis and [Sandy Mayor Tom] Dolan at the same time, you’re probably picking up the tab at the all-you-can-eat buffet.”
— “I barely recognize him without all his Republican friends nattily draped in those cheesy soccer scarves.”
— “If you spent more time debating [Real Salt Lake owner] Dave Checketts than Sean Hannity . . . No, no, no – they were robbing Peter [Corroon] to pay Tom [Dolan].”
— “We know it can’t be easy auditioning to replace Rosie on ‘The View.’ ”
From emcee Chris Vanocur of KTVX News:
— “I need to sneak a peek over at the mayor and make sure he’s laughing or he might . . . fire me.”
— “When Corroon came into office, he was a shy, stiff, bland politician. [But because of Braden. Corroon has magically been transformed into a shy, stiff, bland politician who hates soccer.”
Rocky ends up ‘well done’ in roast (Deseret News) – PPnBB mentioned!
If Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson had been a Thanksgiving turkey at Friday night’s “Rockyroast” fund-raiser, he would have come out well done.
The event, which parodied Dean Martin’s celebrity roasts of the past, was held to raise money for the Salt Lake Acting Company.
Between laughs, while mingling with guests prior to the roast, Anderson said he felt “apprehensive” about the event.
And who could blame him?
Anderson agreed to have himself berated in front of more than 400 community members, not exactly something any person would sign up to do.
He was escorted into the Rose Wagner Center by Salt Lake’s own nontraditional cheerleading group, Pom Poms not Bomb Bombs, whose members were wildly waving crossing flags. The crowd rose and roared loudly as Rocky entered to the song “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme from the movie “Rocky.”
“I understand the mayor enters City Hall this way every morning,” emcee and ABC4 News reporter Chris Vanocur said.
The two-hour roast featured Pat Bagley, a political cartoonist from The Salt Lake Tribune; Jim Braden, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon’s public information officer; Dani Eyer, a lawyer and former director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah; Tom Barberi, Utah’s radio broadcaster; Babs DeLay, a planning and zoning judge; and a surprise appearance by Anderson’s son, Luke.
No portion of Anderson’s life during his past seven years of service was safe.
Jokes targeted Anderson’s policies on local transportation, pedestrian-crossing flags, the banning of water bottles, his constant firings of employees, his stance on international politics, his campaign to impeach President Bush, ugly neckties and his personal relationships.
But all in all, the cynical attempts to roast Anderson came out warm and fuzzy. Each “roaster” thanked him for his dedication, time and service to the community.As Anderson was escorted to the stand by “Gayle Godzika,” a rapping drag queen, for his final words, the crowd again rose, clapping and cheering. Shouts of “Rocky! Rocky!” bounced off the walls.
As Anderson stood there, contemplative before the crowd, he impatiently waved off the music. Then, turning to the roasters, he said, “I wish I could hire each one of you and fire your —!”
Anderson then graciously thanked everyone for their participation and support of SLAC and for their support during his time in office.
Anderson’s second term as Salt Lake City’s mayor ends in early 2008.
E-mail: nhale@desnews.com
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 