My kind of guy

Student Brings Typewriter To Class - Watch more Funny Videos

Father Knows Nothing

My latest Father Knows Nothing column is now posted at NWI Parent. It's called "Snap!" and it's about the new vocabulary I'm picking up from my kids.

You can read it here.

Tina Louise

I don't even get this commercial, but I still like it...




Ok, back to research.

Research Time

I'll be stepping back from the blog over the next month or so just like I did last year. Chicago Radio Spotlight and Just One Bad Century will return in 2010.

The only regular posting will continue to be my weekly Father Knows Nothing column, which I'll re-post here as I always do.

Of course, you know me, I may just pop up on this blog a few times to share something funny, cool, or interesting. I just won't be posting the usual volume, and there will be days when I post nothing at all.

I'm in deep research mode. One novel is about 2/3 done, one book is essentially done and is being pitched as I write this, and the third book I'm working on still needs quite a bit of research. That's what I'm concentrating on this month.

I'm also researching for two new Just One Bad Century features that will debut the week of the Cubs Convention.

So, if you need me I'll be holed up in my basement bunker. I'm still checking e-mail, of course, and I'm still on Facebook, so it's not like I'm completely unreachable. Just unshaven. And probably wearing sweatpants.

Family Feud

This is my latest contribution to NWI Parent. It's the back page "Family Room" essay in the current issue, and it's about my childhood battle with my sister Cindy.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This one is called "Incredibly Specific Shopping Lists."

You can read it here.

Best no-hitter ever

Thanks to Steve Rhodes for pointing this one out to me...

Christmas Shopping Season

Christmas shopping season is officially upon us, so once again we'd like to offer a few products for the Cubs fan on your Christmas list. We just went through our inventory, so please pay attention to the sizes and choices still available.

Allow about seven to ten days for delivery. If it's a rush order, e-mail me at rick@justonebadcentury.com, and I'll see what I can do.



This classic teardrop Cub shirt has been a big hit. It says so much without saying a word.

It's available in M, L, XL, and XXL.

Order yours here.






We're starting to see some of these at Cubs games now. It's one of those things that looks like the real thing, and leads to a double take. Ah, yes. I feel your pain too.

It's adjustable (fits everyone).

You can get yours here.







For the Cubs optimist, the Losing is Soooo Last Century t-shirt, is a popular choice. Look at how happy this young lady is wearing hers.

It's available in L and XL.

Order yours here.












And for the Cubs fan at the end of his rope, this one says it all.

It's available in M, L, and XL.

You can get yours here.








We also have a few old classic 1908 Cubs baseball cards available here.







Happy Holidays everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the readers of my blogs. I hope you have a wonderful day with your families, and thanks so much for reading my nonsensical ramblings this year.

The Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody

2009 in Review

I wrote an article for the latest SHORE Magazine, and it's out now.

I think it came out pretty well.

It's called "2009 in Review."

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted a new Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This one is a humorous story about my mother Hildegard. It's called "Foul Mouthed Thanksgiving."

You can read it here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Jake Hartford

I just posted my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I talk to Jake Hartford from WCPT. He has some great stories from his long television (working with Walter Jacobson) and radio (WLS, WCPT) career.

You can read it here.

Brutally Honest Commercial

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


Brutally Honest Mobile Home Commercial - Watch more Funny Videos

12 "facts" about the 1500s

Someone sent me this, and since it's the same person that sends me the most ridiculously untrue inflammatory anti-Obama stuff, and because none of the below facts are sourced at all, I would take them with more than a grain of salt. Plus, it was one of those mass e-mails, which are almost never true.

Some of the following "facts" sound a little hard to believe (OK, very hard to believe), but I do know that at least two of them (Peas porridge and tomatoes) are true. Hey, bottom line, it's about the 1500s, and if it's untrue, no biggie.


12 facts about the 1500s:

#1: They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldnt even afford to buy a pot......they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low.

#2: Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June... However, since they were starting to smell .. .. . brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor .. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

#3: Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

#4: Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs ."

#5: There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

#6: The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.

#7: In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire... Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot.. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

#8: Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat".

#9: Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 300 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

#10: Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

#11: Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

#12: England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus,someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer...

Musical stairs

This is fascinating. I think I still might have taken the escalator, but then again, I'm a lazy, lazy man.

40 years ago this week...

...a young KC Royals outfielder was named American League Rookie of the Year.

Charles Barkley rips Sammy

This is priceless. Charles goes white, just to be like Sammy...

Johnny Cash

On the limits of political music...

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. It's called "18 years in 18 pictures" in honor of my 18th wedding anniversary (which is 11/16).

Check it out here.