Michael Jackson.  Michael Phelps.  And now yours truly Michael Mackie have all experienced the joy of pure, pressurized O2.  Seems hyperbaric chambers aren’t just for deep-sea divers suffering from the bends anymore.  Now the procedure is used for everything from aiding in digestion to helping autistic kids.

Who knew?

So, of course, because it’s become all the rage … I simply HAD to try it out for myself.  Imagine getting in to a big oversized space suit – one that expands and expands until you feel like a tick about to explode.

When I met with the doctor about what to expect I had tons of questions.  Like, “Are you single?”  Seems he had even more questions for me.  The first being, “You aren’t claustrophobic, are you?”  He then warned me about chronic ear popping as the machine filled up with pressurized oxygen.  Now I’m a seasoned flier – but even I wasn’t ready for the snap, crackle and pop going on inside my eardrums.  Mercifully, I grabbed some gum and gnawed on it like a manic cow chewing its cud.

The experience itself is wildly underwhelming.  After my ears stopped popping, I grabbed my ear buds and listened to Madonna’s new CD.  The doctor would pop in occasionally to ask how I was doing – peering through an oval-shaped porthole positioned above my head.  Good thing he was attractive because there would be nothing worse than a mediocre-looking person suddenly appearing in your window to the outside world.

There’s a zipper on the inside of the tube and an emergency release valve in case anyone was to freak out mid-session.  (Apparently, it’s happened … and I can see why.  It’s like being entombed in a casket that resembles a tanning bed.)

Did I feel any different afterwards?  Not really … although I had achieved some sort of weird, Zen bliss.  And I did sleep really well that night.  I’m trying it again for a full-hour in a couple weeks.  I’ll report back then with the 411.

Popularity: 4% [?]

The first thing you notice about MSNBC anchorman Thomas Roberts – I mean, other than his sturdy shoulders, megawatt smile and perfectly unflappable hair – is his authoritative voice.  I forgot how much gravitas he holds when he’s simply being a Chatty Cathy.

During a recent MoxieQ red carpet interview, Roberts talked about his decision to come out as the first openly gay anchormen on a cable news network.  I have to admit … I could listen to Roberts read the ingredients off a cereal box and I’d be quite smitten.  Yeah – he’s hunky, but he isn’t just another pretty face.  It was Roberts who held down the anchor desk at CNN during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.  He’s since jumped ship to MSNBC – where he’s been for the last couple years.

Roberts was a good sport when I joked about all things social media.  There was a fast flurry of fingers as he and I duked it out for Twitter superiority.  (Uh, he won.  He trumped my ace by getting a Tweet from singer Chely Wright while I was talking to him.)

What you didn’t see in the interview is the difficulty I had snagging him for our brief one-on-one.  I was interviewing someone else when his handlers walked him by.  Whoever I was talking to at the time (some film director, I think) … let me apologize yet again … as I usually don’t wrap up interviews with, “Kthanksbai!  Hey, Thomas Roberts … get OVER here!”

It was also during this interview that the videographer’s head exploded.  For whatever reason, I was practically yelling during our chat.  (Which would explain why my sound is a little distorted.  Ooops.)  As soon as Roberts walked away, the videographer nearly beat me to death with the stick mic.  Happens.  Had she actually succeeded … it probably would have made for a good story.

Oooooh … that means Roberts would have likely read my full name in the scandalous “shocking murder investigation”.  Well, if I’m gonna go out in a blaze of glory … I want Thomas Roberts to be the one who drops my name early and often.

Popularity: 11% [?]