Friday, October 11, 2013

In Honor Of Bills

Thanks to "RS" for sending this...

Half Breed

#1 song in the country, 40 years ago today...

PunditFact



The creators of PolitiFact, the site that fact checks politicians, is creating something that is long overdue: Punditfact.

Now pundits who are claiming nonsense will be called on it too. It's about time.

Today's Best Tweets



Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Dan Bernstein ‏@dan_bernstein 12m
#Bears just good enough to beat the lowly #Giants, but there are reasons to worry. Column from late last night: http://cbsloc.al/GQO9zk

Hub Arkush ‏@Hub_Arkush 18m
Lots of great photos in our slide show from last night's #Bears win over the #Giants. ... http://shawurl.com/tnq

ABC News ‏@ABC 2m
15 Health Questions People (Apparently) Only Ask Google http://abcn.ws/1gw2nCM

The Associated Press ‏@AP 19m
German groom finds himself in trouble on the way back from his honeymoon: http://apne.ws/1at4xhL -AB

The New York Times ‏@nytimes 11m
The NYT obituary for Scott Carpenter, one of the original seven astronauts http://nyti.ms/1bis1aq

HuffPost Chicago ‏@HuffPostChicago 4m
LOOK: Awkward family photos of classic rock stars with their parents http://huff.to/19tXoj5

Paul Begala ‏@PaulBegala 11m
Gallup: GOP has the lowest favorable rating ever measured for either party. Ever, ever, ever. http://www.gallup.com/poll/165317/republican-party-favorability-sinks-record-low.aspx

Taegan Goddard ‏@politicalwire 2m
Shutdown backfires big time on GOP: Obamacare now more popular and Americans want government to do more not less
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/10/11/shutdown_backfires_on_republicans.html

Slate ‏@Slate 11m
Straight people, please stop asking gays for their coming out stories http://slate.me/17tAOlS

McMurray, Pete ‏@PeteMcMurray 17m
How would you like to get a $17,500 tip? Well, we found the bartender in Oregon who did! http://fb.me/2In4NShoy

To Be A Fly On The Wall

From Tom Taylor's NOW column today. This sounds like a fascinating lunch...

So Randy Michaels, Larry Wert and Jimmy deCastro had dinner...That’s not the setup for a joke – it really happened, Wednesday night in Chicago. Was it to discuss Tribune possibly buying or LMAing one of Merlin Media’s FM properties? To convert it to “WGN-FM,” perhaps? The fact that these three heavyweights should be talking business isn’t surprising. But what is surprising is that they chose to do it publicly, at a Chicago watering-hole. This trio could’ve met behind closed doors. (Perhaps Tribune Tower has a Batman-style clandestine elevator.) Instead they conferred in public. Merlin’s Randy Michaels, Tribune’s Larry Wert and WGN manager Jimmy deCastro weren’t just yakking about the Bears – they were talking about possibilities. Tribune’s 50,000-watt talk WGN (720) is a standalone, and deCastro’s already begun a second audio stream, featuring Jonathon Brandmeier. There’s plenty of audio content coming out of Tribune, and Merlin may have the answer to where to put it. Merlin owns two full-power stations in Chicago (classic rock WLUP/97.9 and hot AC “i101.1” WIQI), and it manages alt-rock WKQX/87.7 on the audio of a low power Channel 6 TV station. Lots of possibilities – like putting Brandmeier back on the Loop.

I wonder who tipped off Taylor.

Say it isn't so!

The Jonas Brothers are breaking up. They cancelled their tour.

You're going to have to give me a moment, here.

(Exhale)

Oh no, here come the waterworks.

Chicago's Top Ten Radio Morning Shows



I like the way Robert Feder posted this on his website today. In picture form.

Very Bad Poll Numbers



How does a government shutdown end? When one party realizes they are committing suicide. The new WSJ/NBC Poll is death for the Republicans...

Their approval ratings are down to 24%, their lowest ever. The Tea Party is down to 21% approval. The President's numbers went UP. Obamacare, the thing that they tried to kill by doing this, is also MORE popular now. And Republicans are being blamed for the shutdown by a 53-31 margin.

It's just a matter of time now.

This restores my faith in the country. If you only listen to the crazies, you start to think that everyone is crazy. I'm so happy to see that most people aren't buying it. Maybe we can have a normal government again, now. Is that too much to ask?

Funniest Game Show Answers

Bye Bye Dominick's

When I was a kid there were exactly two grocery store choices in Chicagoland: Dominick's and Jewel. Lots of others have entered the market since then, and it's obviously taken its toll on Dominick's. From Fox News Chicago...



GOODBYE DOMINICK’S: Safeway Inc., the parent company of Dominick’s, announced today that it will leave the Chicago market by next year. The chain of 72 stores in the Chicago area said the move comes after losing $13.7 million in the third quarter of 2013 and $35.2 million in the first 36 weeks of the year.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Can You Imagine McCartney Playing at Your School?

It happened in New York yesterday. From the RAMP Newsletter...



More than 400 lucky students at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, NY were fortunate enough to participate in an amazing iHeartRadio Album Release Party with the legendary Paul McCartney yesterday. The surprise event was hosted by WAXQ (Q104.3)/New York morning personality Jim Kerr (who just celebrated his 10th anniversary with the station!). McCartney and band ripped into a set that mixed Beatles and Wings classics along with material from McCartney's forthcoming album, New. They kicked things off with "Eight Days A Week," "Save Us" and "Jet." In between stops for Q&A with the students, McCartney performed "New," "Lady Madonna," "We Can Work It Out," "Everybody Out There," "Blackbird," "Mr. Kite," "Obla Di Obla Da," "Band On The Run," "Back In The USSR" and the obligatory sing-along closer, "Hey Jude."

Unbelievable. Lucky kids.

Today's Best Tweets



Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...





Jake Griffin ‏@DHJakeGriffin 13m
When @BurtConstable gets to write about the @Cubs, you should read it. This time Pafko's legacy in Mt. Prospect: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20131010/news/710109943/ …

John Arguello ‏@CubsDen 3m
#Cubs manager search: The favorites, speculating on a couple more names, and don't expect a celebrity... http://fb.me/ZZUYqsRu

Talking Points Memo ‏@TPM 20s
Football great Mike Ditka: My "biggest mistake" was not beating Obama in 2004: http://bit.ly/17qMiqg

Hub Arkush ‏@Hub_Arkush 17m
A unit-by-unit breakdown of Bears vs. Giants by @kfishbain, who makes his pick in this week's "Who has the edge?" http://shawurl.com/tlt

New York Daily News ‏@NYDailyNews 2m
Ohio report cites possibility that Ariel Castro died of auto-erotic asphyxiation, not suicide. -@AP

Greg Sargent ‏@ThePlumLineGS 4m
Shorter Boehner: If we threaten the hostage with a knife, and not a gun, will Ds agree to negotiate then?

Robert Costa ‏@robertcostaNRO 30m
The hard thing for leadership, esp during open mic now, is that a large # of Rs are simply unhappy w/ anything that's not a BIG WIN

Gawker ‏@Gawker 12m
Calling and yelling at a random member of Congress while drunk has never been easier http://gaw.kr/K7gxSOg

Raise Your Hand ‏@ILRaiseYourHand 26m
If you didn't know IL ranks 49th or 50th depending on year in terms of state portion paid towards educ funding.

Rolling Stone ‏@RollingStone 33m
Elton John gives Cameron Crowe a guided tour of his life in 20 songs: http://rol.st/1eb2l1g


One of the Greatest Goals I've Ever Seen

Absolutely amazing...

11 Things I WIsh That Every Parent Knew



Wisdom, pure and simple, from Dr. Steven Cowan. Read this.

Marriage

Thanks to "JU" for this...



Note to my wife: This is a joke.

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

RIP Andy Pafko



RIP Handy Andy Pafko, one of the greatest Cubs players of all time. I met him a few times (he lived in my neighborhood for years) and he was a true gentleman.

The Tribune has the obituary.

I've obviously written about Andy a few times at Just One Bad Century.

His Nickname

His incredible 1950 season

His appearance in the 1947 All Star Game

His 1945 season

and, of course...

The terrible trade the Cubs made when they got rid of him.

The Biggest Story in Germany



While this country is mostly talking about a government shutdown, the Germans are transfixed by the story of a snapping turtle in Bavaria who bit an 8-year old boy. From the Wall Street Journal...

The animal's natural habitat is the lakes and streams of North America, where turtles are the stuff of summer camp legend. But here in manicured and tightly ordered Bavaria, the attack on the boy ushered in the latest installment of a modern German tradition: an exhaustive and exhausting, minutely documented search for an animal that isn't where it's supposed to be.

"We need peace," Mr. Lieb said, with the reptile still on the loose and the crush of media attention finally abating. "That is, the turtle needs peace."

It actually sounds like a pretty good story.

Joke for a Wednesday Morning

Sent by "WN"...

Q. What did the elephant say to the naked man?

A. "How do you breathe through something so small?"

Today's Best Tweets



Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Paul Meincke ‏@PaulMeinckeABC7 10m
Today in history. Yanks sweep Cubs to win 1938 World Series. Dizzy Dean tough luck loser in game two. pic.twitter.com/cQfjZk8pQr

Eric & Kathy ‏@EricandKathy 1m
Research Shows: The average person will be cheated on 4 times in his/her lifetime. #MIXMindBender

MancowMuller ‏@MancowMuller 1m
Exclusively on The Mancow Show! "Seka" has revealed that Bob Evans, cinema genius, lied under a glass coffee table & wanted her to deficate.

Arianna Huffington ‏@ariannahuff 2m
Unlike the French (looking at you Académie française), the Germans
are all about adopting foreign words "Sh*tstorm" http://huff.to/1aKxg5e

WGN FM ‏@WGNFM 8m
Says the best thing while working at @nbc for 13 years? @LesterHoltNBC says playing bass guitar with Steve Miller and Jefferson Starship.

Daniel Engber ‏@danengber 1h
Q: Is a dickhead someone whose entire being consists of the head of a dick or someone who has a dick for a head? http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/10/04/dickhead_parsing_the_compound_noun_to_figure_out_what_image_it_conjures.html

Matt Spiegel ‏@MattSpiegel670 16m
This is good, from @Hub_Arkush. Brandon Marshall is not a "problem." Just extremely self-aware, and incredibly open. http://www.hubarkush.com/2013/10/08/hub-arkush-brandon-marshall-is-not-the-problem/aeidpfw/

Brett Taylor ‏@BleacherNation 47m
#Cubs: Sammy Sosa Wants to Reconnect with the Cubs and Other Bullets http://bit.ly/1gpYMq4

daveweigel ‏@daveweigel 51m
"The markets" should actually talk to some Republican members of Congress instead of assuming how they'll behave.

Steve Benen ‏@stevebenen 59m
If default deniers are right, and crisis won't be "that bad," why should anyone pay their ransom? http://on.msnbc.com/1bb8Cbw

Casey Kasem

From Tom Taylor's NOW column. The Casey Kasem saga continues...



Casey Kasem’s daughter petitions a court to put her in charge of his health care. More on the startling story from last week, where a protest in front of Casey’s lavish L.A. home featured family members (children from his first marriage) and longtime friends and associates like Don Bustany and Tom Rounds. Casey’s three kids from his first marriage know they’re out of his will, but they haven’t been allowed to see their dad, now in the later stages of Parkinson’s, for quite a while. Now E! News says daughter Julie has “filed for a conservatorship that would put her in charge of her dad’s health care.” Last week, Julie told KABC-TV that “the disease may be killing his body, but it doesn’t need to kill his spirit and soul...I simply want to see my father on a regular basis, give him a hug, hold his hand, give him a massage, put a smile back on his face.” Julie, Michael and “Sixx Sense” radio show host Kerri Kasem claim that Casey’s second wife Jean hasn’t allowed them to see their dad – and won’t even let him accept their phone calls.

Hawk Harrelson Superlatives



I got a kick out of this list. White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson is known for declaring players "the best ever" at unusual things. Jim Margalus of SB Nation compiled a list of Hawk Harrelson's superlatives this season.

Here are 122 of them.

My favorites include...

Probably the best in this league at staying with low line drives: Alex Gordon
Running-est pitching staff in baseball: The 1967 White Sox.
Best catcher Hawk ever played against: Bill Freehan
Most flexible body: Tony Fernandez
Best Hawk ever saw in the minor leagues: Joe Moeller
One of the best Hawk has never seen, first baseman holding somebody on, hook it in that hole over there: Omar Vizquel

John Lennon

I admired him so much, I named my second son after him. John Lennon would have been 73 years old today. I have many favorite John songs, but at the present time, this one's my favorite...

This about sums it up...

Thanks to "ND" for sharing...

6 Television Gags We'll Never See Again



Observational humor relies on things that you can observe. Obvious, right?

Well, if you concede the premise, you'll also concede that these six gags will never be repeated on televison or film.

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

The Popularity of Congress



From Time Magazine...

Eight days into the shutdown, Congress’ approval rating is at just 8 percent. Americans hate Congress so much that, according to a new Public Policy Polling poll, they hate Congress even more than dog poop. Here are a few things that are currently even more popular than Congress:

Hemorrhoids
The DMV
Hipsters
Jury Duty
Zombies
Wall Street
Toenail Fungus

That's not a bit. Congress really is less popular than those things.

Dark Side of the Moon

From today's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac, this little tidbit from 25 years ago today...

October 8, 1988…Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" finally fell off Billboard's Hot 200 Album chart after a record 741 weeks.

Check out this video of the film Wizard of Oz synched up to the album. I can only imagine how high the person had to be to notice this the first time...

Salmonella Outbreak



It's affecting 18 states, but here's the terrifying sentence from the article in USA Today...

CDC disease detectives who specialize in tracking multistate food-borne outbreaks are not on the job and that could affect the investigation.

Great. Just friggin great.

Today's Best Tweets



Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...





Rolling Stone ‏@RollingStone 2m
Paul McCartney played a pair of 'New' tunes and a Beatles classic last night on #LNJF: http://rol.st/17jnyjB

jimmy fallon ‏@jimmyfallon 2m
.@PaulMcCartney invented the selfie and the photobomb. http://youtu.be/vwe_qzInXvQ

Jesse Rogers ‏@ESPNChiCubs 2m
Manny Acta had a seven hour meeting/interview w Cubs front office yesterday. He checks a lot of the boxes including being Latin-American

Jimmy Greenfield ‏@jcgreenx 7m
RT @WFAN660: Say it ain't so, Joe! #Yankees manager Girardi reportedly wants to "explore" Cubs vacancy. | http://cbsloc.al/1b7bOEY

msnbc ‏@msnbc 44m
The Budget office can't give estimates on the $$ pain caused by the shutdown--because it's shut down. #irony http://on.msnbc.com/15j2pte

ThinkProgress ‏@thinkprogress 3m
Arizona Legislator compares President Obama to Hitler because National Parks are closed http://thkpr.gs/1hz77p1

Bruce Bartlett ‏@BruceBartlett 11m
It's slowly dawning on Wall Street & business community that they don't control GOP; you can't control insane people.

Taegan Goddard ‏@politicalwire 1h
New poll shows Americans overwhelmingly opposed to GOP efforts to tie shutdown to effort to defund Obamacare
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/10/08/americans_overwhelmingly_opposed_to_gop_approach.html …

Deadspin ‏@Deadspin 14m
The eleven best things you can buy from Curt Schilling's bankruptcy/estate auction: http://deadsp.in/l4UJhEL

Len O'Kelly ‏@LenOKelly 58m
There is a lot of truth in this list. 10 Life Lessons From DJs http://jacobsmediablog.com/2013/10/08/10-things-you-can-learn-from-djs/ …

Paul McCartney & Jimmy Fallon Switch Accents

Let's be honest here, Jimmy pulls it off much better than Paul...

Joke for a Tuesday Monring

Thanks to "GR" for sending this...

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet.

"How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head. The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck." The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman.. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill.

"$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"

The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150.

Nonessential Workers

Thanks to "RR" for tipping me off to this one...

What Makes Malcolm Gladwell Facsinating?



I've never actually read one of Gladwell's books, but I do follow his career with interest. He's a social scientist who comes up with counterintuitive theories. His methodology is very controversial, and he has lots of critics, but he does get people talking. His new book is called "David & Goliath".

This article is a good primer on Gladwell, if you're interested.

1945 World Series

Today is the anniversary of the last time the Cubs won a game in the World Series, Game 6 of the 1945 World Series. It's immortalized in this old newsreel film...

Monday, October 07, 2013

I Wanna Be Your Man

From Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac, this little tidbit from 50 years ago today...

October 7, 1963…At De Lane Lea Studios in London, the Rolling Stones recorded the Lennon-McCartney composition "I Wanna Be Your Man."



For the record, the version by the Stones is way better than the version by the Beatles, sung by Ringo.

Today's Best Tweets



Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Ricky Gervais ‏@rickygervais 6m
Don't forget to take everything I say personally.

Brett Taylor ‏@BleacherNation 8m
RT @AndrewMarchand Girardi has yet to inform the Yankees of his decision

Ben Finfer ‏@BenFinfer 21m
Bears recap is simple: Saints are elite, Bears are not. What's next?

John Harwood ‏@JohnJHarwood 3h
Current House R offer to Obama: we'll reopen govt, avoid default if you enter talks we ourselves have been unwilling to enter until now. 1/3

John Harwood ‏@JohnJHarwood 3h
In those talks you compromise by taking our position (Med/SocSec cuts w/no tax hikes), which Americans who just re-elected you oppose 2/3

John Harwood ‏@JohnJHarwood 3h
Keep in mind that our position is somewhat theoretical. So we would like you to actually propose it first. 3/3

Ari Melber ‏@AriMelber 3m
Bob Schieffer to Cornyn:
Isn’t it wrong to say 'I won’t fund the government unless I can attach my personal wish list every time we vote?"

Jesse Taylor ‏@jesseltaylor 9m
"Clinton didn't shut down government websites in 1995." There were like four government websites.

The Daily Beast ‏@thedailybeast 15m
The shutdown is cratering the GOP. Just 20% of the electorate thinks this is a rational or reasonable approach http://thebea.st/15VWAPt

ABC Entertainment ‏@ABCNewsEnt 50m
Miley Cyrus' top 5 SNL moments: http://abcn.ws/GILK9V

Whoops



From TV Newser...

On Fox News, anchor Anna Kooiman referenced a report that President Obama offered to pay out of pocket for a museum of Muslim culture to stay open while the rest of government remained shut down. Unfortunately, that report was from a parody website, and had no basis in reality.

She later apologized via tweet...

Anna Kooiman@annakooiman
Just met w producers- I made a mistake yday after receiving flawed research abt a museum possibly closing. My apologies. Won't happen again.

They so want these Obama/Muslim stories to be true that they can't help themselves.

American Stars in Japanese Commercials

Postcard to Government

I always laugh at conspiracy theories because of the sheer amount of efficiency that would be required to pull them off. In my experience, there aren't enough competent people in the universe to pull off a decent conspiracy. This postcard "OG" sent me, sums it up beautifully...

Sean, the Politician

We have a politician in my family. Congratulations to my youngest son Sean, recently elected member of the student council in his school. (He's in 5th grade).

I got a kick out of his campaign speech. He was running for secretary and pointed out that he needed to be a good note taker (which he is), he needed good handwriting (which is much better than it used to be), and he needed to know how to spell. To prove it, he spelled secretary...

S-E-A-N.

He beat seven other candidates. He vows not to shutdown the student government.

Dogs Are People Too

Have you always suspected your dog has real emotions just like humans do? Guess what? You are right.

Interesting article in the New York Times this weekend for dog owners. In the first place, it may stop you from calling yourself a dog "owner". My dog...er, the dog that lives in my house...um, the dog I'm the guardian of...that's a photograph of Ivy below.

French Toast Was Not Created in France



French Toast isn't French? I didn't know that, but it's true. Here's the actual story of French Toast.

I better not find out that French Dressing isn't French.

Or that the words the comedian is using before he says "pardon my French" aren't French.

Wine Postcard

Thanks to "MC" for sending this...

1935 World Series

On this day in 1935, the Cubs lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers in Game 6. (Details at Cubs 365)

I was recently looking around Youtube for something else, and stumbled upon these newsreel videos about the 1935 World Series. The entire thing is told from the Tigers point of view, but I still found it fascinating. I thought you might too...



This one starts with an introduction of all the Cubs players...