Friday, October 14, 2016

Bob Dylan Wins the Nobel Prize

I know a lot of authors are grumbling that Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for literature, but please. If this man's lyrics weren't among the most important words of his era, then I'm a lumberjack. (PS--I do own one flannel shirt, but I have baby soft hands).

The New York Times has a great piece about Dylan and why he so richly deserved this honor.

His songs from the 1960s will always be a great representation of that time. This probably isn't one of his more popular songs (it's from his gospel era), but it's always spoken to me. I like this version of "Gotta Serve Somebody"



Bobby Skafish at WBEZ

Bobby got there a little early yesterday morning, but that gave him time to meet Tony Sarabia and get the lay of the land. Snazzy facilities there at WBEZ.

The interview was top notch. Tony Sarabia clearly did his homework, and he was a genuine fan of Bobby's work. The two men discussed Todd Rundgren, John Lennon, Rat Scabies, Guster, and the newest Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan.

You can listen to it here.

Thanks so much to the professional crew over at WBEZ including Tony Sarabia and producer Jason Marck.









Trump's Accusers

I found this article in People Magazine to be the most damning, even though his actions here aren't as overtly predatory (he was interrupted mid grope) as the story of the woman in the New York Times. It's written in first person, and it's written well. Trump's response was to imply that she wasn't good looking enough to attack. Nice.

Seriously...people are actually voting for this man to be the president of the United States.

Michelle Obama did a wonderful job of putting it in perspective yesterday. It really touched me...


Thursday, October 13, 2016

Minutia Men, Episode 24


EP24 – Rick and Dave discuss confession/atonement, fun with vasectomies, Be Bald & Be Free Day, bad things that happen with open mics,body parts NOT to get tattooed, the 1907 Cubs, and Rick’s brush with Mitch Albom.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

A few programming notes

*Tomorrow morning (Thursday) during the 9am hour be sure to tune in to WBEZ (NPR) for a live interview with Bobby Skafish. Tony Sarabia will be interviewing him, and the two music fans will dig deep into the rock and roll stories Bobby tells in "We Have Company". I'll be tagging along to take pictures.

*Also tomorrow morning (Thursday) during the 6am hour, tune in to the WGN-TV Morning news because they will be spinning the great new Cubs tune by Tom Latourette! I've been featuring it on Just One Bad Century, and Tom is a good friend who runs the Beat Tom & Bill Foundation--the golf outing that raised funds for my nephew Caleb last May. Good things happen to good people!

Trump Says Media is Unfair

The man that has benefitted more from free media than any candidate in the history of the world, is now saying that the media is unfairly causing his downfall.

Um, Donny-baby, you might want to take a look in the mirror. It's your own words that are undoing you, and nothing else. You. You are the problem. Only you.

It cannot be libelous or slanderous or biased if it quotes you directly. Stop saying stupid shit.

Billy Bush Negotiating Exit

Bush is going to be more hurt by this tape than Trump, at least in the short term.

The Hollywood Reporter has the details about Bush's impending exit.

It makes you wonder where he will go next, but scandals don't appear to permanently damage people in Hollywood.

What Would it Take to Unendorse Trump?

Remember when Trump said he could go on 5th avenue with a gun and shoot someone, and his fans would still support him? I'm beginning to think that's true. Exhibit A...

A Muted Celebration

What a game last night. I'm still coming to grips with how special that was.

I'm guessing the police were happy that the game on Monday night went so late...it ended around 1:45am...because last night was not so bad in Wrigleyville after the Cubs clinched. From DNAinfo...

A couple hours into the game Tuesday evening, bars were half-full or entirely empty, with Monday's game leaving fans tired and more likely to stay home. Except for people gathered at the ever-popular John Barleycorn and Old Crow, crowds were small even at some Wrigleyville mainstays.

The quiet left little for Chicago police to do, despite having almost as large a presence as the weekend home games that started the series.

This is the way it should be, boys. Gotta get used to winning series. Save the big celebrations for the World Series. Right?

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

A Duet

Billy Bush

Isn't it ironic that a Bush is wrecking the campaign for Trump after all. Unfortunately it's not Jeb, it's Billy, and he's wrecking his own career too.

This piece in TV Newser describes a major revolt at NBC.

The Star of the Last Debate

It wasn't Trump or Hillary. It was Ken Bone...

Death Cab for Cutie

A musical take on the election...

Cubs

I'm guessing there will be a lot of head-bobbing at desks around Chicagoland today. 8:38 first pitch is ridiculous. It was 2am when that game ended.

I listened to a big portion of the game on the radio because I wasn't a fan of the FS1 team. Pete Rose, in particular, appears to hate the Cubs. Nice hair, Pete.

Tough loss in the bottom of the 13th inning, but even in defeat the Cubs did some pretty incredible things including Kris Bryant's homer to tie the game in the ninth. Very nervous about John Lackey tonight, but let's see what happens.

Go Cubs!

Monday, October 10, 2016

Book of the Year Finalist!



Congratulations to Eckhartz Press author Pat Colander! Her book "Hugh Hefner's First Funeral" is a finalist for the Chicago Writer's Association Book of the Year awards!

The full list of finalists are mentioned here.

Columbus Music

My annual posting of the only Columbus Day song I know..."Like Columbus Did" by the Reflections.

Local Press

Thanks to Mike Kessler for this piece in the NW Side newspaper The Sounds...

The Access Hollywood Tape

I'm not going to bother posting the video here. You've all seen it by now. I just have one comment about that tape. Trump said it was typical locker room banter, and there is an element of it that was, particularly when talking about the woman in the purple dress. However, the other part of the discussion, about what celebrities can get away with it, was not typical at all. Nobody talks about forcing themselves on women like that. They just don't.

That's probably why Billy Bush got suspended from the Today Show.

Donald didn't get suspended, of course, but his declaration last night that he never actually did it is going to blow up in his face. You know he did it (that's why he keeps Tic Tacs in his pocket), and you know those stories are going to start coming out now. He should have just thrown himself at the mercy of the country and shown even the tiniest bit of remorse for his words and actions. He didn't. He couldn't. It's not part of his DNA.

And it will be his undoing.

LATE UPDATE: It appears there will be more tapes coming out. It's just a matter of time.

Bobby Skafish at WLS

I spent Friday afternoon with Bobby Skafish at the brand new WLS studios in the NBC Tower. Talk about swanky...

Saw a few friends and former colleagues there, including Steve Dahl. Steve started the interview by noting that Bobby's book was published by former Steve & Garry producer Rick Kaempfer. After taking a little swipe at me ("He can do a whole book?"), he said maybe he should have gone with me as his publisher.

The Bobby interview was also a rekindling of a past relationship. The two men once worked just down the hall from each other (about twenty feet or so away), and a lot of the interviews mentioned in the book "We Have Company" were shared interviews. I often stood outside Bobby's studio when he had rock stars in there to corral them to appear on Steve & Garry's show immediately afterwards.

I thought Dag Juhlin in particular did a great job of interview prep for this. He read and enjoyed the book and had some great questions. Thanks again to the whole Steve Dahl crew for having Bobby on the show.