Paul & Tommy & Me

Three years ago today I attended the Paul McCartney concert with my oldest son at Wrigley Field. I reposted that piece at Just One Bad Century today. It will part of my book "Father Knows Nothing", coming in time for Christmas this year, via Eckhartz Press.

You can read it here.

(Photo: Rick and Tommy at Wrigley a few years earlier...in 1997)

Monica Lewinsky's New Gig

She's now a contributor to Vanity Fair.

Dress code is simple. Please don't wear a blue dress.*



*The song "Intern with the Blue Dress" is available on Landecker & Legends Volume 5. Sophomoric lyrics courtesy of yours truly.

Netflix Meets the FCC

The CEO of Netflix was in Washington talking to the FCC. What were they talking about?

Net Neutrality and cable mergers.

If the FCC passes their proposed new rules granting cable giants the right to create a tiered internet, after hearing that everyone in the country, including the CEO of Netflix, thinks it's a terrible idea, it will be beyond depressing.

I've seen that look

From "HG". Thanks, it made me chuckle.

Vin Scully is Coming Back!

Great news! Love Vin Scully. This is from Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Vin Scully says “I’ve soul-searched and this is not the time to say goodbye.” He thrilled a lot of L.A. Dodgers fans Tuesday night, by announcing that he’ll back to the broadcast booth next season. And with so many still unable to view their baseball team on Time Warner Cable, they’ll take all the good news they can get. The team announced Scully’s decision to the Tuesday night stadium crowd via players Justin Turner (speaking in English), Yasiel Puig (Spanish) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (Korean). Scully also tweeted the news, saying – “God willing, I will be back next year. Naturally, there will come a time when I have to say goodbye, but…this is not the time.” He’s in the midst of his 65th season for the Dodgers and is now 86. Among countless honors, Vin was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2009. Oh – the Dodgers won, beating the Braves 8-4.

The Sarah Palin Channel

Now this is funny...

Two More Rupert Cronies Face Charges in UK

The BBC has the details.

Clearly nobody in this country cares that an editor-in-chief of one of Rupert's UK papers is currently in jail and that others are being charged, but I care, so I'll keep on posting.

(Photo: Rupert Murdoch)

Analyzing Future Prospects of Tribune Publishing

This piece in Crains is a great primer on the challenges facing the newly split Tribune Publishing.

It debuts on Monday.

Cubs talk

Trading deadline is today. Will there be a few more trades? This article predicts it. We'll see. They did acquire Felix Doubront from the Red Sox yesterday. He was once considered a good prospect, but has been shelled this year in Boston. Hopefully this is another case of buying low.

I was at the game last night. It was my first chance to see Alcantara, and he didn't have a great night. He looked a little Soriano-y in the field (not covering the bag, arriving late for a DP ball, etc), and that worried me. Hopefully it was just a bad day. The Cubs did come back to tie the game, and then lost in the 10th. My son got a ball tossed to him by Rockies coach (and former Cub) Eric Young, so he was pleased as punch, despite the loss.

An Actual Commercial

This made me incredibly uncomfortable, and made me laugh at the same time. Excellent delivery by the young lady...

Longest Game Ever

I'm going to the Cubs game tonight with son #3. I'm glad we didn't go last night. That game ended around 1:30 in the morning, and featured the pitching of catcher John Baker. He won the game too, and even scored the winning run. It was the longest game (by time) in Cubs history (6:27). That's really saying something. The Cubs have been around since 1871.

The Boy's a Comedian

Son #2 has been sharpening his comedy knives. From yesterday...

Son #2: Hey dad, how many people wished you happy birthday on facebook yesterday?
Me: I don't know. A few hundred.
Son #2: So that means more than a thousand of your facebook friends couldn't even be bothered.

He also placed a sign on my computer on my birthday which said: "Objects looking at this computer are older than they appear".

I have a rule in my house. Disrespect is not tolerated. Unless it's funny.

An Afternoon at Murphy's Bleachers with Author Bruce Bohrer

The Eckhartz Press blog has the photos and a brief write-up about our fun afternoon, which included a surprise visit from Rick Sutcliffe.

My Feelings Exactly

I'm the only one in the family who feels this way, but thanks to "SA" for tapping into my thoughts and sending this to me...

Paul McCartney to Reissue More Wings Albums With Unreleased Material Read

Paul McCartney is releasing two Wings albums with new songs, and lots of other extra goodies. The first one is one of my favorite Wings albums...



This second one isn't one of my favorites, but it does have a few great songs too...



I don't think I'm going to spring for both of them, but that Venus & Mars one will probably find its way into my house at some point.

New Morning Man at WLS-FM?

For this week at least, it's former Washington DC morning Jack Diamond. Robert Feder reported that he's going to be getting the gig, replacing Brant Miller, and reducing Brant's role back to weatherman.

Tom Taylor said this in his column this morning: "Jack Diamond seems to be getting at least a hard look from Cumulus as the potential new morning talent at Chicago’s classic hits WLS-FM (94.7)... Jack’s living in a hotel in Chicago, seeing if WLS-FM is a good fit for him."

Diamond said this on Facebook: "I am having an absolute blast in an amazing city, on a truly great radio station, with some of the best people and personalities in the business! What's not to like!...It's been a lot of fun and a career-long dream to hang with these guys, Chris Roth. Greg Brown, John Landecker, Brant Miller, Danny Lake, Dick Biondi, Marti Jones. Amazing talent and good people."

Sounds to me like he's coming aboard.

As the Rupert Turns

Rupert Murdoch really wants Time Warner. Time Warner really doesn't want Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert's not accustomed to being told no.

Variety is covering the drama.

(Photo: Rupert Murdoch)

How to Dad

It's a Cheerios commercial...but I like it.

Bob Rivers

This is big news in the radio business. It just arrived in my e-mail box as an alert from multiple sources...

KJR-FM/Seattle morning icon Bob Rivers stunned more than a few people today when he announced he was discontinuing The Bob Rivers Morning Show. Leading up to his final show on Friday, August 8, Rivers will host 9 farewell shows to say goodbye to listeners, advertisers and co-workers.

I have my own Bob Rivers story, but it's a little embarrassing.

On my very first day as Steve & Garry's producer (on AM-1000, WLUP), they were doing a bit making fun of Bob Rivers. He was doing one of those typical radio stunts where he lived on a billboard until his home team (I forget which team) won a game during a particularly bad losing streak. During the bit, Steve mentioned my name on the air for the first time ever.

"Rick, track this guy down," Steve said, "and let's get him on the air."

As soon as he said it, I realized I had no idea how to do that. This was before the internet, and calling information certainly wouldn't lead me to the correct number. The guy, after all, was on a billboard. This was in the pre-cellphone era.

I was being trained by Steve & Garry's outgoing producer Roman Sawczak.

"Any idea how to do that?" I asked Roman.

"Go in the studio," Roman replied calmly. "I'm sure Steve and Garry have the number."

"Just walk in there?" I asked.

"Yeah."

So, like an idiot, I walked right into the studio. Steve looked up at me, and in mid-sentence stopped talking. "What do you want?" he asked me, on the air.

"The phone number," I said.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GET ME THE PHONE NUMBER, DUMBASS!" He screamed.

That led to a ten minute "rip the new guy" bit.

When I walked back into the producer's booth, Roman was holding his stomach from laughing so hard. "I didn't think you'd really go in there," he said, choking out the words between cackles. "Holy crap, that was hilarious."

"Thanks a lot," I said.

"Welcome to the show," he replied.

I did eventually track down Bob Rivers, by the way. I can't remember how I did it, or who I called, but I got him on the air, and Steve & Garry mocked him mercilessly for doing such a lame bit.

I didn't feel sorry for him.

I was just happy that the target was no longer me.

Wrigley Photos

I was over at the ballpark yesterday with author Bruce Bohrer. He was signing copies of his book "Best Seat in the House: Diary of a Wrigley Field Usher".

Before and after the book signing I was wandering around the ballpark snapping some photos. Every time I'm there, I'm taken by the beauty of the place...







And look who I ran into!

Two More Cubs in the Hall of Fame

You can watch the whole Greg Maddux speech here at MLB.com.

It was Greg's first speech ever, and he did a nice job. He clearly wrote it himself and he delivered it well. You can't go wrong with a good fart joke. It will probably be the first and only Hall of Fame speech that mentions Paul Bako.

Another Cub was inducted into the Hall of Fame yesterday too.

His name was Tony LaRussa. I understand he was connected with a few other teams too, but I can't recall what they were.

Connecting the Dots in the Casey Kasem Story

From this morning's RAMP Newsletter...

A private investigator has reportedly answered the burning question of why Jean Kasem made the inexplicable decision to have the body of her husband, Casey Kasem shipped from Washington State to Montreal -- a month after his June 15 death, and to a city with which he has no known connection. According to The New York Daily News, private investigator Logan Clarke, who was hired by Kasem's daughter Kerri Kasem, says Montreal is the hometown of John Paul Gressy, a 46-year-old Canadian businessman who has reportedly been living in Jean Kasem's Malibu condo for several months. Clarke also told the Daily News he has evidence that Jean Kasem and Gressy are romantically involved. "Neighbors have seen them holding hands and acting close," Clarke said, adding, "I welcome her to sue me if I'm wrong."

How Not To Apologize

Remember the story about the Boston sports talk show host who ripped Erin Andrews? He apologized off the air and was allowed to come back on the air. When he came back on the air, however, he apologized again, before he said this: “If she weighed 15 pounds more she would be a waitress.”

Wah wah.

I wouldn't be suprised if he was a goner now. He's already been suspended, and the station issued this apology: “Kirk Minihane’s statements regarding Erin Andrews were offensive and deplorable. It is clear by the response from our listeners, advertisers, and employees that Kirk’s efforts to apologize and make this right have been insufficient and ambiguous. We want to make it unequivocally clear that his comments were unacceptable and do not reflect Entercom’s values and standards.”

See if you can spot the word in that statement that really led to his suspension. I'll give you a hint, it starts with A. Advertisers were pulling their ads.

The Boston Globe has the full story.

Greg Jarrett Pleads Guilty

Fox News host Greg Jarrett pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on Friday. He was beligerent with cops in the Minneapolis airport. The full story of his slap on the wrist is at the link.

Again, as I report this, former WGN morning host Greg Jarrett asks me to remind you that he is not the same guy.

The Sarah Palin Channel

Sarah Palin is launching her own on-line channel.

Good for her. Now she can spew to her followers and the rest of us can ignore her. (Like Glenn Beck)

Warning to her fans shelling out the $10 a month: She'll probably quit half way through your subscription.