Book of the Year Finalists!

Two Eckhartz Press books are finalists for @chicagowrites Book of the Year! Congrats to Lee Kingsmill ("Safe Inside") and Mitch Michaels Salchow & Ken Churilla ("Doin' the Cruise") Well deserved!

RIP Tronc

The folks at the Tribune have finally gotten their wits back, and are making it official. Tronc will be no more. The company is going back to Tribune Publishing.

Drunk Birds

In Minnesota, birds are flying drunk...

A flock of drunk birds just looking for a good time out on the town is disrupting the peace of Gilbert, Minnesota. In Gilbert, an early frost has fermented local berries, leading to young birds getting drunk from eating them. This, in turn, has led to unorthodox behavior from these winged residents: flying lower than usual, crashing into cars and windows, and losing their balance.

In a statement posted to the town police’s Facebook page, Police Chief Ty Techar explained that these intoxicated birds would be sobering up soon.

Free Kicks, Episode 19

EP19: Rick and Adam recap Week 7 of the Premier League season, Adam takes a Burnley quiz, and Adam gives his weekly TV soccer tip.

Listen to it here.

RIP Geoff Emerick

This is shocking news. I just met him a few weeks ago at Beatlesfest and he was in good health and great spirit.

He died yesterday at the age of 72.

(Photo: My buddy Mike Medina and I meeting Geoff Emerick)

RIP Peggy Sue

Sad news. The girl of Buddy Holly's dreams, Peggy Sue Gerron has passed away at the age of 78. She was the inspiration for Buddy's hit "Peggy Sue"...

Bye Bye Cubs

I was there last night for the final game. The crowd was ready to erupt, ready to support our boys, supportive as ever. The Cubs just couldn't scrape together any hits and lost it in the 13th inning.

They probably would have lost the series to the Brewers anyway. It just seems like this is the Brewers year.

I'm not upset today (although I am a little groggy--got home around 1am).

I still had some great times at Wrigley in 2018. I still appreciate this is the golden era for the Cubs.

The real reason for his success: Daddy

Pretty damning piece in the New York Times about President Trump's finances.

According to the piece, Trump received over $400 million from his daddy, beginning when he was born and ending only when Fred Trump died. He was a millionaire by the time he was 8. His father bailed him out when he blew his money, time after time after time after time. Into Trump's 50s!

Not exactly the story he has been peddling.

And it may involve massive tax fraud.

When someone refuses to release his tax returns, there's probably a good reason for it.

Chicago Radio Ratings

From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Chicago you already know something about – iHeart’s urban AC “V103” WVAZ (6.1-6.0-5.7) is seeing Cumulus classic hits WLS-FM (4.9-5.3-5.4) in the rear-view mirror. V103 is #1 weekends, while WLS-FM is #1 from 10am-3pm and tied for the afternoon lead. Third total-week is Univision’s regional Mexican WOJO (4.0-4.8-5.0, and tied with WLS-FM for the afternoon lead). Fourth is news WBBM/WCFS (Entercom, 4.6-4.6-4.8), and it wins mornings. Fifth is Hubbard’s classic rock “Drive” WDRV/WWDV (4.9-5.5-4.4) and sixth is “670 the Score” WSCR (Entercom, 3.4-3.5-4.3). At night, the Score improves from fifth to first, with the Cubs. We’re not used to seeing Hubbard’s hot AC “Mix” WTMX this low in rank (seventh, down 4.8-4.9-4.1). Its “Eric in the Morning” had been first and is now second. Hugging its 3.8 share is Weigel-run easy oldies WRME-LP, on the audio channel of a leased low power channel 6 TV station (3.7-3.8-3.8). Right behind is Entercom’s country “US 99” WUSN (3.9-3.3-3.7), way ahead of iHeart’s #24-ranked country “Big” WEBG (1.7-1.8-1.6). The Windy City’s cume leader is still iHeart CHR “Kiss 103.5” WKSC at about 1.73 million. Back in the AQH share rankings, Kiss is tied for thirteenth (3.3-3.2-3.1).

Old Friends Week

Went downtown to interview Eric Ferguson this morning (from the Mix), and forgot that the Drive is now in the same hallway. Got to see a bunch of my old friends. Great catching up with Matt Bisbee, Bob Stroud, Steve Seaver, Fina Rodriguez, Swany, Dave Karwowski, and Kent Lewin. The Eric interview will be my November media column for the Illinois Entertainer.

South Africa By Train

Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen is the mastermind behind a great new website called Destinationeatdrink.com. It's a blog/website for foodies who love to travel. (Hey, that's me!)

I contributed a few pieces to the site, and here's the first one. It's called: "South Africa By Train"

Cara Carriveau

This month's Illinois Entertainer is out and features my interview with long-time Chicago radio jock Cara Carriveau.

You can read it here.

Kavanaugh on SNL

Nice work by Matt Damon, who wasn't even the host of the show...



By the way, if you haven't read this piece yet, you should: How We Know Kavanaugh is Lying. It's a meticulous look at his testimony (and Ford's testimony) and offers compelling evidence that Kavanaugh is full of shit.

He was so obviously full of shit I was offended. I wasn't offended as a Democrat or a Republican. I was offended as a drinker. His portrayal of his drinking exploits sounds like the line of crap I tell my kids (and even they know better) about my drinking. Not credible even in the slightest. He only studied and went to church. The King of the Beach Week Ralphers. The Treasurer of the 100-keg club. Right. That's a punchline, not an alibi.

If he lies about that, what else is he lying about?

RIP Marty Balin

He died over the weekend. From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Marty Balin, co-founder of the San Francisco psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, and whose tenor voice became a key component of their signature sound, died Thursday, Sept. 27 at the age of 76. Balin's rep confirmed the musician's death to Rolling Stone, though the cause of death is currently unknown.

Born Martyn Jerel Buchwald, Balin was a struggling folk guitarist in San Francisco when he met Paul Kantner at a hootenanny. They formed a band and later met up with guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, bassist Jack Casady, drummer Skip Spence and singer Signe Toly Anderson and cut their 1966 debut LP, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. They developed a strong following around the budding San Francisco rock scene, but became nationwide superstars in 1967 when Anderson left the group and was replaced by Grace Slick. Balin played with the Airplane at their most famous gigs, including the Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock and Altamont. At the latter gig, Balin was brutally beaten up by Hells Angels after he dove into the audience to help an audience member in distress. "I woke up with all these boot marks all over my body," Balin told Relix in 1993. "I just walked out there. I remember Jorma saying, 'Hey, you're a crazy son of a bitch.'"

A year later, Balin quit the group and spent a few years managing rock bands in San Francisco, but was pulled back into the group's orbit by Kantner in 1974 in the offshoot Jefferson Starship, which went on to have more hits than the original Airplane, including the Balin-penned "Miracles," which reached No. 3 in 1975. By 1978, Balin left the group for a solo career. In 1989, he participated in a short-lived Jefferson Airplane reunion tour and returned four years later to Jefferson Starship, finally leaving for good in 2008.

This is probably Marty's best known song. He co-wrote it with Paul Kantner...

Minutia Men, Episode 109

EP109 – Rick and Dave discuss bad bar promotions, whoopsie doopsie e-mails, thou shalt not steal, the 1876 Cubs, Rick’s brush with Chevy Chase, and they interview Chicago comedian and author Dobie Maxwell.

Listen to it here.

Game 163

I can't pull it off today, but if you can, here's a note for school or boss...