Shrine to Katie Couric brings a call from the goddess herself

"You're not a freak, you're not a stalker." A fabulous, glowing character reference from Katie Couric considering the way Jason Matheson has carried on about her.

The BIG undisclosed news about which I teased readers before going to D.C. for my nephew's high school graduation was that, after months of Facebooking, Tweeting and finagling, Couric finally was going to surprise the FOX 9 entertainment reporter by calling into Matheson's FM107 show. Matheson's wonderful producer-cohost Alexis Thompson arranged the surprise after scheming with Couric in NYC before the 2009 Gracie Awards. You can listen to Matheson's shocked awe on June 8 by clicking the "on demand" tab at FM1071.com.

"I've been dying to talk to you for months now, ever since I found out you had a shrine in your studio to me," Couric said. The shrine video is at tinyurl.com/ksv6ab.

Matheson's insistence that he was not a scary dude wasn't news to Couric. "I did due diligence," she said. "I found out you're a very nice, normal guy. ... I had actually the FBI and the CIA checking that. You came back clean. I'm very flattered, sincerely flattered that you like my work and you kind of dig me."

Said Matheson: "I'm just a simple little gay boy with a crush on Katie Couric."

"Get in line," said Couric with a sassy, guttural aplomb. "For whatever reason, I have some gay fans. I am very flattered my gay friends enjoy my work. Gay, straight, I'll take anybody at this point, hermaphrodites."

When Matheson remarked that during down moments, Thompson plays the theme to the "CBS Evening News" to cheer him up, Couric joked, "That is sad. I wouldn't tell anyone that."

"Jason, not only did I talk to Alexis, I did some promos for your show, so you could hear me whenever you want."

The promos: "Hi, this is Katie Couric, you're listening to the Jason Matheson show on 107.1. He's hot" and "Hi, this is Katie Couric, Jason's radio wife. Honey, can you pick up some bread on the way home?"

Couric also sent Matheson a CBS baseball cap, a mug and a photo signed "With love from your 'work wife.'"

When last at FOX 9, I asked to see the mug. "I'll show you a picture, 'cause it ain't leaving my house" Matheson said dismissively, joking not one bit, even though my column item had something to do with him getting a call from Couric.

"I'm buying a cabinet just for the mug and the photograph. The day after Katie came on FM107, her appearance there was the lead item on her Facebook and Twitter pages. I'll be up on this cloud until I meet her. She did give us her number and told us to call anytime. Believe me I won't abuse it. I don't want to be a stalker."

Prince isn't talking Looks like Spin magazine's 25th anniversary "Purple Rain" issue featuring "new interviews" interviews everybody but Prince.

Spin mag's editor Doug Brod told me Wednesday that writer Brian Raftery could get neither Symbolina nor Morris Day to participate. "As far as we know [Prince] doesn't talk much about nostalgia," Brod said.

Still, Raftery's article is an insightful, fun read beginning with this slammin' description of Prince as an "elfin horndog with a rococo fashion sense."

Producer David Z. has a sagacious observation about when Princely went strange: "I think what changed him more than anything was being on tour and staying right across the street from the Dakota when John Lennon was shot in 1980. He's diminutive and when you walk into a place and every eye is on, he just saw himself as a target. That got to him."

What apparently got to keyboardist Lisa Coleman was Prince acting like royalty after a long sibling-like relationship that included her doing his laundry, making him sandwiches: "When it changed, I'd have to go through other people to talk to him. I was not into that. I'm still not into that."

Former tour manager Alan Leeds opined about the money wasted just so Prince could get his hair done, once in Georgetown. With Prince, this means closing down the salon and blacking out the windows. "Oh, God, the money wasted," Leeds is quoted as saying.

Chambers is showing "Purple Rain" at 8 p.m. Saturday and unveiling a cocktail of the same name.

Favre, for sure ESPN NFL analyst Tim Hasselbeck said Tuesday that he believes Brett Favre's arrival as a Vikings is "a done deal."

The little nugget that makes Hasselbeck feel this way is a report that a Vikings trainer visited Favre in Mississippi. "I've never heard of team sending a trainer to work with an injured free agent. New England Patriots didn't even send a trainer out to California to see how Tom Brady was doing. There's no doubt in my mind that Brett wants to play football and I also think Minnesota Vikings want Brett even more than that."

Tarvaris Jackson can learn a lot from watching Favre. Even with Brett playing QB, I don't feel the playoffs in the air. Feel free to prove me wrong, Vikes.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com.