Attention: Rick is leaving the basement

I'll be appearing at the Hidden Shamrock tonight (2723 N. Halsted Street in Chicago) at an event sponsored by the Chicago Writer's Association and the Illinois Women's Press Association from 6:30--8:30. It's a free event, so swing by if you're in the neighborhood.

The full list of the luminaries attending can be found here. And yes, if you've surmised that they lured me by staging it in a bar, you would be correct.

Bat What?

A few years ago this would have cost MSNBC $300,000.

Snowden Granted Asylum in Russia

The NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden was allowed to leave the airport in Moscow, and was granted asylum to stay in the country for a year. With that status, he cannot be extradicted to America to face trial.

He may be happy about that, but he'll also soon find out that August is not exactly a typical weather month for Moscow. Snowden's from North Carolina. Just wait until he experiences a Russian December, followed by a Russian January, and a Russian February, and a Russian March.

The bad news for him is that he'll freeze his butt off. The good news is that his one year of asylum will feel like twenty.

Joe Collins

This month's Illinois Entertainer media column has been posted. The subject of my piece is the very brave traffic reporter Joe Collins.

You can read it here.

The Eckhartz Press Family Has Suffered A Loss

Shortly after we announced the formation of Eckhartz Press in 2011, we were contacted by Felizitas Sudendorf about a book project she was working on. She called it "A Reluctant Immigrant" and it was the story of her traumatic childhood in wartorn Europe, and the very difficult choice of becoming an immigrant.

I knew a little bit about her life story because she is my mother's cousin, and I thought it would be a good idea to publish it. At the very least, I figured, it would be a way of preserving family history. We created an imprint called Helgard Press (a mixture of my mother and my co-publisher's mother's names--Helga and Hildegard) for projects of personal significance like this.

When I got the manuscript, however, it was much more than I thought it would be. Felizitas really immersed herself in this project. She wrote from the heart about difficult and emotional times. And she did something else I thought was brilliant--she turned the second half of the book into a cookbook. Now it was a story you could you see, smell, and taste.

By the time "A Reluctant Immigrant" came out last December, I was very proud of it. And the German community in Chicago really responded to it. Before I knew it, Felizitas had ordered another box of books because everyone wanted a copy. The German-language newspaper in Chicago, the "Eintracht", published a nice piece about her. Every time I went to German events in Chicago (I go to many), people stopped me to say that they were really touched by the book, and thanked me for publishing it. Felizitas had done a remarkable job. She had truly captured the experience of immigrating to the United States during that tumultuous time.

Just last weekend I ran into one of my father's old friends at a soccer tournament, and he pulled me aside to say: "I have to talk to Felizitas about her book. I loved it. It was like she just changed the names and places of my own life story. I was reliving my life on every page." After talking to my father's friend I realized that I needed to bring a copy along to our family picnic in September for her to sign. Ironically, I had autographed copies of every book we've published except for hers.

Unfortunately, that's no longer possible. My mom was really shaken up when she called me to tell me the news. Felizitas had died suddenly and unexpectly in her home. She was only 75 years old.

Her wake is tomorrow, and her funeral is Friday. I'll be there, of course, supporting the family. If you've read her book you know how much tragedy her family has already had to endure. It breaks my heart that they have suffered another loss--especially this one--the matriarch of their family. But thanks to her hard work, her intelligence, her diligence, and her writing ability, she will always live on in the pages of "A Reluctant Immigrant".

That's an incredible gift she has left behind for her children and grandchildren, and I'm so happy that we published it.

Hey Jude

From Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac, this little nugget from 45 years ago today...

July 31, 1968…At Trident studios in London, the Beatles recorded four takes of "Hey Jude." A 36-piece orchestra was added the following day.

When I went to London Trident studio was on the Beatles walking tour. It's just an empty storefront now. Hard to believe this incredible piece of history came from that little place...

Broadway Joe Does Some Podcasting

Broadway Joe Namath is the latest name to enter the podcasting world. From this morning's Radio Online...

Legendary NFL Hall of Fame quarterback and sports icon Joe Namath will join Sports USA for the 2013 season with an exclusive weekly football podcast. Namath will analyze all things football beginning in mid-August and will continue through Super Bowl XLVIII.

Weiner Campaign Imploding

As if it's not bad enough to have the whole sexting scandal, on Monday an ex-intern in the campaign went public in the New York Daily News about the behind-the-scenes tumult. The way that the campaign responded is really unbelievable. From Talking Points Memo today...

TPM called Weiner’s communications director Barbara Morgan to discuss an unrelated story Tuesday and she went off on a curse-filled rant about Nuzzi, describing her as a fame hungry “bitch” who “sucked” at her job. Morgan also called Nuzzi a “slutbag,” “twat,” and “c**t” while threatening to sue her.

That's the response of the communications director. Turn out the lights, Weiner. It's all over.

ABC News is #1

NBC (Brian Williams) had the #1 evening newscast in America for the last five years. That is no longer the case. ABC (Diane Sawyer) is now beating him.

The New York Times has the story.

A Story That Will Make You Cringe

I'm not going to make any comment about this story, other than printing the headline with a link to it if you'd like to find out more information.

Dog eats paralyzed man's testicle

PCs Outsell Tablets in College Dorms

I wasn't terribly surprised by this news, but apparently Marketwatch was.

Why would a dinosaur like the PC outsell something as slick, new, and impressive as a tablet? Ask any writer you know, and they'll tell you. This quote from the article probably says it best...

“Unless you’re shooting for a degree in Angry Birds, tablets are a horrible back-to-school purchase,” says Louis Ramirez, senior features writer on DealNews.com. “You can’t write a 10-page research paper with an iPad.”

A Fine Mess

My latest "A Fine Mess" column for Shore Magazine is called "Dress Code for the Golf Course".

You can read it here.

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Bill Ruthhart ‏@BillRuthhart 9m
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is warm to a #Wrigley RF party deck over Sheffield, says #Cubs & rooftops agreed on it: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-emanuel-warm-to-right-field-wrigley-party-deck-over-sheffield-20130730,0,4882487.story … #Rahm

Al Yankovic ‏@alyankovic 25m
You know, the word “genius” gets thrown around a lot these days, but man, I gotta tell ya, that Albert Einstein was kind of a genius!

Crain's Chicago ‏@CrainsChicago 12m
College bookstore chain Follett signs Chicago area's biggest suburban office lease of 2013. http://ow.ly/nsZgQ

CollegeHumor ‏@CollegeHumor 27m
If every hat company reminded us to take off the hologram sticker we'd all look smarter. http://ow.ly/nr8Ku

Josh Marshall ‏@joshtpm 14m
Bradley Manning Convicted Under Espionage Act, Acquitted Of Aiding The Enemy Over WikiLeaks http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/bradley-manning-acquitted-of-aiding-the-enemy-over-wikileaks.php … via @TPM

jimmy fallon ‏@jimmyfallon 38m
Brian Williams Raps "Good Vibrations" http://youtu.be/8yr7ivVPhmY

Rick Bayless ‏@Rick_Bayless 17m
Processing 25 bags of fresh farmer corn in Frontera kitchen! Gorgeous! https://vine.co/v/hqKuYaJUgzT

Funny Or Die ‏@funnyordie 40m
50 Things You MUST Do Before Summer Ends: http://bit.ly/13keuxJ

Phil Rogers ‏@ChiTribRogers 2m
Dodgers' signing of Brian Wilson follows their attempt to reconstruct Carlos Marmol, who appears on thin ice after 2 outings.

Taegan Goddard ‏@politicalwire 2m
Anthony Weiner won't answer a direct question about whether he's still sexting with women online
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/07/30/weiner_dodges_question_on_whether_hes_still_sexting.html …

As the Rupert Turns

Another twist in the soap opera that is Rupert Murdoch's personal life. His wife Wendi has switched lawyers to settle their divorce.

Buckle up, Rupert. This ride is about to get a little bumpy.

The Ventures

45 years ago today, the Ventures recorded this song. I don't think I had ever seen them perform it before...

Reporter Fired for Blog Post

Her name is Shea Allen and she was a television reporter in Alabama. She wrote a blog post that admitted a few things her bosses didn't like (like "I've gone braless on the air") and they asked her to take it down. She did, but then had second thoughts about it, and reposted it. They fired her.

The full story is here.

I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, I don't think she was exactly admitting horrible things (except maybe the last one). On the other hand, she did directly disobey her bosses. I think she had the right to post it, but they also had the right to fire her for it...even if I think it was a bit of an over-reaction.

Is that wishy washy enough for you?

Time Warner Temporarily Removes CBS in Major Cities

This little hissy fit just got serious. From the NY Times...

CBS stations were temporarily removed from cable systems in millions of homes in major cities — including New York and Los Angeles — about midnight on Monday, after protracted negotiations between CBS and Time Warner Cable over fees collapsed. But after an exchange of recrimination-filled statements, and less than a half-hour of cable interruption, the cable company announced that it had halted the blackout of the stations at CBS’s request.

Read the whole article. It's all negotiating maneuvers, with the consumers once again, just an afterthought.

Amazon Will One Day Rule The World

I've been making the claim of that headline for awhile now, and others are coming to the same conclusion. This is from a piece in The Scholarly Kitchen (a website dedicated to scholarly publishing) about the new gatekeepers...

If we were once concerned about the power of Gannett (who?), what are we to make of Amazon, which, depending on who’s counting, now has around 60% of the domestic ebooks market and between 20-30% of the print book market? When you get outside the trade publishing segment, those numbers move around. For some university presses Amazon’s share is around 50% of all books sold. Ebooks today are about 25% of all trade books sold, a number that reaches 60% for such segments as young adult fiction. Academic books today are still largely a print business (90%), but that is changing rapidly. As more and more books are consumed in digital form, Amazon’s overall market share for books will continue to rise.

And no one can stop them.

You can read the whole article here if you're interested. The piece also contains a pro-amazon point of view.

Late update: Here's another company Amazon is trying to crush: Overstock.com.

Happy Birthday Geddy Lee

He's exactly ten years and one day older than me. He turns 60 today. Here he is singing my favorite Rush song...

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Pope Francis ‏@Pontifex 5m
What an unforgettable week in Rio! Thank you, everyone. Pray for me. #Rio2013 #JMJ

Rolling Stone ‏@RollingStone 6m
The new #StarWars trilogy will feature music by composer John Williams, who scored the previous movies: http://rol.st/15389bD

USA TODAY ‏@USATODAY 12m
Before 1963, mail was largely sorted by street address. Here are some notable ZIP codes: #snapshots pic.twitter.com/CyD3sm8E8a

Traveling Ted ‏@travelingted 10m
The Best Places to Drink Beer in Milwaukee http://wp.me/p2eytK-1wx via @JasonsWriting

The Daily Show ‏@TheDailyShow 13m
Exclusive footage of the Daily Show writers room: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0V_D4zaEpU … #WritersRoom

Joe Caruso ‏@JoeCaruso1 26m
Where have I been? Finally, something to watch. RT @Carson360 Tonight, don't miss the final 5 interviews of "Carson on TCM" #CarsonOnTCM

Patrick Mooney ‏@CSNMooney 37m
#Cubs clubhouse erupted watching Soriano's HR, a genuine, unscripted moment for a team searching for a new identity: http://bit.ly/17NNQgk

Dave Wischnowsky ‏@wischlist 37m
The bikini photos of Anthony Weiner's sext buddy are ... well, they're something. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/anthony_weiner_sext_girl_bikini_JaqFvJBKQulQCQGmQDIx8M

Paul Sullivan ‏@PWSullivan 41m
Junior's here. Time to see whether he can play in the Wrigley spotlight. http://trib.in/17bzsMx

Matt Spiegel ‏@MattSpiegel670 43m
RIP George "The Boomer" Scott. Loved him as a kid. 271 homers, and 8 gold gloves too. Baseball heroes aren't supposed to die.

Religion & Politics

This interview is an embarrassment. To agree with the take of the interviewer, you must reject the entire concept of historical study.

Cumulus Planning to Drop Limbaugh & Hannity

Cumulus is the nation's second biggest radio company (it's gigantic), and they now air Limbaugh and Hannity (syndicated by the biggest radio company--Clear Channel) in about forty or so markets. According to Politico, they are making rumblings about dropping them.

A few notes about this. #1--This could just be a negotiating tactic. #2--Even if they are dropped (including in Chicago--WLS is a Cumulus station), they won't be replaced by anything that cleans the toxic airwaves. Cumulus is talking about adding outlets for the likes of Michael Savage and Mark Levin instead.

That would be like mopping your kitchen floor with a bucket full of oil.

Great Cover

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Terminally Ill 'Simpsons' Co-Creator Vows to Give Away Fortune

His name is Sam Simon, and he left The Simpsons in 1993, but retained the title "Executive Producer". Because of the show he has riches beyond any of our wildest dreams. Unfortunately, he also has terminal cancer, and when he was diagnosed Simon began to give away his fortune to charity. The Hollywood Reporter has the story.

I applaud him for his efforts. He really shows us all that the old adage really is true--you can't take it with you.

Kidd Kraddick

His name is not really known in Chicago because I don't believe he ever cracked this market, but in Dallas, radio personality Kidd Kraddick is about as big as it gets. The entire radio world is in shock because he passed away this weekend at the age of 53. Read the article in the Dallas News to get a feel for his impact on that city.

I didn't really know him, although I've admired his work from afar. Now that I'm 50 years old, I also get a little freaked out when people my age just drop dead like this.

Carlos Danger

The Anthony Weiner story has so much potential for comedy, it almost makes me wish I was working in morning radio again. First you've got a guy named Weiner texting pictures of his namesake. Next we find out that he was using the pseudonym Carlos Danger. To me, that's even funnier than the ironic name/vice of Weiner. It sounds like a super hero/porn star name.

"Ola, Seniorita. I am Danger. Carlos Danger."

I can't sit on the sidelines for another moment. Time to exercise my dormant parody song muscles, and throw together a little verse or two for you. It's to the tune of the Johnny Rivers classic "Secret Agent Man". Free of charge to anyone who may want to use it...

He's a man who they call Carlos Danger,
Even though he's technically a stranger,
If you merely ask,
He'll take off his mask,
Not in the same place as the Lone Ranger's,

He's the Weiner man,
His own Weiner fan,
He tweets and texts and sexts that weiner all across the land

More Bad News For Barnes & Noble

The clock is really ticking now.

Barnes & Noble will be no more very soon.

Lorna Ozmon

Saw this little blurb in the RAMP Newsletter this morning about one of radio's bigger companies...

Entercom has retained the services of consultant/talent coach Lorna Ozmon of Ozmon Media, who "has built a stellar reputation coaching air talent, and will now be spending a significantly greater portion of her time with Entercom helping our personalities improve their shows."

I've worked with Lorna before, and seen her in action. She's the best talent coach I've ever seen. She knows how to talk to talent, she knows how to convince management to take some chances, and she can tell the difference between good radio and bad radio. Entercom just made a good hire.

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...




Chicago magazine ‏@ChicagoMag 19m
This 1914 Gold Coast property was once part of the Playboy mansion. @DealEstate tours the chandelier-filled home: http://chi.mg/15MQRfs

New York Daily News ‏@nydailynews 9m
Kris Jenner details sexual past on talk show in front of teen daughters. http://nydn.us/1blUekx

Greg Sargent ‏@ThePlumLineGS 12m
Must read by @jbplainblog on the core contradiction at the heart of GOP efforts to sabotage Obamacare: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/07/25/the-core-contradiction-at-the-heart-of-the-gop-campaign-to-sabotage-obamacare/

Huffington Post ‏@HuffingtonPost 25m
8 signs you need a vacation now (GIFs) http://huff.to/1bOs68K

The Onion ‏@TheOnion 33m
BREAKING: Print Dead At 1,803 http://onion.com/11glvyd

Jeff Greenfield ‏@greenfield64 40m
I'll be back on "Morning Joe" tomorrow. 7 a.m. My topic:"when did the Yankee-A-Rod relationship turn into "Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?"

ChiTribSports ‏@ChiTribSports 1m
Gators remove Aaron Hernandez brick from stadium celebrating his play at UF http://trib.in/19kkgmA

New York Daily News ‏@nydailynews 7m
Crocodile-trainer puts head in crocodile's mouth. Crocodile bites trainer's head. http://nydn.us/1blVaFt

Fareed Zakaria ‏@FareedZakaria 9m
In 2011, U.S. spent 17.7% of GDP on health care, no other nation tracked by OECD reported more than 11.9%: WSJ http://on.wsj.com/162vqcq

Michael Ian Black ‏@michaelianblack 10m
Big ups to a bunch of dudes who were like, "Yes, we SHOULD call our band Spandau Ballet."

Be Careful with that Telestrator

Keith Olbermann

When Keith Olbermann returns to ESPN in the next few days he tells the New York Daily News he will be talking mostly sports.

But some politics will be too hard to avoid...especially when it's funny. For instance, he will not be able to stop himself from making fun of Anthony Weiner's Sexting Pseudonym: Carlos Danger.

Who can blame him. To use a baseball term, that's a fastball right down the middle.

Fox Sports One

What can we expect from the new all-sports network Fox Sports One? The Hollywood Reporter interviewed the executives in charge, and they shared their vision.

As long as they keep showing soccer, I'm in.

Steve Goodman

He would be 65 years old today. Happy birthday Steve Goodman...



If you want to read a little more about him, he's featured today at Cubs 365.

Second Look

I think this is a great idea. CBS is creating a website called "Second Look", and it will only be showing shows from cancelled series. It's a good way to run off the shows that have been shot but never aired, and a good way for fringe hits to find a new audience.

Details are here.

Busted

On this day in 1963 Ray Charles recorded one of my favorite Ray Charles songs, "Busted". (I was born four days later.)

I found this little piece of history on Youtube...a video from the Johnny Cash show of Ray Charles and Johnny Cash singing "Busted" together. I wish they would have recorded it.

The Eastland Disaster

98 years ago today, the worst tragedy in Chicago history; the Eastland disaster. More than 800 people died when the ship rolled over in the Chicago River.

The Chicago Tribune has some truly chilling archival photographs.

Today's Best Tweets

Here are some tweets that caught my eye today...





Chicago Bears ‏@ChicagoBears 20s
LM: First #Bears training camp practice is slated to begin at 9 a.m. Friday. Practice is free and open to public.

Patton Oswalt ‏@pattonoswalt 3m
"You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when he met you. He picked you out, shook you up, turned you around...your rebuttal?"

The White House ‏@whitehouse 10m
FACT: Since March 2010, our economy has added 7.2 million private-sector jobs—and there's more work to do. pic.twitter.com/fJP47kmfpf

Ezra Klein ‏@ezraklein 39m
Obama says the economy grows best from the middle. Research suggests he’s right. http://wapo.st/1c2QemA

Paul McCartney ‏@PaulMcCartney 12m
Paul recently got #OutThere in Fenway Park, home of the Boston @RedSox. Watch Paul swing his baseball bat HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1aloOys8_Y …

Oakland Athletics ‏@Athletics 14m
The A's have spent 18 consecutive days in 1st place, their longest stretch since 2006. #Athletics vs. #Astros today at 11:05 PT.

Pee-wee Herman ‏@peeweeherman 15m
Today is NATIONAL TEQUILA DAY!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BodXwAYeTfM …

Funny Or Die ‏@funnyordie 19m
No good deed goes unpunished. Watch what happens when Tom Brady does his old "buddy" a favor: http://ow.ly/nhskX

Beachwood Reporter ‏@BeachwoodReport 28m
From daddy's girl to daddy's boy-council approves Deb Mell as new member and moves on to the toy Tom Ricketts' dad bought for him. #chicago

Cut4 ‏@Cut4 36m
Joe Mauer of the @Twins is now the father of ... you guessed it, twins: http://atmlb.com/18CSWjQ

Things Men Want

Thanks to "MS" for sending these to me...

Fox News

Their ratings are still strong, and their revenue is still strong, but according to this piece in the New York Times, the median age of their viewers is now over 65 years old. This is the way the NYT describes the audience...

Just how old is its audience? It is impossible to be precise because Nielsen stops giving an exact figure for median age once it passes 65. But for six of the last eight years, Fox News has had a median age of 65-plus and the number of viewers in the 25-54 year old group has been falling consistently, down five years in a row in prime time, from an average of 557,000 viewers five years ago to 379,000 this year. That has occurred even though Fox’s overall audience in prime time is up this year, to 2.02 million from 1.89 million three years ago.

Of course, if you're a Fox News viewer, you just pshaw, and say "liberal media" when you hear that this story was in the New York Times.

Sellers and not Buyers

As we watch the Cubs trading away their stars and acquiring prospects in return, it occurs to me that I haven't seen them do this in nearly 40 years. They have been buyers for the past forty years, and it hasn't worked. (Like this stupid trade, which they made on this day in 1986.)

The last time they were sellers was the early 70s when they traded away some of their all-time greats like Williams, Santo, and Jenkins. They got a young 2B named Manny Trillo back for Williams, plus some bullpen help (Bob Locker & Darold Knowles). They got a future all-star catcher (Steve Swisher), and a reliable starting pitcher (Steve Stone) for Ron Santo. And they got a future batting champion and a replacement for Ron Santo (Bill Madlock) in return for Fergie Jenkins.

Not a bad haul if you consider that Williams and Santo each only played one more season. If Madlock had simply been paid instead of shipped off after asking more money, the Jenkins trade would have been a good one too (even though Fergie won another 100+ games in the American League).

Keep in mind that Theo and Jed don't have nearly as much to trade, and they still seem to be picking up some good prospects. I'm cautiously optimistic that they're on the right track.

FC Bayern Youth Cup

This is the reason I've been so difficult to reach over the past week or two: The FC Bayern Youth Cup at Green White

It was a great experience, a difficult challenge, and a ton of work, but it was also a huge success.

I need a vacation.

Clear Channel Imports Morning Show

Robert Feder has all the details on his facebook page.

Here's the money quote: Despite promises that Clear Channel Chicago would launch a local morning show on its newly branded 93.9 MY FM, that doesn't appear to be the case. Paul "Cubby" Bryant, who hosts mornings on Clear Channel's WKTU-FM in New York and also is heard on WMIA-FM in Miami, is expected to add WLIT 93.9 FM to his syndication lineup, sources said Sunday.

Of course it won't be the first syndicated morning show on the former Lite-FM. They've made that mistake multiple times.

I thought the most interesting part of Feder's post was this final paragraph...

For weeks now, Chicago radio veterans Eddie Volkman and Joe "Jobo" Colborn were rumored to be headed for mornings on 93.9 MY FM. On July 10, Volkman posted a photo on his Facebook page of the duo taken at Clear Channel studios. "Today's meeting could NOT have gone better!" he wrote. "Watch out, Chicago! Damn, I'm stoked."

Sounds like E&J got a bit blindsided. I hate this business sometimes. I really do.

Mick's 70th Birthday

On Friday, July 26th, Mick Jagger is turning 70 years old. If you're looking for a place to celebrate it, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum is currently presenting Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction, their first ever major exhibition capturing the band's legendary career spanning more than 50 years.

Get a preview here.

In Chicago we've had a few memorable moments with Mick and the boys over the years. I wrote about a few of those for Just One Bad Century.

Dealing with Trolls

Every now and then I'll get asked why I don't allow comments on my blogs. There's a one-word answer for that: Trolls

If you want to know what a troll is, simply read the comments section of any article on any newspaper website or blog, or read this piece: The Top 12 Signs You're Dealing with Trolls

Father Knows Nothing

My latest Father Knows Nothing column is called "Baby Boomers" and it's about a certain piece of mail I received this week.

You can read it here.

Nate Silver joins ESPN

Everyone's favorite statistical nerd, Nate Silver of the New York Times "538" blog, is going back to his sports roots. He became famous by analyzing baseball statistics for the website/magazine Baseball Prospectus. Now he's taking his skills to ESPN.

From the New York Times article...

At ESPN, Mr. Silver is expected to have a wide-ranging portfolio. Along with his writing and number-crunching, he will most likely be a regular contributor to “Olbermann,” the late-night ESPN2 talk show hosted by Keith Olbermann that will have its debut at the end of August. In political years, he will also have a role at ABC News, which is owned by Disney.

Sounds like an interesting match. Looking forward to it. I'm a big fan.

Rolling Stone Buy-Back

This is how one Boston radio station is dealing with the conroversial new Boston Bomber cover story. From this morning's RAMP Newsletter...

By now you are painfully aware of Rolling Stone's controversial new cover featuring that "rock star" photo of the Boston Marathon bomber (we're not going to use his name). Needless to say, many people living in the Boston area are particularly incensed over the cover -- and while the ideas of boycotts and/or ill-conceived notions of mass-burnings have been floated, we are fans of the clean and classy solution conceived by Greater Media's WBOS (Radio 92.9)/Boston, which this Friday will be conducting a buy-back (more accurately, a "trade-back") of that August 1 Rolling Stone issue, in exchange for a pair of concert tickets. It's important to note that this offer is open to current Rolling Stone subscribers only -- "We do not want to encourage people to buy copies in order to 'sell them' to us," says a notice on the WBOS Facebook page. All issues containing a valid subscription label and brought into the WBOS studios this Friday between 9am-5pm will be boxed up and mailed back to Rolling Stone.

CTFD Parenting Technique

Finally a parenting technique I can wholeheartedly endorse.

It's called: CTFD

(Tongue, of course, is planted firmly in cheek by the author of the piece)

Tinker To Evers To Chance

On this day in 1910 the poem that immortalized three Cubs infielders was printed in the newspaper for the first time.

Details at Cubs 365.

George Noory

Looks like we'll have spooky overnight radio to listen to while driving across the country for at least a few more years. From today's RAMP newsletter...

Premiere Networks has inked an exclusive long-term contract extension with George Noory, the longtime host of the awesome Coast to Coast AM, the most-listened-to overnight radio program in North America. "By renewing my deal with Premiere Networks, I'll be around when astronauts land on Mars," said Noory. "I want to thank Premiere and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment for having the confidence in me and our amazing team to take Coast to Coast AM into the future. I look forward to many more years of bringing riveting programs during the late-night hours to our millions of listeners around the world."

Rare White Album

Uh oh. Looks like the kids won't be going to college after Daddy bids on this incredible artifact from Beatles history.

Windy City Reviews reviews "Recalled to Life"

Chicago's own Windy City Reviews has this to say about the Eckhartz Press novel "Recalled to Life" (by Dan Burns)...

"Burns deftly outlines the challenges in caring for an elderly parent. He deals sensitively with the trials of aging, particularly in dealing with failing physical strength and the frustrations of memory loss...Burns writes with great empathy for all the characters...Overall this is a touching Chicago story about intergenerational bonds, and the love that keeps a family together despite the challenges of life."

The full review is here.

The book is available here.

Jenny McCarthy Joins "The View"

The New York Times has the details.

It's a great hire. She's got a great personality for this format.

I've met her a few times over the years. My favorite story about her is when we tried to get her to record a promo for Landecker's show. At the time the slogan of our music format was "The Greatest Hits of All Time". She said it a few times, recognized what that phrase sounded like coming out of her mouth, and thought we were trying to set her up. Say it to yourself a few times, and you might get the idea.

Just for the record, we didn't do it on purpose at all, but it was funny.

The Chicago Baseball Happiness Scale

The RedEye has created something they call the Chicago Baseball Happiness Scale.

As you might imagine, both teams are not doing well this year.

I developed something similar about five years ago, although I didn't come up with a number. I came up with a logo...

Greetings from FC Bayern

I got this photo e-mailed to me from Bayern Munich. It's recovering Bayern Munich player (and German National Team player) Bastian Schweinsteiger wishing us well in the FC Bayern Cup taking place at the Green White Soccer fields in Mt. Prospect/Des Plaines this weekend. In case you don't know, Schweinsteiger is one of the biggest soccer stars in the world, and FC Bayern just won the European Champions League.

Then, this morning, FC Bayern posted the same picture on their facebook page and advertised the event to their facebook audience of 7,000,000+ along with a special e-mail address created strictly for our event...my e-mail address. I'll be dealing with an exploding e-mail box the rest of the week, but it's nice to see that some people in this country recognize the significance of this.

Asiana Airlines Considers Legal Action Against KTVU, NTSB

The full story is here, but the gist of it is that a television station in San Francisco broadcast the names of the pilots...but it wasn't their real names. The names were obviously jokes provided by pranksters.

It is not clear how KTVU originally got the names. The NTSB admitted Friday night to confirming the false names, saying a summer intern “acted outside the scope of his authority.”

What were the names? "Sum Ting Wong” and “Wi Tu Lo.”

I know it's supposed to be tragedy plus time equals comedy, and perhaps the time portion of that equation hadn't yet been fulfilled, but I have to admit I laughed out loud when I read the names. I have suitably punished myself for that inappropriate reaction.

John Landecker at the Beverly Arts Center (Photos & Commentary)

On the eve of his double knee-replacement surgery, John Records Landecker appeared before a full house at the Beverly Arts Center to discuss his book "Records Truly Is My Middle Name" yesterday. The facilitator of the event, Penny Golden--host of Author Afternoon at the Beverly Arts Center, interviewed John (and me) about his life, his career, and his writing process.

After the interview, the audience engaged in a lively Q&A session with John.

Thanks so much to everyone who came out, and of course, to Penny Golden who once again proved she's the best in the business at interviewing authors. (Eckhartz Press author Dan Burns will be appearing there in a few months too).