Our latest episode is out now...
Hot-Sauce Daddy, Dads Helping Surgeons, Tonya Harding Songs, Adult Build A Bear, the Gambling Nun, and Mark Giangreco’s suspension stories.are discussed by Rick and Dave. [Ep259]
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Friday, February 11, 2022
Cubs Birthday Tweet of the Week
I post one every day on Twitter. This week, this is my favorite one.
Born OTD in 1887, Heinie Zimmerman. He nearly won the Triple Crown in 1912–but he was a butcher at SS/3B and a troublemaker. In 1908 he threw a bottle of ammonia at a teammate, nearly blinding him. He later worked in a speakeasy with gangster Dutch Schultz #EveryCubEver pic.twitter.com/6u8yd6lhzs
— Rick Kaempfer (@RickKaempfer) February 9, 2022
Free Kicks
This week's episode is now available. Listen to it here.
The fall of the promising 20-year-old Manchester United star, and the excitement of the FA Cup are discussed by Adam and Rick. [Ep144]
Eckhartz Everyday
*Today is the birthday of NY Times bestselling author Michael Lister (Blood Work). He's not an Eckhartz Press author, but he is a big admirer of one our authors. Here's what he said about Safe Inside by Lee Kingsmill...
“The best books expand our humanity by the vicarious experiences and opportunities for compassion they provide. Lee Kingsmill’s Safe Inside is just such a book. It’s rich and textured, filled with family dynamics, religion, sexuality, the refuge of the imagination, the sanctuary of movies, and most of all, the depth, truthfulness, and complexity of humanity.”
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Eckhartz Everyday
*On this day in 2015, Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen released this video to promote his book Truffle Hunt. It includes a great truffle recipe. Worth your while, foodies.
*Also on this day in 2015, Eckhartz Press author Kipper McGee got a great write up about his book Brandwidth. To read that, click here.
*Today would have been Jimmy Durante's birthday. Only one Eckhartz Press book could have a story about Jimmy Durante. It's the finalist for 2021 Book of the Year, Mob Adjacent by Jeffrey and Mike Gentile. Still available here at Eckhartz Press.
Wednesday, February 09, 2022
Illini Fan
I missed the game last night (sounds like it's a good thing I did), but I like this guy's attitude.
Postgame video. Last guy in the stadium. Long season. You get the fuckin point pic.twitter.com/IahsrpZ7CO
— BARSTOOL “CALL ME CHAMP” CARL (@barstoolcarl) February 9, 2022
Minutia Man Instagram
We have a new way of following our Minutia Men podcast if you are interested. We'll be posting teasers and bonus features beginning next week at our brand new instagram page. Click here to follow. https://www.instagram.com/minutiamenofficial/ Could be a fun addition to your insta experience.
Studio Walls
Every week I send my Minutia Men Co-Host Dave Stern a list from our audio archives for this week's Studio Walls feature. These are the possibilities for this week. Which one will he choose?
*February 7th is the birthday of Coleman Griffith. He was a trailblazer in baseball, one of the first sports psychologists. He was also roundly dismissed by baseball players of the day, and inspired the character in the movie The Natural (We have the audio of his famous scene)
*February 7, 1971, Earth Wind & Fire released their first album. We talked to Alan Hewitt who was one of the producers with the band, and who later joined the Moody Blues (Listen to the entire interview here)
*February 10, 1994, the Olympic Games were taking place in Lillehammer Norway. The big story about that Olympics was the drama between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. John Landecker and I wrote two songs about that, including this one.
*February 11, 2001, Disney released "The Tigger Movie". Little Tommy Kaempfer reviewed the film for the radio show. (We have the audio)
*February 12 is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Dave's famous award winning poem about Lincoln has been committed to audio, and needs to be played at least once a year.
Eckhartz Everyday
*On February 9, 1964, the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time. It was one of those iconic moments for people of a certain age--so much so that they remember exactly where they were when they saw it. Two different Eckhartz Press authors recount their experience in their memoirs.
*Life Behind the Camera's author Chuck Quinzio was in Catholic School, and it caused more than just a ripple in the hallways there. We've excerpted that portion of his book here.
*John Landecker also writes about his take on that momentous day in Records Truly Is My Middle Name, and the effect that it had on the clothing kids wore to his school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We've excerpted that portion of his book here.
Tuesday, February 08, 2022
Academy Award Nominations
They were announced this morning, and here are the main categories (via the Hollywood Reporter)...
BEST PICTURE
Belfast (Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers)
CODA (Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers)
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers)
Drive My Car (Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer)
Dune (Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers)
King Richard (Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers)
Licorice Pizza (Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers)
Nightmare Alley (Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile
Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers)
West Side Story (Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers)
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)
Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)
Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)
Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … Boom!)
Will Smith (King Richard)
Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Judi Dench (Belfast)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Screenplay by Siân Heder)
Drive My Car (Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa
Oe)
Dune (Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve
and Eric Roth)
The Lost Daughter (Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Written by Jane Campion)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast (Written by Kenneth Branagh)
Don’t Look Up (Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota)
King Richard (Written by Zach Baylin)
Licorice Pizza (Written by Paul Thomas Anderson)
The Worst Person in the World (Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier)
From the Writing Archives
One of my favorite conversations from the pages of Father Knows Nothing, is featured here as this week's excerpt from the archives.
8-year-old Johnny is discussing the subject of eating snow with an even younger Sean (4 years old) as they get their boots and snowsuits on. I was listening in around the corner and recorded it for posterity. So happy I did! I always think about it when Chicago braces for a big snow storm.
Johnny is now 23. Sean is 19. (Sigh)
Sean: Why did Dad say we shouldn’t eat snow?
Johnny: He just means the yucky snow.
Sean: What’s the yucky snow?
Johnny: Anything that isn’t white.
Sean: All snow is white.
Johnny: Nuh uh. Sometimes it’s gray or black. That means it’s dirty. If you eat it, it’s like you’re eating mud.
Sean: What if it’s blue?
Johnny: It’s never blue.
Sean: What if it is?
Johnny: It won’t be. It could be yellow, though. Don’t eat that. It’s animal pee. And brown is animal—
Sean: What if it’s green?
Johnny: That’s just the grass underneath it.
Sean: What if it’s orange?
Johnny: It won’t be orange.
Sean: But if it’s a snowman’s nose, it could be orange. Snowmans have orange noses.
Johnny: They do not.
Sean: (forcefully) YES THEY DO. They have carrots.
Johnny: Fine.
Sean: What if it’s red?
Johnny: That’s blood.
Sean: No, it’s not. It’s diarrhea.
Johnny: (forcefully) NO, it’s NOT. Diarrhea is brown.
Sean: I had red diarrhea one time.
Johnny: No you didn’t.
Sean: (forcefully) YES I DID.
Johnny: Not outside in the snow.
(LONG SILENCE)
Sean: Maybe an animal has red diarrhea.
Johnny: What kind of animal?
Sean: A red fire Pokemon.
Johnny: Those aren’t real.
Sean: What about a cardinal?
Johnny: All birds have white poop.
(LONG SILENCE)
Sean: But I thought you said that white snow…
Johnny: Uh oh.
Eckhartz Everyday
*On this day in 2018, Eckhartz Press author John Landecker (Records Truly Is My Middle Name) was lured to Grand Valley State University to give a speech to a media class. Little did he know that we had been working behind the scenes to get him his college diploma. (He had left school a few hours short because he got a great job offer). He was shocked, surprised and thrilled when he was informed he was now officially a college graduate.
*Also on this day in 2018, Lee Kingsmill (Safe Inside) appeared on WGN Radio to promote his new Eckhartz Press book. On the other end of the microphone that day, Nick Digilio. You can listen to it here.
*On this day in 1974, Joel Daly delivered a commentary about the Apollo mission. That commentary is included in his book The Daly News, and because I am so swell, I've also excerpted it here.
Monday, February 07, 2022
Eckhartz Everyday
*Today is Burt Hooton's birthday. You may remember Burt from his time with the Chicago Cubs in the 1970s. He threw a no-hitter. His entire story is told in the book EveryCubEver.
*Today is also the birthday of Joe Lonnett. Who is that, you ask? Well, he was one of the coaches for the 1972 White Sox, which means he is part of the upcoming Eckhartz Press book "Chili Dog MVP". Pre-order your copy now.
Sunday, February 06, 2022
Minutia Men
The latest episode is called "Brotherly Love?" and it's out now. Listen to it here.
China changes movie endings, Hall of Fame minutia, having a catch with Ray Kinsella’s dad, bad brothers, the dumbest crook ever, and a brush with Pete Rose are discussed by Rick and Dave. [Ep258]
Eric Litt
The reason we do this--that moment an author gets to hold his book for the very first time. Congrats to Eric Litt on his new book Oscars Biggest Mistakes.
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