Fake Radio Caller Service

I've been disappointed with my former industry many times in the past, but I can't remember the last time I read a story that disappointed me as much as this one did.

Premiere Radio Networks has a new service that provides fake radio callers reading from prepared scripts.

You read that right. Hired actors. Reading prepared scripts as if they are actual radio callers. And they are never identified as anything other than real callers. The service is called "Premiere On Call." (Premiere Radio Networks is owned by Clear Channel and syndicates such shows as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.)

In the article, the editor of Talkers Magazine compares this service to fake callers on wacky morning shows. I realize that some wacky morning shows do use fake callers and actors (like Mancow), but most don't.

I produced (and hosted) wacky radio shows in Chicago for twenty years and you know how many times we used fake phone callers during that time? Zero. Not once. It's not necessary. Real callers are not just authentic and honest, they're better.

But they'll only call in if you give them a good reason to do so. That requires working hard at creating compelling topics. Not manufacturing fake ones.

It makes you wonder about some of the shows on the Premiere roster, doesn't it?

Katie Couric shakes her sillies out

Katie Couric Investigates the Sillies from Katie Couric

Steve Carell

It's officially over for Steve Carell at "The Office."

He filmed his last episode this week.

I like his tweet about that: "Steve Carell's last day on 'The Office.' And the angels of comedy wept... #saddestdayever."

Tina Turner

Exactly 45 years ago today (info courtesy Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac)...

March 7, 1966…With Phil Spector as producer, Tina Turner recorded the vocal track for Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep-Mountain High."

I still think it's her all-time most powerful song...

Light at the end of the Tribune tunnel

After 27 months, it appears we're in the final few weeks of their bankruptcy nightmare.

The Tribune printed a Q & A yesterday to help explain where it stands.

George Will

I almost never agree with George Will, but I do like him for some reason--maybe it's a bond among fellow Cub fans.

But I'm guessing that his conservative friends are not happy with what he wrote in yesterday's Washington Post about what will happen if some of these 2012 Republican hopefuls don't stop spouting the crazy...

"The nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons."

Ouch.

The Hey Jude Flow Chart

This is brilliant. Click on it to enlarge it. From loveallthis.tumblr.com...

Fox News contemplates their post-Beck life

He still has huge ratings, but they have been falling precipitously since the beginning of the year (coinciding with his descent into apocalyptic nonsense), and now it looks like Fox executives are planting stories about him.

His contract with Fox is up in December. Will they really get rid of him?

What seemed unthinkable during the tea-party-crazy times of 2009 is now looking more and more likely.

How to get Charlie Sheen on your radio show

He's done about a dozen interviews over the past two weeks all across the country, but I'd have to say that Philadelphia's Wired 96.5 had the most creative approach for scoring the interview.

They flew a banner over his house asking him to call.

And he did.

DJ Who?

So who was that kid in the double-flap college-style helmet with no name on his back that hit the 2-run walk off homer in the Cubs first televised game of spring training yesterday?

His name is DJ LeMahieu, and he's another former LSU guy. The Cubs drafted him in 2009 (2nd round) after he led the Tigers to the College World Series title.

He played for Class A Daytona last year and hit .314 with 73 RBI and 15 stolen bases. He looks like a pretty good prospect. He's a 22-year-old shortstop.

Cubs Hall of Famer: Ernie Banks

This week's featured Cubs Hall of Famer at Just One Bad Century just happens to be my all-time favorite player; Ernie Banks.

Read all about him here, and watch Ernie talk about his career in his own words.

Father Knows Nothing

This week's Father Knows Nothing column is now up at NWI Parent. I call this one "Extreme Lent" and it tells the tale of my insane plan for Lent this year.

You can read it here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Michael Damsky

My latest interview has been posted at Chicago Radio Spotlight. This week I spoke with WLS-AM & WLS-FM GM Michael Damsky.

You can read it here.

Tips for Geezer Parents

My guest blog has been posted at ChicagoNow. I call it "Tips for Geezer Parents."

Coming this weekend

Later today I'll be posting a guest blog at ChicagoNow's "A City Mom." This one will provide tips for older parents.

Tomorrow morning I'll post my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week's subject is the man that runs both WLS-AM and WLS-FM; Michael Damsky.

And then on Sunday, I'll post my latest Father Knows Nothing column. This week's column will reveal my plan for "Extreme Lent."

Have a great weekend!

How attractive is too attractive?

How about, so attractive you cause "stirrings" in a horse.

That's the effect that Michael Fassbender had on a horse recently.

It's funny, but it's not a joke.

The Daily Show nails it

This is a brilliant analysis of the people complaining about the "outrage" of overpaid teachers (paid with our tax dollars), by comparing it to the reaction of the exact same people talking about salaries of bailed out Wall Street bankers and CEOs (paid with our tax dollars after they destroyed the entire world's economy)...

The Daily Show - Crisis in the Dairyland - For Richer and Poorer - Teachers and Wall Street
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Keith Olbermann emerges

He was at a conference yesterday, discussing his upcoming new gig, and the struggles with his old ones.

Details are here.

I wonder if he has really thought this Current-TV thing through. I don't even have that channel on my cable. Ask Dan Rather what it's like working at HDNet.

It's sort of like being invisible.

NFL lockout?

Yes the players and owners are both bracing for a lockout, but there's another group of people that will be in trouble if it happens.

The television networks.

Joke for a Friday Morning

Contributed by "LR"...




For several years, a man was having an affair with an Italian woman. One night, she confided in him that she was pregnant. Not wanting to ruin his reputation or his marriage, he said he would pay her a large sum of money if she would go to Italy to secretly have the child.

If she stayed in Italy to raise the child, he would also provide child support until the child turned 18. She agreed, but asked how he would know when the baby was born..

To keep it discreet, he told her to simply mail him a post card, and write 'Spaghetti' on the back. He would then arrange for the child support payments to begin.

One day, about 9 months later, he came home to his confused wife.

"Honey," she said, "you received a very strange post card today."

"Oh, just give it to me and I'll explain it later," he said.

The wife obeyed and watched as her husband read the card, turned white, and fainted.

On the card was written: "Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Three with meatballs, two without. Send extra sauce."

Sex Survey

This isn't a Cosmo sex quiz.

It's a government sex survey. And the results are in the Washington Post.

There's some good news in there for parents of teens. Teen pregnancy is down 40% since the 1990s, and the number of teens that have never had sex hasn't been this high since ten years ago.

Sights & Sounds

Friday is Sights and Sounds day at Just One Bad Century, which means we have some Cubs video and some Cubs audio.

This week the video is the recently deceased Hall of Famer Robin Roberts talking to the press just before signing with the Cubs (in the 1960s), and the audio is more classic Harry Caray.

Check it out here.

The Book of Joel

This may just be a memoir worth reading; Billy Joel is releasing his memoir this summer. With all of the stuff he has gone through, there have to be some good stories in this book.

I'll be flipping right to the "I cheated on Christie Brinkley" chapter and see how in the world that could have happened.

Jimmy Kimmel

When he first started I really didn't think that Jimmy Kimmel was going to make it. It looks like I was wrong. His ratings have been solid, but more importantly, his show has gotten better and better. I'm looking forward to the end of Oprah in Chicago because they'll probably move Jimmy up an hour here.

Here's an example of some of the stuff he does on his show now. This video has nearly 2 million views as I post it. It features seven or eight of the most popular young actresses in the world, and it's pretty darn funny...

Ratings shocker

How bad have things gotten for NBC? They are now the 5th ranked network.

Univision just passed them.

Huffington Post contributors go on strike

The Huffington Post famously doesn't pay it's contributors (except for the investigative journalists), but after the big $300+ million payday for Ariana, some of those contributors are a little miffed she isn't sharing the wealth with them.

These guys are on strike, and are suggesting others do the same.

Joke for a Thursday morning

Contributed by "MM"...




A husband and wife are shopping in their local Wal-Mart. The husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts it in their cart.

"What do you think you're doing?" asks the wife.

"They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans," he replies.

"Put them back, we can't afford them," demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.

A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket.

"What do you think you're doing?" asks the husband.

"It’s my face cream. It makes me look beautiful," replies the wife.

Her husband retorts: "So does 24 cans of Budweiser and it's half the price."

He never knew what hit him.

Fox News suspends Gingrich and Santorum

I was wondering when this was going to happen. Fox News has suspended the contracts of two potential presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, because it appears they are about to announce their candidacies.

That's the official Fox News policy, and it's the right one.

When (or if) Palin and Huckabee announce, they will also have their contracts terminated.

By the way, these contracts are the reasons that the candidates haven't announced sooner. Right now they aren't only given free air time all the time, they're actually paid quite a lot to accept it. Gingrich was making a cool million from Fox, Santorum was making $100,000. Palin is making a million also, and Mike Huckabee has publicly expressed concern about walking away from "his lucrative payday."

Of course, they'll still be on Fox News all the time, and as soon as one of them becomes the front runner, Fox News will become his or her full-time cheerleader, but they just won't be collecting a Fox News paycheck for it anymore.

Chicago Day on WXRT

Yesterday was called "Chicago Day" on WXRT. They spent the entire day playing Chicago artists, talking to Chicago celebrities, and just plain old celebrating the city.

One of the visitors was the brand new mayor of Chicago: Rahm Emmanuel.

You can listen to a few moments of his visit here. There are pictures too. Turns out, Rahm is a long-time WXRT fan.

Save the Loop

Robert Feder reveals the rascals behind the "Save the Loop" videos that have been making the rounds lately. This was revealed via memo from an obviously angry (and I'll say it, slightly pissy) WLUP GM Marv Nyren.

Read Mr. Feder's column here. It contains the memo from Nyren.

Turns out that Matt Dubiel was one of the culprits. (I interviewed Matt for Chicago Radio Spotlight a few years ago.) According to the comments section of Feder's column, it appears that Jeff Schwartz may have been involved too. (I interviewed him for Chicago Radio Spotlight a few years ago too.) And Eddie Webb had his hand in it too, or at least was involved in one of the videos. (Yes, I interviewed Eddie a few months ago too).

I had a feeling I would know the people once the news came out, and I do.

Mr. Nyren obviously doesn't agree, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Phil Cavarretta

Today's Tale from a Bad Century is timely after what happened yesterday in the Cubs spring training game (see below).

In 1954, the Cubs did something even more shocking in spring training...they fired their manager. That's right, in spring training.

And he had been wearing a Cubs uniform for twenty years.

Read all about that story here.

In midseason form

Yesterday was only March 2nd, but lo and behold, the Cubs are already fighting in the dugout.

And it wasn't even Carlos Zambrano this time.

There must be an unofficial "craziest Carlos" award given out every year. Look out Zambrano. Carlos Silva is gunning for you this season.

RIP Suze Rotolo

You may not know her name (I didn't), but you probably have seen her face if you're a Bob Dylan fan. She was his girlfriend during the years before and after he became famous.

That's her there with Bob on the cover of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."

She was 67 years old.

A fan's guide to fun at Wrigley

A writer for Yahoo sports wrote a piece with her recommendations for enjoying Wrigley Field.

I agree with a lot of what she wrote, but I think everyone has their own preferences and routines.

As for me, I usually sit in the same seats (section 228, row 2, seats 5 & 6) because I share season tickets, but when I buy from a scalper, I'm looking for bleacher seats in the cold weather (every month except for July and August basically), and shady seats (just under overhang, in the first couple of rows) in the hot or rainy weather. If it's a beautiful day, I go for best seats available.

My regular seats are also by the two most important concession stands at Wrigley...the grilled hot dog wagon, and the Beers around the World stand. Why pay $6.75 for a Bud Light when you can get a Becks for $6.50? And those hot dogs with the grilled onions...mmmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Those two concession stands are so important to me that I'm actually only going to one game this year before April 24th. You see, I'm giving up alcohol and meat for Lent this year, and can't have either of them before Easter on April 24th. (I call it "Extreme Lent"). I've watched a Cubs game without having a beer before, but I'm not sure I've ever gone to Wrigley without having a hot dog. I'm afraid I'll break out into a cold sweat.

By the way, if you're interested in getting a more detailed description of my Wrigley ritual (and boy am I a creature of habit), the main character in my first novel "$everance" goes through it in Chapter 29, starting on page 190.

Irony Alert

The first major media company to become carbon-neutral is...yup, you guessed it: News Corp--the owner of Fox News.

The one and only media company that openly denies the existence of global warming (in unusually caustic and sarcastic terms) is the first to become carbon neutral.

There's something poetic about that.

Elvis Costello reviews Paul Simon

One of my all-time favorites (Elvis Costello) reviews the latest album from another one of my favorites (Paul Simon). And he raves about it.

This may be enough to get me to go out and buy it.

Is there anywhere that still sells these things other than iTunes?

Laughing baby video

If you can watch this without at least smiling, you're made out of stone.

Cutting NPR & PBS funding

Two recent surveys (one Democratic, one Republican) say the public is very much against cutting funding for public broadcasting.

Way against it.

Even 56% of Conservatives. Even 60% of people who think cutting the deficit is the nation's top priority.

69% of the public at large is against it, and 83% of the Democrats.

I'm a little surprised by those numbers, and I'm guessing Congress is too. But I seriously doubt it will change anything.

How not to fight charges of anti-Semitism

Wikileaks editor Julian Assange was accused by the British press of associating with anti-Semites (one of his representatives in Russia), and defended himself by saying that those making the claim are "all Jewish."

Maybe not the best defense.

Oh, and he also said: "They failed my masculinity test...They behaved like gossiping schoolgirls."

Again, I'm not 100% sure of how to deal with the British press, but I'm thinking that may not be the best approach either.

Beck's ratings going down

I should point out right away that even though his numbers are going down, he's still in first place in the "cable news" time-slot. But still,the signs aren't good. The Wrap analyzes the data...

"Overall, Beck’s show is down 35 percent in total viewers in 2011 (averaging 1.9 million over the first seven weeks, compared to 2.93 million last year) and 44 percent in the demo (447,000 vs. 793,000 a year ago)."

Think his latest claim that there is a worldwide plot to create a new world order (unions in America, communists, and Muslim extremists secretly working together) has something to do with that?

SI.com writer fired for clapping in press box

Sportswriters are trained not to do this, but SI.com writer Tom Bowles got caught up in the emotion of the Daytona 500 and couldn't control himself. He clapped after the dramatic ending of the race.

Turns out SI has a very stringent rule against clapping in the press box. They fired him for that.

Seems a bit harsh to me, but as my German mother pointed out to me time and time again as I was growing up: (said with a German accent, roll your "r" as you say it) "Rules are Rules."

Booking Charlie Sheen

This may not interest everyone, but as a former producer it's fascinating to me. I watched that Piers Morgan interview with Charlie Sheen the other day and it looked like Morgan wasn't quite sure what to ask Charlie.

Turns out there was a good reason for that. He wasn't booked until the last moment, and Charlie didn't show up until just ten minutes before the show started.

Details are here.

After the interview was over Charlie signed his clean drug test with the phrase: "To Piers, Let's go get hammered, Charlie."

Cubs Poetry

This week's Tale from a Bad Century at JOBC goes back even further than a century. Today we feature Cubs Poetry from the 19th Century.

Read it here.

My favorite joke of the year

Thanks to "AA" for sending this to me...




"A public union employee, a tea party activist, and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in the middle of it. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and says, 'Watch out for that union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie.'"

Happy Birthday FM Radio

According to Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac, today is the 70th birthday of commercial FM radio...

March 1, 1941…The world's first commercial FM radio station, Nashville's W47NV, began broadcasting.

Charlie Sheen update

I watched Charlie Sheen on the Piers Morgan show last night, and holy crap, he's waaaaaaaaaaay out there.

He did reveal a few tidbits, however. One--his publicist quit on him. Two--his fellow cast members haven't reached out to him (except to angrily text him). And three--CBS is talking to John Stamos to replace him.

I thought that last one was a joke. It's not.

After watching a few of his interviews I've decided that I might have been a little rough on the CBS brass. Sheen is beyond defiant about getting help.

RIP Jane Russell

She passed away yesterday.

I met her about ten years ago when she came to Chicago on a book tour. Even then she was a lovely woman.

In the 1940s and 1950s, she inspired impure thoughts all over the world...

Dancing with the Stars new cast

They announced who will be dancing this season. Play a little game with yourself and see how many of these "stars" you can identify...

Kirstie Alley, "Psycho" Mike Catherwood, Chris Jericho, Sugar Ray Leonard, Ralph Macchio, Romeo Miller, Petra Nemcova, Chelsea Kane, Hines Ward, Kendra Wilkinson, and Wendy Williams.

I knew six of them (Alley, Leonard, Macchio, Ward, Wilkinson and Williams).

The other six are a L.A. DJ (Catherwood), a wrestler (Jericho), a rapper/basketall player/son of Reggie Miller (Romeo), a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model (Nemcova), and someone from the Disney Channel (Kane).

The Daily Show on Wisconsin protest

I thought this was a nice job of framing the argument in the Wisconsin protest.

One side is screaming "class warfare!" while blaming entire budget crisis on a certain class of people; specifically teachers.

Rahm's fake tweeter revealed

I'm not a twitter guy, so I wasn't really following this story except through stories about the story, but it was apparently HUGE news yesterday that Rahm Emmanuel's fake Tweeter has revealed himself to Atlantic Magazine.

He's a Columbia College professor.

It was the top story on the news in Chicago last night.

I'm not denying it's a story, but the story? Really?

The Cubs are looking for a new PA announcer

And they're making a bit of a contest out of it.

The details are here.

In the fine print: you do need some prior experience as a PA guy, at least at the college level. Darn. I honestly thought about applying.

Hardrock

Tuesday is Great Nicknames day at JOBC, and this week we feature a man they called "Hardrock."

No relation to Coco.

Or Joe.

This "Hardrock" pitched for the Cubs in the 1930s.