Blogger issues

Sorry for the lack of posts today.

There have been some issues with blogger nationwide. It was completely shut down for about twenty four hours.

Not that I've been checking it every twenty minutes or so to see if it was back up.

I don't have a problem.

I can quit blogging anytime.

Really.

This Week in 1945

The Franck Committee, Gwendolyn Brooks, Leo Durocher, George H.W. Bush, and Cub`s pitcher Dale Alderson are featured This Week in 1945.

Ferris Bueller

25 years ago this week, John Hughes was filming Ferris Bueller's Day Off in and around Chicagoland. One of the days of filming took place at Wrigley Field...during a Cubs game.

That story is here.

Honoring 3-Finger

The town of Terre Haute Indiana is finally honoring one of their most famous citizens.

One hundred years ago he was one of the best pitchers in baseball, the ace of the Chicago Cubs--a team that had been in the World Series four of the previous five years.

He also had one of the greatest nicknames of all-time, the result of a farming accident in his native Terre Haute.

Three Finger Brown.

Father Knows Nothing

My new Father Knows Nothing column is up. This week's is called "The Birds and the Bees" and it's about finally having "the talk" with my two oldest boys.

You can read the column here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Andy Masur

I just posted my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I talk to Andy Masur, native Chicagoan, former WGN Sports broadcaster, and current radio play by play man of the San Diego Padres.

You can read it here.

I'm trying to decide if this is my last Chicago Radio Spotlight before my summer hiatus. I think it is. I do have word out to one more big name personality, but if he can't do it this week, this will be the last one until the fall. More information to follow.

Glenn Beck

Jon Stewart uncovers the fraud of Glenn Beck...again. Sadly, his fans will never see this. They don't ever leave the bubble.

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FCC fines coming for Fox?

Try reading this without laughing at the last sentence. It's from this morning's Wall Street Journal...

"The Federal Communications Commission proposed a $25,000 fine against Fox Television Stations Inc. Thursday for not providing information about an indecency complaint involving the animated TV show "American Dad." The FCC said Fox officials repeatedly failed to provide enough information about a Jan. 3 episode of "American Dad," which featured scenes that suggested a character performed a sexual act on a horse."

Blago

Rod Blagojevich's jury selection started yesterday. Buckle up, everyone. By the end of this trial everyone in Illinois will feel like they need to take a shower.

Steve Rhodes of the Beachwood Reporter offers this Blago trial preview.

Worst Promotion Ever

On this day in 1974, the Cleveland Indians hosted Ten Cent Beer Night. Needless to say, it didn't go well. This song tells the story nicely...

Murph sues CBS

Mike Murphy, former talk show host at the Score, is suing CBS Radio as part of a class action lawsuit.

Radio Online has the details here.

It's basically about the legality of CBS Radio's no-compete clauses--which are supposed to be against the law in Illinois.  He's looking for other CBS employees to join him: "If people are in a similar situation, I would be willing to help them out, because situations like this are a flagrant disregard for Illinois law," Murphy said.

Should be interesting to see what becomes of it.

By the way, I'm pretty sure the photo that accompanies this article is not Mike Murphy. No idea who it is, but it's not Murph.

It boggles the mind

From Tom Taylor's column this morning at Radio-Info.com...

"Early Chapter 11 filers and workout projects such as Citadel and NextMedia and Townsquare Media (the former Regent) are positioned to get a jump on the next phase of consolidation. They no longer shoulder the debt levels that forced them into re-structuring and they have balance sheets that let them consider M&A opportunities – and get bigger...Farid Suleman (CEO of Citadel) could be stalking acquisitions, if he can find the financing."

WHAT? Is this a joke? Companies that had to file for Chapter 11 because they got too big are now going to try to get bigger? How about fixing the stations you destroyed with insane cost cutting as you drowned in red ink because you couldn't pay the interest on the loans you shouldn't have gotten in the first place?

If they find a bank to lend them money to do this, I'm taking all of my money out of banks and stuffing it in my mattress.

Wooly Bully

It hit the charts on this day in 1965.

We used to play this at all the Landecker & the Legends shows. Our late friend Tim Weigel used to join us on stage and play keyboards...

Sights & Sounds

Lou Gehrig stars in a movie, and Leo Durocher stars in an obscene radio outtake in this week's Sights & Sounds.

1957

On this day in 1957, the Cubs were playing against the Brooklyn Dodgers and their young gunslinger Sandy Koufax.

Wonder what that sounded like on the radio?

Wonder no more.

World Cup

My brother sent me this link. It's a great piece written by an American comedy writer/soccer fan, comparing each of the World Cup teams to American sports teams, in an effort to help non-soccer fans in America better understand.

I highly recommend it.

Pity the Ump

There's a lot of talk today about that poor pitcher in Detroit (Gallaraga) that had a perfect game stolen because of a blown call by the umpire. I feel bad for him too.

But I feel worse for the umpire.

Read this piece in the Tribune. This is a call that will torture him for the rest of his career, and he's already feeling it.

Such a deal

I'm no math whiz, but I think you might not want to go with the special deal on this one. Thanks to "PR" for contributing this...

Paul at the White House

Paul McCartney was honored last night at the White House in a star-studded special dinner.

Read the whole story here.

I wish I could have been there. (WXRT's Terri Hemmert actually was there, by the way). I'm sure my invitation was lost in the mail. It's a good thing--I wouldn't have been able to attend. We had 8th grade honors night yesterday at the Junior High (graduation is next Wednesday). My son Tommy was given the award for the best student in a subject area. Care to guess the subject area? I don't know why, but I found this funny. He got the award for best student in Spanish.

Anyway, I would have had to send my regrets to the White House. Sorry, Sir Paul. Sorry, Mr. President. Family comes first. Comprende? (That's my little hat tip to Tommy)

Luckily the entire event will be televised on my birthday (July 28th). I'm looking forward to it. Stevie Wonder performs "We Can Work It Out," Elvis Costello does "Penny Lane," and Paul performs "Got to get you into my life." That will be great. I also love what Paul said about the President: "He's a great guy, so lay off him."

Larry King Live

The show on CNN debuted exactly 25 years ago today. Larry's a bit of a joke now (no offense), but at one time he conducted some pretty great interviews. This one with Frank Zappa took place just a few months after the show debuted, during the height of proposed record censorship pushed by Tipper Gore.

In this interview, Zappa is great. Larry is pretty good too.

Poker Party

Robert Feder has the scoop and the photos of a poker party that took place at the Tribune Tower last summer. In the photos you'll see CEO Randy Michaels, WGN PD Kevin Metheny, and Lee Abrams, among others, smoking, drinking, and gambling.

I'm sure they're a little embarrassed, but I don't see anyone getting in trouble for this except for the guy who stupidly put the pictures on his Facebook page. The employees won't be happy about it, but who are they going to complain to? The CEO? He was the guy running the party.

It actually looks like it was fun. I have a similar party at my house about once a summer or so, but even though I know the CEO of my house personally (my wife), she still makes us have the party in the garage. Our home may not be as ornate as Colonel McCormick's former office in the Tribune Tower, but our CEO strictly enforces the no (cigar) smoking rules.

L-O-L-A

On this day in 1970, Ray Davies of the Kinks went into the studio to re-record the lyrics of "Lola" because of a threatened lawsuit. It became Cherry Cola instead of Coca-Cola. But it was still about a one-night stand with a he-she. Great, great song...

Poor Steve Garvey

This week we ponder...

If only Steve Garvey wasn't afraid to stick his neck out.*


*Hint: It doesn't end well for Garvey.

A no-no

On this day in 1971, Kenny Holtzman pitched a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. It was a nail biter until the very end--a 1-0 win in Cincinnati.

Holtzman scored the only run of the game himself, after reaching on an error in the third inning. (Glenn Beckert knocked him in with a single). The tough luck loser for the Reds was Gary Nolan, who gave up only five hits, and zero earned runs.

Among the hitters in the lineup for Cinci that day: Hal McRae, Tommy Helms, Lee May, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, and Davey Concepcion.

Conan O'Brien

Exactly one year ago today, he debuted as the host of the Tonight Show in Burbank.

A year later he was in New York doing his comedy show, and had a few surprise guests appear on stage with him.

BP's new press secretary...

...is Dick Cheney's former press secretary.

No commentary necessary.

Everybody Wants To Rule the World

This was the #1 song in the country on this day in 1985. I had to play it every single day (on WPGU in Champaign-Urbana) and eventually got really, really sick of it. But listening to it again this morning, I discovered I can finally enjoy it again. That only took 25 years.

Marconi

On this day in 1896 Guglielmo Marconi received a patent for the radio.

13 years later he would receive the Nobel Prize in physics for his contributions to wireless communication.

By the time of his death in 1937, radio had transformed America, bringing it together in ways that were impossible before.

Just over 40 years later, Howard Stern introduced America to Butt Bongo, Lesbian strippers, and Fartman.*

That's the arc of history, my friends.


*Yes, I realize that one of my own contributions to the art form was the just as classy song "King of Farts". And yes, even though Marconi would have been horrified by it, my kids love it.

Welcome back Jon Stewart

I'm happy he's back from vacation. I'm guessing BP is not.

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BP

Sometimes the government and the free market work together to provide some justice.

Yesterday the government announced they were opening a criminal investigation of BP. The market responded--the company lost 15% of it's value in one day ($21.1 billion). (The full story is here)

That is literally the only way these people can be dealt with--hit them in the place that caused this spill in the first place: their greedy little wallets.

Beanball Ben

The flip side of the Rick Reuschel draft pick (below) is this week's Tale from a Bad Century. 11 years ago this week the Cubs made one of their all-time worst first round draft picks...and that's really saying something.

In 1999, they chose Beanball Ben, this week's Tale from a Bad Century.

Rick Reuschel

One of the truly rare good draft picks by the Cubs was made exactly forty years ago this week. They chose a man called Big Daddy--Rick Reuschel.

He would go on to be their best pitcher of the decade.

Al & Tipper separate

This is a shocker. Al and Tipper Gore announced to friends via e-mail that they are separating after 40 years of marriage.

No hint about what caused the breakup, but this was probably the beginning of the end. You could see it in her eyes after that long kiss. She was "ewwwing" along with the rest of us.

Sgt. Pepper

It came out June 1, 1967. (My wife was born 16 days later).

The Blackhawks

I loved that game last night (HAWKS WIN!). The last ten minutes or so we're almost as intense as the closing minutes of the USA-Russia hockey game in 1980. They were hanging on for their lives; clawing, clutching, hitting, grasping for every puck, every pass.

Great, great hockey.

The shot of the Hawks legends (Tony, Bobby, & Stan) in the skybox at the United Center also inspired me to dig out my old hockey cards. That's right, kids. I collected hockey cards. This isn't the first time Chicago was hockey-crazy.

Here is my favorite card.

AARP

Meet the new AARP.

They're dropping the word "retired" and they're promoting things like iPhone apps, sex and relationship advice, and a digital version of their magazine. It's part of their effort to appeal to Baby Boomers, who are entering old age kicking and screaming.

It makes sense to me.

But I'm still going to rip up my AARP card when it comes in the mail for my 50th birthday (in three years).

CNN is 30

Ted Turner's crazy idea of a 24-hour-cable news channel started on this day 30 years ago. When I first heard about it, I really thought it was going to be a huge failure. Who would be interested in watching news 24-hours a day?

Shows you how much I know.

As James Earl Jones says...

Thank God I'm a Country Boy

This was the #1 song in this country exactly 35 years ago today. He performed this at Farm Aid ten years later, and I confess I was singing along, even though I'm definitely not a country boy. It was quite a moment...

Twiggy

He was well known in Chicago in the 1960s, but he wasn't a supermodel.

He was the other Twiggy.

This week's Great Nickname at Just One Bad Century.

Jimmie Foxx

The Cubs acquired the future Hall of Famer on this day in 1942.

Of course, his good years were long behind him then.