Chicago Radio Spotlight: Kent Voss

I just posted an interview with the morning anchor of Johnny B's show at the Loop, Kent Voss.

We talked about his long radio career before Brandmeier, his foray into television, his longtime friendship with Jimmy Kimmel, and what he thinks might happen in the future.

Read it at Chicago Radio Spotlight.

Blago Balls

This is brilliant. (Warning: there are a few bad words)



P.S. I spotted this video at The Beachwood Reporter.

Programming Note

If you're up at 2:30 in the morning (and who isn't?) tonight/tomorrow morning, tune in to the Bob Malkowski show on WGN Radio, AM 720. I'll be on with Bob discussing the new ownership of the Cubs, and my website Just One Bad Century

New Cubs Owner

It looks like the Ricketts family will be buying the Chicago Cubs, barring any setbacks in the negotiations from here on...

The Ricketts own "Ameritrade," the discount broker. I don't want to be Mr. Negative-Pants here, but do you really want a company whose wealth is based on the stock market to own your team in the worst economic climate since the stock market crash of 1929?

That is so Cubs.

The Cubs go Commando

According to the Tribune today...

"The Cubs sued apparel maker Under Armour in federal court Thursday for allegedly reneging on a five-year, $10.8 million sponsorship contract to have its logo displayed on the outfield doors in left- and right-center fields."

No more undies for the Cubs. This should help draw the female fans.

Bill Maher on MSNBC?

Jeff Bercovici at Portfolio is predicting that Bill Maher may be the next host at MSNBC (in the 10pm ET/9pm CT slot).

That could be interesting.

Inauguration musings

A few of my observations during the inauguration were posted by the Beachwood Reporter. If you're interested, you can read that here. (Don't worry, it's not in-depth political anaylsis...just one liners.)

Happy Birthday

Charlie Meyerson, the writer of Daywatch, is celebrating a birthday today. Happy birthday, Charlie. (And thanks for the tip off to the Jay Mariotti story below)

I interviewed Mr. Meyerson (one of the nicest guys around) a few years ago for Chicago Radio Spotlight. You can read that interview here.

Guide to navigating this site

I've gotten a few e-mails from people asking how to navigate the site now that I'm not doing regularly scheduled features. (In case you haven't noticed, I'm still doing all the old features, but they are shorter, and I'm doing them more often than once a week so I can be as timely as possible.)

The quick answer is this: Check the labels. They appear after each post.

If you like the wacky news stories and want to read more, click on a label that says "News Flash" and you'll get them all. If you like the media stories, click on a "Media Notebook" label and you'll get them all. Same goes for "Father Knows Nothing," my contributions to the Beachwood Reporter ("Back to Beachwood"), "Jokes", "Photo Fun", "Radio Recollections," "Chicago Radio Spotlight," "Video Vault," etc.

Don't forget that even though I don't allow comments on this blog, you can e-mail your comments and contributions anytime to amishrick@yahoo.com. Also, all comments are posted on my Father Knows Nothing blog. All you have to do is register (and they only insist on that to keep out the spammers...it's a family-friendly site.) I highly encourage comments there.

Hope this helps, and thanks for reading. The number of visitors has been climbing steadily since the first of the year. I'll do my best to make it worth your while to keep coming back.

Other Inaugural Balls

I contributed to this piece in the Beachwood Reporter.

It's a list of the lesser-known Inaugural Balls you might have missed.

Wolfman Jack

If he were alive today, he would be celebrating his 70th birthday.

A few years ago John Records Landecker wrote a piece about Wolfman Jack for my blog. He told a great story about his personal encounter with the Wolfman.

Read it here.

The President Talks to Real Chicagoans

I don't know if you caught this moment at the Illinois Inaugural Ball tonight. President Obama was talking to a group of Chicagoans (soldiers) stationed in Afghanistan live via satellite hookup. I believe there were six of them, and he asked each of them if they rooted for the Cubs or the Sox. 4 of them said the Cubs.

I'm looking for the video. If you see it anywhere, please let me know so I can post it. Love ya, Mr. President, but let's remember who is the #1 team in Chicago, shall we?

A six-year-old's review...

I watched the whole Presidential Inauguration with my youngest son, six-year-old Sean. He noticed people were crying in the crowd and said, "Dad, people really hate this speech."

Guide to Blue-State Living

Some of my Republican friends are still in shock over the way the country has been wrestled from their hands. With them in mind, I contributed the following piece to the Beachwood Reporter. It's a Guide to Blue-State living to help them adjust to the new sheriff in town.

Celebrities love Obama

MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst present The Presidential Pledge

Suburban Man

For those of you checking out the blog today looking for "Suburban Man," this is just a reminder that the column is now called "Father Knows Nothing" and I post it on Sundays at NWI Parent. This week's column is called "A serious talk," and it's about a father/son chat between my youngest son Sean and me. I think it's safe to say that it doesn't end the way you would expect it to end.

Joke for a Monday morning

Contributed by "K"


THE SENILITY PRAYER:

Grant me the senility to forget the people

I never liked anyway,

The good fortune to run into the ones I do, and

The eyesight to tell the difference.

Rosa Sat

How cold was it?

A good perspective from "M," now that it's warming up a little bit...

"It was so cold

...that the Blue Man Group didn't need body paint this week.

...that Britney Spears put her underwear back on.

...that a puppy huddled up against Hillary Clinton for warmth.

...that a Chicago alderman was seen with his hands in his own pocket."

Kerry Wood, Class Act

I was touched by Kerry Wood's ad in the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune.

It says...

"It has been an honor to have been a Chicago Cub for the last 13 years and to have played in the greatest ballpark, Wrigley Field. My deepest thanks go to my teammates and the Cubs organization for taking a chance on a kid from Texas and welcoming me into the Cubs family. Thank you Cubs fans, the greatest fans in all of baseball, for believing in me and supporting me over the years. I will always be proud to have been a Chicago Cub. Although I'm a member of a new 'Tribe,' I will forever be a Chicagoan."

White Sox fans have always been mystified about why Cubs fans were so loyal to Kerry Wood. This is why. Kerry Wood was, and always will be, a class act.

Martin Luther King Day

This video is very powerful. It's a song by Tom Clay, a disc jockey from Detroit. He released it in the early 70s. I seek it out every MLK day, and display it, because it really sums up everything King stood for...

A serious talk

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at the NWI Parent blog. It's called "A serious talk," and it's about a father/son chat between my youngest son Sean and me. I think it's safe to say that it doesn't end the way you would expect it to end.

Reed Pence

Reed Pence has worked in radio newsrooms in Chicago with personalities like Steve and Garry, Jonathon Brandmeier, and Eddie and JoBo, while also producing public affairs shows at The Loop and B96. Since 1987, the wee hours of Sunday morning have received his undivided attention. Eventually he co-founded MediaTracks Communications, which produces public affairs programming now heard on about 750 stations nationally.

He and his wife Madonna live in Chicago's western suburbs, where home improvement is a way of life. A few years ago I asked him to write about home improvement for this blog. I thought today, his birthday, would be a good day to re-run that well-written piece.