Saturday, August 29, 2020

RIP Chadwick Boseman

 The "Black Panther" star was only 43 years old. Sad news. He was a super talented performer who portrayed people like James Brown and Jackie Robinson in the movies. The movie "42" is a favorite in our house. My son Sean has probably watched it ten times. And to think he passed away on Jackie Robinson day in baseball....

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Friday, August 28, 2020

RIP Cathy Smith

The woman who spent 15 months in prison for injecting John Belushi with the drugs that killed him, has passed away at the age of 73. She had been living in Canada. I didn't realize this until I read the article, but she was also the inspiration for Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown".
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Convention Ratings

 

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Windy City Reviews on "The Unplanned Life"

 Very pleased by this review yesterday of Roger Badesch's book "The Unplanned Life" by Windy City Reviews...


The Unplanned Life: The Journey of Roger Badesch. Roger Badesch. Eckhartz Press, June 25, 2020, Trade Paperback and E-book, 340 pages.

Reviewed by Gerry Souter.

Perhaps a more apt title would be "The Unplanned Book of Roger Badesch." Normally, this would signal the retelling of a tedious ego trip that offers neither lessons nor entertainment for the reader. The book is mostly a chronological recitation of Roger's life, and therein lies the hook. He's had a damned interesting roller coaster life, a life summed up in a quote early on in the journey: “Man makes plans, God Laughs.”

His huge fan base comprises everyone who has met him, listened to him on the radio, learned from him in the classroom, or drawn upon his wisdom by osmosis. What staggered me as a reader was his mirror image of my life. As I read, place names pelted me like a spring shower. It was spooky. His love affair with radio shows, the newspaper route, a gang of kids living in the shadow of tougher Polish and Irish kids from steel mill families who perfected their pounding skills on us—I was there before him. It gave me a vivid image of my neighborhood's future life as I read his anecdotes and life tales from 10 years later.

Roger's journey is divided into two major parts, with a little bit of both parts suffused into each other.

The first half is a patchwork of anecdotes about his ascending the ladder of low wattage student radio-music and interview shows to arrive at Chicago’s City Hall Press Room at WKQX-FM as a street reporter and sometimes news anchor, ultimately serving in the Mayor’s Press Office for five years under Jane Byrne and Harold Washington. After a private-sector stint in advertising and public relations, the now-husband and father could fulfill a secret yearning—to return to school as a teacher. Making use of school radio and TV facilities, first at Downers Grove North, then migrating to Chicago Vocational Career Academy, he took that student raw material and, during a “whirlwind summer vacation,” assembled a 17-minute film titled “The Last Stain,” that went on to win an Emmy Award. In 2013 Badesch was re-elected Communications Chair of the Two Year/Small Schools Division of the Broadcast Education Association. He had achieved his childhood dreams of being on the radio and so much more.

The second part of this book is titled “Chapter Nine—The ‘C’ Word,” a title that says it all. On August 2012, Roger began another fight, this time for his life, battling cancer. He wanted to keep teaching at Roberto Clemente Community Academy and covered the pain as well as he could. At home, he had his dog, Rufus, to comfort him. In the next to last chapter, his son, David, took over typing for Roger as the insidious disease attempted to eviscerate his father. Courage runs deep in the Badesch family. But you don’t accomplish what Roger did without grit, and the next goal he had set was to finish this book. And here it is, all 362 pages, told with that straight-from-the-shoulder news anchor’s voice.

Live long, Roger. You’ve set a high bar, unplanned or not.

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Thursday, August 27, 2020

Playing Hardball

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Free Kicks--Season Finale

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Wednesday, August 26, 2020

I agree with Joe

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A View from the Inside

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Evanston Library

 Eckhartz Press author Roger Badesch made the socially-distancing drop-off of his book to Evanston Library yesterday. He reports: "I was finally able to drop off 2 copies of the book to Elizabeth Bird, Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library - one for the main library (the site of the photo) and one for the Central Street branch. Not only do I and the library have a long history together, having grown up in Evanston, but an event involving Mayor Byrne, our daughter and the library is noted in the book."





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Minutia Men Celebrity Interview--Summer Crockett Moore

She's an actress, a voice-over artist, and a movie executive. The very talented Summer Crockett Moore slummed this week with Rick and Dave...
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A dog watching soccer

Two of my favorite things...
A dog watching a soccer game :)

This video of a dog watching a soccer game is just .... hysterical!

Posted by Patricia McConnell, Ph.D. on Friday, August 21, 2020
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A new puppy

This is what I needed to see after the depressing news...
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West Wing Reunion


I've been watching the old series on Netflix. It's comforting to remember a time when the presidency was taken seriously. And now, they are bringing the old gang back together. West Wing Reunion Special Will Air in October on HBO Max.

Aaron Sorkin is writing the new episode, which will be performed on stage in Los Angeles with the original cast. Count me in.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Ratings for Conventions

This morning Fox and Friends reported that the RNC ratings were 5 1/2 times bigger than the DNC. Um, maybe on Fox News. These are the actual numbers for all six networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC)...
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Happy Birthday Elvis

66 years old today.
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RNC Highlight

 

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5-star reviews for two new Eckhartz Press books

 


Righteous Might by Keith Conrad is available here at Eckhartz Press, and the kindle version is available at amazon. Here is what readers are saying about it…

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Jaunt Into Alternate History

A little bit of Final Countdown meets Philadelphia Experiment, this one was absolutely flooring, cover-to-cover. Character development was awesome, though I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing them in further works, along with how they end up affecting the world after these events. Absolutely loved the battle portions–the detail reminded me of watching the likes of Midway play out; extraordinarily real and I absolutely loved the MacGuyver-like technical improvisation by the characters. Overall, a wonderful read and will definitely pick it up again one day.

5.0 out of 5 stars engrossing

I have to admit i did notice an homage to the Final Countdown and the Philadelphia experiment. The characters were well written and i have to admit i did enjoy the combination of forces. I do hope for a sequel even one more based on the technological side and not the fighting..

5.0 out of 5 stars Time travel with air battles… What more is needed?

This Sci-fi novel has time travel and air and naval battles with realistic physics regarding the differences between flight capabilities in the 1940s versus today. It’s a fun mystery read as the crews of the various ships try to figure out what happened during the DARPA test. It takes turns that seem to be changing the past while respecting and referencing the original course of history. I’m really hoping for a sequel.

“The Unplanned Life” by Roger Badesch is available right here at Eckhartz Press and the kindle version is available at amazon. Here’s what readers are saying about it…

5.0 out of 5 stars We all have unplanned personal journeys

I first met Roger in the late 1990s. We were part of a group of educators that met each April in Las Vegas at the Broadcast Educators Associaton annual convention. Roger and I were part of the Two-Year/Small College interest division. It was nice to see him every year for the next ten years or so.

I can say I know Roger but I really didn’t get to know Roger until I read his book, “The Unplanned Life.” WOW. As I read I didn’t realize how much Roger and I had in common. We both found an interest in broadcasting early in our academic years. Neither of us planned to become teachers of our craft, but we did.

I wish the miles between Chicago and eastern Idaho were closer. I would love to spend more face to face time with Roger.

Do yourself a big favor and read Roger’s book. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. Most of all, it will inspire you to become a better person whatever your life plans may be or whatever life throws at you.

5.0 out of 5 stars Unplanned: a radio person’s story

I got the print edition. Mr. Badesch does an excellent job of describing his life to this point. He can tell as story with the best of them. Well worth reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Roger’s entertaining memoir includes his work with icons of Chicago broadcasting and politics.

I worked with Roger at WKQX shortly after it’s transformation into one of Chicago’s first full-service FMs. He was City Hall correspondent and after stellar work as a reporter there, he was tapped to work for two legendary mayors. His recounting of the twists and turns of his careers in journalism, education and promotion make for a fascinating personal history, while also illuminating interesting incidents in Chicago city history along the way.

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How do you cover a speech full of lies?

 There's a lot of complaining coming from right wing media today because the media is not covering the RNC the same way they covered the DNC. This ABC article sums up the complaining pretty well.

I'd like to point something out regarding this subject. The two sides are treated differently because one side is insistent on lying, and in this case, the lying concerns a public health crisis. This must be corrected. Stop lying, and the coverage will be the same. The media is under no obligation to help you endanger the lives of Americans.

Oh, and by the way, Fox News did all of the things they now accuse the real media of doing, but they did it during the DNC speeches. And they did it during truthful speeches they just disagreed with. So put a cork in it and stop your whining, snowflakes.

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A Cabbie in Madrid

 Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen has a fun piece out today about his favorite cab driver in Madrid. It's for the rockers out there. Rock on Garth.

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Mail-In Ballot Dos & Dont's

The Washington Post has a good piece in today's paper explaining what can go wrong with your mail ballot. It's not enough to mail in your ballot and hope it gets there in time. There are several other things that can get your ballot rejected. Over 500,000 ballots were rejected in the primaries. Worth a read if you are planning on voting by mail.
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Monday, August 24, 2020

Bayern!

Great Champions League final yesterday. I know it was only 1-0, but it was exciting and dramatic all the way until the final whistle. Loved it. Congrats to Bayern for returning to the top of the mountain, and to Robert Lewandowski who would have won the player of the year award (Ballon d'Or) if they had given it out this year. I hope they change their mind and give it out after all.
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Minutia Men--China Pulls a Hildegard

When I was a kid and couldn't finish my dinner, my mother would tell me there were starving children in China who would never waste food like that. What happens when Chinese kids don't finish their food? That question is answered in this week's episode. Listen to it here.


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