Have you ever wondered what it would be like to quit your day job, (if only for a day) and be a rock star? Well, that’s exactly what Rock n’ Roll Fantasy Camp is all about, and for those about to rock… we salute you!

Monday, our FOX News crew headed over to Ultra Sound Rehearsal Studios in New York City, where the Fantasy Camp landed for the day. In years past, the camp was several days long and only in one city.

Because it has become so successful, and wildly popular, camp organizers have turned it into a real rock style tour, in which the rock star counselors go from city to city to meet up with campers and make a band in just one day, then play a real venue that same night. In New York City, it was a big one too, a sold out show at The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, opening up for Kings X and Extreme. Talk about a crash course in Jamming 101.

The counselors include bassist Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple (pictured in top photo being interviewed about teaching his song “Smoke on the Water” to campers), drummer Chris Slade of AC/DC, Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne Hit song writer Mark Hudson, Mark Slaughter of Slaughter, Earl Slick of David Bowie and John Lennon fame, Kip Winger of Winger, Elliot Easton guitarist from The Cars, former Megadeth bass guitarist David Ellefson, and Gilby Clarke formerly of Guns N’ Roses. Not bad!

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What a drag.  A big shoot we had planned today has been scrapped, and my crew and I are driving back to New York City from Providence, Rhode Island, right now.  It’s a 4 hour drive (with no traffic), which we had just made yesterday afternoon.  The drive is actually pretty nice, with lots of lofty trees that line the highway, making for a continuous streak of green to your left and to your right for the entire drive.    Our mission: was to be in place with our cameras today to watch the raising of the Juliet 484 out of the Providence harbor, as a follow up to a story we brought you last August when we came to the scene to film some of the salvage mission underway. 

Here she is, well, at least the top of her in this picture to the left.  The former Soviet cruise missile submarine K-77, turned Russian Sub Museum sank to the bottom of the silt and sand of the Providence River last April during a powerful Nor’easter which devoured the submarine.  

The Department of Defense came to the aid of museum operators to help deflect some of the costs of trying to bring her back to the surface, in exchange for the golden opportunity to train divers on a sunken submarine so close to the shore in relatively shallow waters.  A win win for everyone.  This shot here to the right shows the ship Navy and Army divers have been using for it’s platform to put divers in the water. 

This operation has been no easy task.  You know what it feels like to have your shoe stuck in the mud? Well, imagine having a 282 foot-long, 30 ton boot wedged into the gunk and try to pull it out.  That’s what the military has been dealing with for the last several months, and today was supposed to be the big day that it all the mathmatics, engineering, and sheer manpower came together.  Nyet! 

A safety briefing was called at 8:30 this morning to go over the details of what we were about to see, and much to our surprise, and disappointmnet of the folks at the Russian Sub Museum, the mission was delayed.    We were told that last minute safety checks raised significant safety concerns, and the planned lift would have to be delayed by 48-72 hours.  

Commander Dan Shultz informed us that he made the call at 2:35a.m., and wants to replace some of the equipment being used to bring up the Juliette, like the pontoons that have been laced under the submarine with “belly bands” to help lift her up out of the water.  Moments after he said that we heard a big “POOOF” come out of the water, and the divers underneath had released one of the pontoons.  I got a picture of it after it happened, but I sure wish I had a video camera rolling on that when it happened because it looked like a big fat spout shooting out of the water with the red pontoon floating up on top of it several feet in the air. 

Frank Lennon, the director for the Russian Sub Museum on hand was disappointed, but said he has waited this long… he can wait a few more days.  The big question remains- will the sub be able to return to it’s glory days as a museum that once attracted tens of thousands of tourists?  We’ll be in contact with the crew over the next few days and will let you know what happens.  Stay tuned!

There’s been a lot of Rock n’ Roll action going on in New York lately.

My last blog was all about Iron Maiden being at Madison Square Garden, then last night, Motley Crue dropped in to Fox News to talk with Greta Van Susteren via satellite about the release of their new record “Saints of Los Angeles” that came out at midnight, among other things. Go to gretawire.com for the full scoop.

Can you believe this shirt, and photo op? My good friend Laurie gave it to me a few months ago, and I couldn’t think of a better time to wear it, than to meet up with all four original band members of the Crue. Too bad we didn’t line up in order of the shirt that’s Nikki Sixx to the left, Mick Mars, me, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil, but that would have been too organized. (side note: I can’t believe I forgot to take my blackberry off!)

I have interviewed Vince Neil before, when I was doing the rock jock thing in Sacramento, and he was opening for Van Halen at Cal Expo, which is sadly no longer still around. Another time, when I was working for KFI in L.A., I talked with Nikki and Mick when they were doing a book signing on Sunset Strip at Tower Records for the band’s autobiography “The Dirt” (favorite sound bite came from Nikki “yea, it’s a trip being here signing books, considering we used to come in here and steal records”.)

So, last night, the guys got to the studio nice and early to get ready for Greta’s interview, which you rarely see with bands. If you are a GretaWire loyalist, you’ll know that Greta had Nikki Sixx on the pre-show GretaWire feed. I tried showing Vince how it works in the greenroom, but that computer doesn’t have working speakers, so we couldn’t hear anything! We talked a lot about living in California, and Las Vegas (he has homes in both) and about his “Motley Cruise” he hosts every year. You heard me right, you too could go on a cruise ship with Vince Neil and other rockers if you dare. You should google it, the pictures alone are worth it.

When I got up to go check something out in the other room, I ran into Tommy Lee hanging outside Studio C, where the band was going to do the interview in the next 20 minutes. He wanted to know if I could get him some ice… for, let’s just say, a beverage that’s never stocked in the Fox greenrooms. (this could explain his frisky behavior on the air with Greta, you know what I’m talking about if you saw it). After someone found him ice (I have no idea where they got it) the guys came into the studio to do get set up. Tommy then wanted to know if he could use my Mac Powder compact, I wasn’t really sure what would happen next…. so I broke out my Flip Cam

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The Garden. Madison Square Garden. Pure magic for musicians for many reasons.

Aside from the historic sporting events that have taken place here, there have also been monumental rock shows that have brought the house down, including the legendary filming of “The Song Remains The Same” by Led Zeppelin in 1973, where Janis Joplin performed her last concert in 1969, and where Elvis performed the only shows he ever played in New York in 1972.

There really is an electricity you feel when you first walk in, and makes you catch your breath when you look up to the ceiling. This is where most every band wants to play someday.

MSG has a big fat lofty spaceship looking ceiling for great acoustics, plenty of space for roaring crowds, and an enormous circular room to fill with sound..

But what happens when a band rocks the place so hard, it blows the PA system??

If you’re Iron Maiden, you punt. Quite literally.

Our British Heavy Metal heros returned to the Big Apple last weekend and played to a sold out crowd that included our Fox News crew that did a story in March on the band, and in a bizarro celebrity sighting world, Lance Armstrong and Kate Hudson. As Maiden fans rocked and sang along to “Powerslave” suddenly the guitar strings and Bruce’s voice were silenced, as if someone had turned off a big power switch in the bowels of the building. Some bands might retire backstage and have a beer, throw a fit, or ask the sound man to put on some music to keep the fans occupied, but not these guys.

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The band turned to their second favorite activitiy … playing soccer. Die hard fans know that Steve Harris, bass player extraordinaire, is a die hard West Ham United fan. (I know, I know, they call it football, but for purposes of this blog, we’ll call it soccer due to the visuals). When the PA system blew, luckily, the house lights stayed on (can you imagine if the entire place went dark?) Someone busted out a ball, and the band started kicking it around on stage, much to the delight of the fans who were at first bummed about the power outage, then realized they were all a part of a very cool rock historic moment, THIS is definitely something you don’t see everyday!

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Have you ever bought a new piece of camera or computer equipment and just can’t get it to work the way it did in the store, or when you were using it with someone who knew exactly how to trouble shoot a problem? Yea, me too.   Well, better late than never.. I guess.

Here are the last few critical seconds of this weekend’s Belmont Stakes when Big Brown came in dead last.  I was right on the rail with our Fox News crew, and so focused on capturing the moment, that I didn’t even realize that Big Brown was bringing up the rear.  The horses ran by so fast (i was also trying to take still pictures with my other hand…..), I just assumed he was somewhere at the front.  You can hear my very, honest and (ah-hem) candid reaction when I realized the horse racing champ was sucking up dust from the others in front of him… you can also hear our satelitte truck operator’s voice, Mark Cabrillo’s reaction as well….. 

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As our Fox News crew roamed around Belmont Park today, we have run into many people who came from all over the country to be a part of horse racing history, you can feel the enthusiasm everywhere! 

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Or, maybe … behind the umbrella in this case!  I just arrived to the historic race track, Belmont Park in Elmont New York, (that was not a typo… Belmont is really in Elmont)  where it feels like we are all about to become “frogs in a boiling pot” (as my grandmother used to say).  I am typing this to you in our Fox News sat truck at the west side of the grandstands where we have been able to score a little air conditioning for the time being. Aside from the excitement and building drama over the actual race later today - most everyone here is talking about the heat and humidity.  As soon as I got here, I talked with Fox meteorologist Rich Reichmuth  (one of my favorite people at Fox, as you’ll see by our banter) who is here working the early shift today… I decided to try out my new Flip cam I bought for the blog when I saw him doing his thing today, which includes giving us an exclusive weather report… check it out~! 

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We are live and on location at the historic West Point Military Academy today, bringing you a story about the superintendent’s proposed changes to the words to the military academy’s alma mater and it’s beloved companion piece, “The Corps.” If you’ve ever been to a football game here, or at a graduation event, you know the songs well. They are as historic as the academy itself, and stand for age old tradition here, but there is something missing … any references to women. The alma mater, and “The Corps” have words like “men” and “sons” all through them.

Women were admitted into West Point’s elite officer-training program in 1976, and more than 3,000 have since graduated to serve as Army officers. The words in the two songs struck Lt. Gen. Franklin “Buster” Hagenbeck before he was the superintendent, while he was at a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of admitting women to West Point two years ago. Women in the academy were singing “We sons of today … we salute you.” “It just seemed out of step”, Hagenbech said, and has been discussing the changes with alumni, Army brass, and the cadets. Hagenbech wants to change the words with more gender neutral synonyms. “The men”, would become, “The ranks”, and “We sons”, would become “The Corps.”

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Here’s the catch, some of the women cadets, don’t necessarily want the change, because they reportedly don’t want to come off as “whiners”. The academy’s Board of Visitors, made up of presidential appointees and members of Congress voted unanimously to back whatever decision Hagenbeck makes.

Today begins graduation events, and today’s action is called “The Alumni Review.” The alma mater has been sung already, in the original, and current form, which i filmed for you so listen in … the proposed changes could be approved as early as June, but for now, the song remains the same (as Led Zep would sing…)

I’ll be sending in more pictures and updates as we go throughout the day. I’m curious to hear what the people attending today’s ceremony have to say about all this…

*Update*
4:32 pm: We are standing by outside Mass General Hospital, waiting for any signs of family members of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. We know at this point, that we won’t be getting a news conference from the hospital, Kennedy’s staff, or his family members today. Updates on his condition are coming from his spokesperson in bits and pieces to select reporters. (Our own Major Garrett, FNC’s Congressional Correspondent is on the top of the list.)

It’s been quiet today, as we were told it would be. The Senator’s wife has been here, and there is word of other family members visiting as well. The main goal for doctors right now, is to find out the cause of the Senator’s seizure yesterday. Our medical experts tell us that the enzyme analysis we’ve been hearing about is normal, but is a reminder of how serious this situation is. Enzyme tests are used to determine if there has been a heart attack, if there is heart failure, if there is any kind of disease around vital organs. Basically, enzyme tests help pinpoint the problems going on inside the body. These tests are routine, and the results aren’t usually known for 48 hours, which explains why we’ve been told there may not be any official medical update until tomorrow.

Meanwhile, we stand by, and wait. Last night, in a surprise move, the hospital came out and fed the media! We see that sometimes during major disasters, or big scheduled news events, but everyone here was pleasantly surprised at the unexpected treat.

Not every reporter though got to grab a slice when it came out… Major Garrett was in the middle of doing a report for Geraldo when the food arrived. Here you see his producer Serafin Gomez setting up his live shot.  I don’t know if all the pizza was gone before they had a chance to grab some, but hopefully they did .

We heard last night that Kennedy ordered in some local seafood to the hospital, but there’s been no word on his eating habits today. Doctors continue to run their tests, and there may be an official update tomorrow at the earliest according to our sources. Look for Boston correspondent Molly Line to take over coverage in the morning — she was was literally plucked out of the water this weekend to cover the story. She was ironically right near the Kennedy compound in neighboring Hyannis getting her scuba certification, when the news broke Saturday, and was dispatched immediately to the compound to stand by. She just arrived at the hospital to get ready for tomorrow.  I just ran into her and was dying to know if she was able to get her certification before she had to quite literally jump ship… nope! She was a trooper of course, and said, she’ll get it next time!

CLICK OVER to read Saturday’s Hospital Watch!

As we’ve been reporting here on Fox, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy was rushed to the hospital this morning after reportedly suffering “stroke like symptoms.” He was evaluated by doctors at Cape Cod Hospital who made the decision to have him taken via helicopter to Mass General for a battery of tests. We just heard from a Kennedy spokesperson that he is said to be resting comfortably, is sitting up in bed and “joking with family members,” one of which I saw earlier today on a shuttle flight from New York to Boston — his niece, Caroline Kennedy. I asked her how her uncle was doing when we landed, but understandably, she didn’t want to talk to me, and declined to comment. I snapped this photo as we were driving away in a cab… you can she she is waiting for a cab with her husband, Ed. Not exactly my best stealth camera work, but you get the idea.

FNC political correspondent Major Garrett just arrived on scene. He’s been getting a lot of inside info from his sources, and will be bringing you more in-depth coverage as we continue to monitor the Senator’s condition. While Kennedy’s family members say he is up and joking, we know that these types of medical emergencies are no joking matter, and this still could be quite serious. We’ll continue to bring you the latest from the hospital, stay tuned!

STATEMENT FROM THE OFFICE OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY

“It appears that Senator Kennedy experienced a seizure this morning. He is undergoing a battery of tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure. Senator Kennedy is resting comfortably, and it is unlikely we will know anything more for the next 48 hours.”

We are in the cab now heading to Mass General — we are being told a live sat truck is en route, and will bring you live reports from the scene, as soon as get up and running.

1:48 pm:  I am writing this to you on board the Delta shuttle from LGA to Boston — U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy has been rushed to the hospital and we have been dispatched to rush to the scene as well. I met up with our Fox Producer, Andrew Fone, just now at the airport. We both raced here as soon as “the call” was made. Andrew is our Boston producer and was visiting NY this weekend, and came so quickly to the airport he doesn’t even have a bag with him! Caroline Kennedy is also on board.