A little too early to the Grammy parties, perhaps?

So, the Grammys were on the other night. I didn't watch, because Colin Firth wasn't going to be there, and he is the one and only reason I would ever watch an award show.

Apparently, some dame who originated in Kilbride, but is now living in Ontario, was there doing something for Ellen Degeneres. I'm not even going to dignify that whole ridiculous situation with a remark, so if you are thinking that's where I'm going with this, you're wrong. There are things that are just too stupid for even me to rant about, and this is one of them.

I was sniffing around some of my usual Internet haunts yesterday, when I came upon this story about a news broadcaster who apparently suffered from some kind of meltdown while on-camera for CBS2 in Los Angeles, reporting on the Grammys.

Being the curious soul I am, I felt compelled to see if I could find a clip of whatever it is that went on. YouTube was very accommodating, but unfortunately CBS has pulled the video clip. The UK website The Telegraph.co.uk still has it, though. If you look, you will see that she looked fine and was smiling, but when she started speaking, she sounded exactly like the Swedish Chef. Her expression hardly changed. She didn't even look like she realized it.

(UPDATE - The video clip I originally had here showing Ms. Branson's oral malfunction kept playing automatically, and driving me up the wall, so I am now replacing it with this link that you can click to the Telegraph.co.uk's website, where the same video clip is available. )

I'll bet my bong that this was no "health-related problem", unless being stoned out of your gourd is now considered "health-related".

IF this had been a genuine medical issue, she would have been taken, lights and sirens, to the nearest hospital for treatment of the stroke / TIA she was seemingly having. The comment that she was driven home by a co-worker clearly indicates that this was no health concern, or else she has the dumbest, most ill-advised co-workers on earth. I have to believe that paramedics in LA know a stroke / TIA when they see one. No doubt she confessed her sins to them off-camera. I can't imagine any other reason why she would have been released to go home. They all figured out that all she needed to do was to sleep it off.

As much as some might think she has the right to refuse treatment, I feel pretty certain that CBS, who has now been embarrassed by her live broadcast, would have a very strong and compelling case in insisting she receive medical treatment, IF she needed it.

I would love to know if her employment continues. I'll have to keep checking back to CBS2's website from time to time to find out. They'll probably drop her like a hot roach once the coke dust has settled.

UPDATE - From the New York Daily News, Feb. 18th -

"Serene Branson's bout of babbling was caused by a complex migraine, her physician, Dr. Neil Martin, told The Los Angeles Times.

A complex migraine has similar symptoms to a stroke, including impaired speech and severe headaches, and can often be mistaken for one, said Martin, chief of neurosurgery at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center."

GMAFB. Did this woman look like she was suffering from a "severe headache"? TV lights pounding down on her, and she's smiling cheerfully.

As one of the commenters to this article said, "I think they mean 'complex margarita'." Exactly!!

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