Have a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year!
I'll be back on January 2nd or 3rd.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas!
Have a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year!
I'll be back on January 2nd or 3rd.
Not my kid
This video has gone viral because it makes us all feel a little better about our own kids. Although, if I'm going to be honest, we did have a similar reaction to underwear under the tree once about ten years ago...
Comcast-NBC merger
There are some face-saving (toothless) conditions, but it's going to happen.
As we all knew it would.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Cubs taking a pass on Brandon Webb
To which, I say: Good move.
$7 million for a pitcher that hasn't pitched in two years is way too much money. Let the Rangers have him.
Mind power
This study about placebos confirms the power of the mind.
I think I'll print it out and leave it on the kitchen table.
The search for Santo's replacement
In his column today, Paul Sullivan lists the candidates that would fit that description: Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, Dan Plesac, Eric Karros, Gary Matthews and Mitch Williams.
I'd add Keith Moreland and Dave Otto to the list too.
My top choice would be Suttcliffe, though I think he won't take the gig because he has a pretty sweet gig with ESPN. My second choice is Plesac. He's actually quite good.
The Lone Ranger
It did. My middle son Johnny loved it too.
So, when I saw this morning that Fred Foy died, I actually knew who that was. He was the announcer of the Lone Ranger. The man that began every episode with these immortal words...
"A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty 'Hi-yo, Silver' - the Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early Western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again!"
RIP, Fred Foy. One of the all time great announcers.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Grandma reads 50 Cent's Tweets
If you're easily offended, don't click on this one. There's a little salty language. But I thought it was pretty darn funny...
Jokes for a Hump Day morning
I got this from multiple sources. Thanks to all of you...
Just when you have lost faith in human kindness, someone who teaches at Kean Elementary in Wooster, Ohio forwarded the following.This letter was sent to the Principal's office after the school had sponsored a luncheon for the elderly.
An elderly lady received a new radio at the lunch as a door prize and was writing to say thank you. This story is a credit to all humankind.
Dear Kean Elementary,
Thank you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent senior citizens luncheon. I am 84 years old and live at the Sprenger Home for the Aged. All of my family has passed away. I am all alone now and it's nice to know that someone is thinking of me. God bless you for your kindness. My roommate is 95 and has always had her own radio, but before I received one, she would never let me listen to hers, even when she was napping. The other day her radio fell off the nightstand and broke into a lot of pieces. It was awful and she was in tears. Her distress over the broken radio touched me and I knew this was God's way of sending me a message. She asked if she could listen to mine, and I told her to kiss my ass.
Thank you for that opportunity..
Sincerely,
Agnes Baker
Just when you have lost faith in human kindness, someone who teaches at Kean Elementary in Wooster, Ohio forwarded the following.This letter was sent to the Principal's office after the school had sponsored a luncheon for the elderly.An elderly lady received a new radio at the lunch as a door prize and was writing to say thank you. This story is a credit to all humankind.
Dear Kean Elementary,
Thank you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent senior citizens luncheon. I am 84 years old and live at the Sprenger Home for the Aged. All of my family has passed away. I am all alone now and it's nice to know that someone is thinking of me. God bless you for your kindness. My roommate is 95 and has always had her own radio, but before I received one, she would never let me listen to hers, even when she was napping. The other day her radio fell off the nightstand and broke into a lot of pieces. It was awful and she was in tears. Her distress over the broken radio touched me and I knew this was God's way of sending me a message. She asked if she could listen to mine, and I told her to kiss my ass.
Thank you for that opportunity..
Sincerely,
Agnes Baker
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Wiki Ignorance Test
Turns out his genius also expands into the political humor realm. I love this idea: The Wiki Ignorance Test.
Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannenbaum
Look closely at the tree...it's not your usual type of tree. It's the sort of thing a German might invent...
Making sense of Net Neutrality rules passed today
How does this law help consumers? From this morning's Washington Post...
"Under the regulations, companies that carry the Internet into American homes would not be allowed to block Web sites that offer rival services, nor would they be permitted to play favorites by dividing delivery of Internet content into fast and slow lanes."
OK, that's good. Definitely good. Nobody can possibly have a problem with that.
But what about this part? This is what makes activists upset.
"The rules would prohibit Internet providers from arbitrarily blocking or slowing delivery of online services, but they could strike business deals in which a company might pay extra for faster access to consumers."
So, they can't slow anyone down, but they can make some people faster. Sounds like a gigantic loophole to me. That's not so good. There's also a loophole about wireless devices--they aren't covered as thoroughly. That's not so good either.
So, the people on the left are upset. What about the people on the right?
They say they're upset because they want the big companies to have more control and power ("so they can further innovate")--which, let's face it, is ridiculous. I sometimes wonder how they can spout that sort of nonsense with a straight face.
The one legitimate complaint that they have, as far as I'm concerned, is that the courts recently ruled that the F.C.C. doesn't really have the power to do this. I'm not sure how they plan to get past that little problem, except for one thing. It appears the telecoms have signed off on this--they were in on the deal making with the F.C.C. Chairman from the start.
That's probably the worst sign of all.
WGN rights a wrong
Yesterday they announced they were bringing it back.
You have to give them credit for admitting they blew it.
Robin & Fred stay with Howard
Robin Quivers and Fred Norris both signed deals that coincide with Howard's new deal at Sirius (5 years).
Still unsigned: Baba Booey. He's out promoting his book right now. I was at Borders yesterday and the pile of Baba Booey books was enormous. Either they're expecting a mad rush of last second purchasers, or they ordered way too many of them.
Da Bears
Devin Hester sets the record for most punt/kickoff returns for touchdowns.The Bears clinch the division title with a big win.
And we probably witnessed the final moments of Brett Favre's Hall of Fame career.
That's a pretty good night of TV viewing.
Wise decision
The Cubs just signed Pat Hughes to a five year contract extension. Very wise decision, indeed. Pat is simply the best in the game right now. It should be interesting to see who they pair him up with next season. It won't be the same without Ron, but Pat will do a great job no matter who it is.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sarah Palin Christmas Song
This is the handiwork of Tom Latourette, the singer of our Just One Bad Century song. He was also a frequent contributor to the Johnny B Showgram on the Loop. His latest comedic target is Sarah...
AP Entertainer of the Year
Would you believe they gave the Entertainer of the Year award to Betty White?
She didn't believe it either. I love her reaction. She said: "It's ridiculous."
Shep Smith
Jon Stewart dedicated his last show of the year (on Thursday) to the non-passage of the 9/11 direct responders bill. That's the bill that would have paid for the medical expenses of all 9/11 responders. Republicans have blocked it from passing in the Senate, and Stewart was outraged about that. In one of those strange "it must be a full moon" moments, Shep Smith agrees with Jon Stewart. Wonder what his bosses at Fox News said to him after he said the following (although note--he never actually uses the word Republicans).
The new Kiss-Fm morning team
Last week we found out that Brotha Fred is coming to Kiss-FM in Chicago to replace DreX. This week we find out about the rest of the show.
It's going to be an odd mixture of Fred's show in Charlotte, and the former DreX show in Chicago. Should be interesting to see how everybody gets along.
More on the Citadel/Cumulus dustup
Tom Taylor's Radio-Info.com column has this little tidbit buried in one of his stories about Citadel's rejection of the offer from Cumulus..."Cumulus says it’s a 16% premium to the recent 20-day average price. It says “if every Citadel shareholder would elect the cash option in full, with pro-ration, approximately $22.16 in cash would be paid per Citadel share, and an additional $8.14 in value per Citadel share” in the form of Cumulus stock."
Why on earth would they turn that down? Last week I guessed it was because the CEO (Farid Suleman) wouldn't cash in personally. When the company emerged from bankruptcy (a bankruptcy he caused, in my opinion) he was given stock options instead of actual stock, and he wants to stick around until it matures for maximum personal enrichment. That's just my guess based on his track record. Tom Taylor hints that there may be another reason--that he just wants to keep his job. I suppose that's possible too.
By the way, the more I read about the Cumulus CEO making the offer, the more I don't like him either. He's already talking about "synergy" (translation: cutting jobs).
It's not a business filled with swell guys.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
RIP Phil Cavarretta
Phil Cavarretta died yesterday in Georgia at the age of 94.For twenty years Phil was the face of the Cubs. He was a Chicago boy (Lane Tech), started playing for the Cubs as a teenager in the mid 30s, was the MVP of the league during their last pennant winning season of 1945, and played with them until he was fired during spring training of 1954 (he was also the manager at the time).
With Phil's passing only two players remain from that last Cubs World Series team. Lennie Merullo will be 93 this year. Andy Pafko will be 90.
Father Knows Nothing
You can read it here.
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