Book Launch Party

Looking for something to do tonight fellas? Try this conversation...

You: Hey honey, I heard about a book that you'll really like. It's called Cameo, and the author is having a book launch party tonight. Wanna go?

Her: Wait a second, here. You want to go to a book launch party for a book *I* would like?

You: Absolutely. You deserve it.

Her: Where is this party?

You; It's at a bar called Teasers on Higgins.

Her: A bar, huh? And I suppose they'll probably have NCAA basketball on the televsion there?

You: Does it matter? It's all about you and getting a book you'll love. And you can get it autographed by the author!

Snubbed

First Lady of Poland needs some kind of award for this....😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/DvNIzSviM1

— Maggie Resists Trump (@Stop_Trump20) March 21, 2018

The Birth Control Pill for Men

The birth control pill for men is one step closer to reality. It does what it's supposed to do, but they are currently testing it for side effects. They know it raises cholesterol slightly and increases chance of heart disease if used over time, but they are still studying long-term effects on sperm count.

I have a question about this before it goes on the market: Are any women really going to believe a man when he says "It's OK. I'm on the pill"?

Byron Allen Buys Weather Channel

Did you know that former Comedian/host of "That's Incredible" Byron Allen was a multi-gizillionaire media mogul? Me neither, but he is. His company just bought the Weather Channel for $300 million.

This news shouldn't upset me, but it does.

Not that he bought the Weather Channel. I don't care about that. I care that he CAN buy the Weather Channel.

The talent-to-money ratio in this country is completely skewed. Yakov Smirnov is a gazillionaire too, thanks to his ownership of theaters in Branson Missouri. But unlike Byron Allen, at least Yakov had one funny joke.

The Playmate Mistress

I watched a replay of the Karen McDougal interview on CNN last night, and it really creeped me out. She sounds like she was really in love with Donald (even though he tried to pay her with cash after sex). But that's not the part that creeps me out (I'm not allowing myself to visualize it).

The part that creeps me out is when she said what attracted her to him: "He had great posture."

I also thought it was cute that she looked visibly upset when she found out Trump cheated on her with Stormy Daniels. Honey, let's face it here, despite his great posture, you were not dealing with a stand up guy.

If you missed the interview, the Washington Post has a few takeaways from it.

Finally

The omnibus bill that passed last night includes revoking the CDC ban on studying gun violence. I've always thought it was ridiculous that the NRA somehow managed to get Congress to pass a law banning the government from even studying the effects of gun violence. Give the kids from Parkland credit. This doesn't pass without them.

MInutia Men, Episode 89

EP89 – Rick and Dave discuss a mailbox weirdo, masturdating, a new record in highness, Hi Bithorn, and Rick’s brush AJ Pierzynski.

Listen to it here.

Oh Boy!

Look what arrived in the mail yesterday...

Those of you in the balcony rattle your jewelry

The lineup for the Queen's 92nd birthday has been announced. It doesn't really sound like a lineup that she would appreciate, but it is star studded. From Variety...

Held at Royal Albert Hall on the 21st, the birthday party will be produced by the BBC and will air live on television in the U.K.

The list of performers, announced today, is perhaps the most notable, surprising aspect of all this. The Daily Mail notes that the sovereign “personally prefers show tunes and a stirring rendition of ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ by Dame Vera Lynn.” Well, uh, that is not what she is getting! Nope, the roster of artists includes Sir Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue, Craig David, Anne-Marie, Shawn Mendes, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Sting, and Shaggy.

Someone will be in charge of making sure the queen does not throw her panties on stage during Tom Jones' performance. And another person will have to break it to her that Shaggy is not the co-star of Scooby Doo.

The Pothole Store on TV

Sometimes I just stand by in awe, and tip my cap to my co-publisher David Stern, the marketing genius behind "The Pothole Store" (www.potholestore.com). WGN-TV News did a story on him this week.

Watch the video here.

Beth Jacobellis on WGN Radio

If you missed Beth Jacobellis on WGN Radio (with Bill and Wendy), you can listen to it here. She did a great job.

Mitch Michaels for the NRHOF

Got a message from radio pro Bob Zak, who is leading the charge to get Mitch Michaels nominated for the National Radio Hall of Fame. He makes a compelling case...

Nominate Mitch Michaels to the Radio Hall of Fame

Click this link and fill out the brief form. You may copy the brief bio below for your submission.

Chicago radio legend Mitch Michaels’ on-air and behind the scenes work in broadcasting has helped shape the sound of radio for broadcasters and listeners alike in Chicago, the Midwest and beyond. He truly is deserving of this prestigious honor.

BIO: Mitch Michaels has a long record as a personality, innovator & communicator, in the field of radio. From his beginnings at WHFS Bethesda, Md., his native Cleveland at WNCR and WMMS, to his more than 45 years in Chicago at WGLD, WXRT(a station he helped to start), WDAI, the first voice heard on WKQX (Bob Pittman’s radio prototype for MTV), WLUP, WBBM-FM, WCKG, WLS, WXCD, 9FM and WRXQ.

Mitch served as an air personality and program director at “The LOOP” during it's original heyday. He was there when the station became world famous with promotions like “Disco Demolition”, “Day in the Park” and the 1st “Stereo/Video Simulcast” of a live rock concert(The Who) beamed direct and “live” to nine separate theaters (all of which had full concert sound & were “sold out”). He helped kick off innovative 9FM “We Play Anything” w/ Sky Daniels.

Mitch currently hosts 3 pm to 7 pm Monday through Friday “Doin’ the Cruise” on 95.9 The River and 959theriver.com and recently published his memoir “Doin’ the Cruise: Memories From A Lifetime in Radio and Rock & Roll.”

I always thought highly of Mitch before I read (and published) his book, but boy oh boy, Mitch has really seen it all. Please join in by clicking on the link above if you agree.

Beth on the Radio

This morning between 10:30 and 11, listen to WGN Radio to hear Eckhartz Press author Beth Jacobellis talking about her new book "Cameo" with Bill & Wendy. I'll be accompanying her and taking a few pictures.

Illinois Wants Pot

Cook County voted last night whether or not they wanted legal recreational marijuana.

Cook County voted YES!

It wasn't close.

This was just a test run (an advisory vote), but my home county certainly has an opinion on the subject, and it's the same answer you'd hear from Spicoli.

Chicks are coming home to roost

The walls are closing in on the president's personal life.

From the Wall Street Journal: Ex-Playmate Who Alleges Affair With Trump Sues to End Pact That Silenced Her
This is the story of the playmate who thought she was selling her story to the Enquirer--and had no idea the Enquirer was just buying it as a favor to Trump. Good chance she wins that lawsuit.

From the Huffington Post/Reuters: Trump Loses Bid To Dismiss Accuser’s Defamation Lawsuit
This is the Apprentice contestant who accused Trump of groping her, one of the 19 that came out before the election. Trump threatened to sue her. She sued him instead.

And then there's this "presidential" legal dispute on CNN...



And we wonder my Melania seems incapable of smiling?

Fox News Contributor Quits in Disgust

This guy is not exactly from the squishy left. He's a hard core conservative and an Obama hater. From The Hill...

A Fox News contributor has quit the network, blasting the channel as a “propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration” in an email announcing his departure.

Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters announced that he was quitting Fox News as a strategic analyst on Tuesday in a fiery email to colleagues, BuzzFeed News reported.

"Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association. Now I am ashamed," Peters wrote.

“Four decades ago, I took an oath as a newly commissioned officer. I swore to 'support and defend the Constitution,' and that oath did not expire when I took off my uniform. Today, I feel that Fox News is assaulting our constitutional order and the rule of law, while fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers,” he said.

“In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration,” Peters continued.

The former contributor wrote that he was “appalled” by network hosts who had previously criticized former President Obama for his handling of Russian President Vladimir Putin for now advancing “Putin's agenda by making light of Russian penetration of our elections and the Trump campaign.”

Fox News really has become a disgrace. It's now a non-stop conspiracy theory machine.

Sir Ringo

BBC News - Ringo Starr receives knighthood: 'I'll wear it at breakfast' https://t.co/btCzvqCxUx

— Linda Matlow (@LindaMatlow) March 20, 2018

“Patty & The Stump” Donates Proceeds to Charity in Solidarity with John Oliver

Sunday night John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” debuted a children’s book named “Like a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” about Vice President Pence’s bunny. Oliver is donating all proceeds of his book to the charity, the Trevor Project, which is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

In solidarity with John Oliver and Last Week Tonight, the writers of the Eckhartz Press children’s book, “Patty and the Stump”, have announced they will also donate 100% of the profits from their book to the Trevor Project.

Author Tim Clue said, “Like A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo”, “Patty and the Stump” is an actual book for children that addresses a real issue. It’s just a coincidence that our book was also motivated by a very bad person who was a shining example of the bad behavior addressed in the book.”

Added co-author Spike Manton, “If you think we’re just doing this now to ride the publicity coattails of John Oliver and his book, you’re absolutely right. But it’s not about money, we are thousands of dollars in the hole. It’s about leeching off the genius of John Oliver to do a good deed while spreading a great message about an important topic.”

Order your copy here at Eckhartz Press, or at amazon.com.

Another Creep Revealed

If you thought it was sudden and odd that Tronc chairman Michael Ferro resigned yesterday, you were probably waiting for the real reason.

Here it is: Tronc's Michael Ferro accused of inappropriate advances by two women

This is bad, no question. But I'm also not letting him off the hook for the incredible damage he did to two newspapers in Chicago while he was behaving badly.

Stealing an Election

Listen to them laughing about the way the Republicans in Congress didn't even want to find the truth...

How to Win a Contest

Love this woman...

Girl crushes a cotton candy eating contest ❤️. pic.twitter.com/AiEATAWBQH

— DestinyDelight (@DelightDestiny) March 15, 2018

Chicago Radio Ratings

From Tom Taylor's NOW column, here are the latest ratings for Chicago. Look at the numbers for Me-TV radio! Amazing!

Chicago sticks with iHeart’s urban AC “V103” WVAZ for much of the day – the only daypart it doesn’t win is mornings (third), and it’s #1 total-week (4.7-6.8-6.6). Entercom is second with news WBBM/WCFS (4.5-4.7-5.3). That’s also ’BBM’s rank in both drive-times and at night. Third is Hubbard’s hot AC “Mix” WTMX (4.3-5.4-4.9). It wobbles through the day from #1 (“Eric in the Morning with Melissa & Whip”) to a tenth-place tie middays and third in afternoons. Cooling as expected is Entercom’s still-newish classic hip-hop/throwbacks “104.3 Jams” WBMX, the former classic hits WJMK (5.4-4.8-4.0, on strong time-spent listening). It’s second on weekends and third at night. (Julian Jumpin Perez just took over nights last week.) Fifth is Univision’s regional Mexican WOJO (3.3-3.5-3.7). It’s another wobbler – fourth mornings, but twenty-first at night and fifteenth on weekends. The age 6+ star of the book is Weigel-run easy oldies WRME (1.8-2.4-3.6). It’s on a low power TV channel 6 leased from Venture Technologies, and Chris Huff says the 3.6 is “its largest share ever.” WRME’s got some special P1 fans in middays, where it’s second, and nights. But it’s not just a time-spent story, since the cume’s up. WLS-FM programmer Brian Thomas hears good news while he packs for Atlanta. His Cumulus classic hits station is up to seventh (3.0-3.1-3.4), and third middays. Brian’s next challenge is leading country “Kicks 101.5” WKHX for Cumulus, replacing Scott Lindy. (Succeeding Brian at WLS-FM is former “Loop” PD Wade Linder.) Cumulus-run/Merlin-owned classic rock WLUP finishes gamely (2.7-2.9-3.2, its best topline since Jul 2013). It’s being sold to EMF, which began programming not-for-profit K-Love there on March 11. In AC, iHeart’s WLIT does the usual post-Christmas-music swan-dive (12.4-3.4-3.3), tied with Hubbard’s improving AC WSHE (2.4-2.6-3.3). In talk, there’s Tribune’s WGN (2.8-3.3-3.1) and Cumulus’ WLS (1.5-1.7-2.0). The midday Rush Limbaugh daypart on WLS is tied for eighth. Fifteenth for the week – and hinting at its potential – is iHeart CHR “Kiss” WKSC (3.2-3.4-3.0). It’s Chicago’s cume leader at just over 1.7 million. Final Chicago note – Radio Insight tweets that the WLUP calls just bounced to Randy Michaels-owned “97.9 the Moose” WZXP Au Sable, New York. They’d briefly belonged on 88.3/Starke, Florida, which is the new WLSF.

WLS PD

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Or at least same guy that worked down the hall until last week. Radio Ink has the story...

Wade Linder is the new PD at Classic Hits WLS-FM in Chicago. Linder moves to WLS-FM from WLUP-FM, where he has served as PD since June 2014. Prior to that, he was PD for KXXR-FM in Minneapolis, a station he programmed for nearly 20 years.

Linder began his radio career in 1990 at KQRS-FM in Minneapolis, where he was Music Director/Assistant Program Director. He went on to launch Minneapolis station KEGE-FM in 1994, prior to signing on at KXXR-FM. Linder said, “I am thankful for the opportunity to keep doing what I love — radio, at another great Chicago brand, WLS-FM. There are a lot of talented and passionate people who want to win here! The future looks bright.”

Minutia Men with Beatles guys

From the last time Dave and I guest-hosted on WLS-AM 890...

Happy 45th birthday

"Breathe, breathe in the air..."
With Pink Floyd's epic The Dark Side of the Moon celebrating its 45th anniversary this month, make Monday a great day by listening to it now:https://t.co/jEK3Pd4QA6

— Pink Floyd (@pinkfloyd) March 19, 2018

Launch Party

Looking forward to this one...

Witch Hunt!

Couldn't have said it better myself...

Nothing says a partisan witch hunt like a Republican appointed by a Republican to replace a Republican who released a letter that helped a Republican win the election.#Mueller

— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) March 18, 2018

Cambridge Analytica

Lots of disturbing news over the weekend, including a president who is on the verge of a complete meltdown, but the story that bothered me the most was the story about Cambridge Analytica.

Trump's data company from the 2016 campaign illegally harvested personal info from 50 million people via Facebook. Facebook has known about this since it happened, but didn't publicly report it. Instead they asked the company to destroy the info.

Guess what? They didn't destroy it. The Guardian has all the details.

The Cambridge Analytica story keeps getting more troubling. The academic who harvested millions Facebook profiles had ties to the Russian gov and CA at least considered business with sanctioned Russian company Lukoil. Did that Facebook data go to Moscow??https://t.co/ciLvRq3qZu

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) March 19, 2018

Galling

This is the sort of news that makes people upset, and for good reason. From Robert Feder's column...

One day after the Chicago Tribune axed a dozen journalists, parent company tronc disclosed raises and bonuses for chief executive officer Justin Dearborn and chief financial officer Terry Jimenez. The notice in the company’s annual report Friday followed the award of a $15 million consulting contract to Merrick Ventures, another company owned by tronc chairman Michael Ferro.

Masturdating

I engaged in a little masturdating last night. What does that mean? Let's consult the Urban dictionary...

Masturdating: Going out alone. I.e. seeing a movie by yourself, going to a restaurant alone.

Went to a movie by myself. Bridget doesn't like going to movies, but I needed something (non-alcoholic, damn you Lent!) to do, so I went to see the movie "Game Night". It wasn't great. A few good laughs, but overall, very mediocre.

To let you know how long it's been since I went to the movies, I had no idea you get to pick your seat when you pay. That's a nice touch. I also have a complaint. Who the hell decided that Raisinettes no longer belonged on the candy shelf? That person should be fired. Or at least given a job in Trump's cabinet, where it's just a matter of time before he or she is fired.