Thursday, March 05, 2015
50 Years Ago Today
I saw this little tidbit at Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac...
March 5, 1965…Neil Sedaka was the celebrity guest on the CBS-TV game show "I've Got A Secret."
And I went searching for the video. Here it is...
March 5, 1965…Neil Sedaka was the celebrity guest on the CBS-TV game show "I've Got A Secret."
And I went searching for the video. Here it is...
Every Cub Ever (K)
What will you find there? Four Hall of Famers, 14 classic baseball cards, eleven videos, two classic audio clips, two managers, two executives, a broadcaster, a celebrity fan, a Cubs scribe, a father/son team, a 1969 Cub, two 1908 Cubs, a college hall of famer, the inspiration for Babe Ruth’s anti-Cub anger, and your humble editor.
Check it out here.
DeLorean
A museum in Volo, Ill., has promised to raffle off its 1981 exhibition model DeLorean if the Chicago Cubs can win the World Series this year.
Details are here.
How do you keep up with music?
There used to be one simple answer to that question: Radio. Not so much anymore. From Tom Taylor's NOW column...
AM/FM drops from 75% to 69% as “a source for keeping up with music.” Though “there’s no one [single] challenger,” according to the Edison/Triton Digital Infinite Dial update – it’s a constellation of sources. “Friends and family” as a “keeping up” source actually grew stronger, from 66% last year to 70% this year. Then it’s AM/FM, followed by YouTube at 61%, Pandora at 51%, Facebook at 40%, music channels on TV (jumping from 33% last year to 39%), and “information/displays at a local store,” mentioned by 32%. iTunes rates at 31%, then satellite radio, up from 20% to 23%. Then iHeart at 20%. That ties iHeart with Spotify, which gained from 14% to 20%. When Edison phrased the question as “the source most used for keeping up-to-date with music,” AM/FM wins at 29%, followed by friends and family at 20%. But here’s trouble – the “source most used” pie-chart for 12-24s drops AM/FM all the way down to 8%.
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
With a Horse?
Ah, Wisconsin.
I know I'm getting to be a hopelessly old man, but is there really a genre of porn called "Horse Porn"?
Every Cub Ever (J)
What will you find there? A Hall of Famer, eleven classic baseball cards, six videos, a celebrity fan, a classic audio clip, 8 Cubs named Jackson, 8 named Jones, 12 Johnsons, a ’69 Cub, an actual Cub, the first African-American Cub pitcher, the player who scored the only run in the Sandy Koufax perfect game, a player who was shot by a crazed fan, plus Footer, Handsome Ransom, and Kangaroo.
Check it out here.
Biggest News Day Ever?
If you're a casual follower of the news, you missed a doozy yesterday. On a normal day, every one of these stories would have received full-time 24-hour cable-news coverage.
1) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu spoke to the U.S. Congress and ripped the American president (to thunderous applause from Republicans).
2) Former CIA Director David Petreaus admitted to passing classified documents to his mistress, and faces a potential prison sentence.
3) Former Secretary of State (and probable presidential candidate) Hillary Clinton was revealed to have conducted all of her official business as Secretary via a private e-mail account, sparking concern about security breaches and transparency.
4) The Department of Justice released a report alleging that the Ferguson Missouri police department was casually racist--although not criminally liable for it.
5) The House of Representatives passed the DHS funding bill without any anti-immigration riders--after pretending last week that this was something that could NEVER happen.
6) And today, the Supreme Court hears arguments to end a provision of Obamacare based on a technical use of vague language--that would immediately kick five million people off their insurance plans.
I got a kick out of watching the cable news shows trying to figure out what story should lead their programs. There was no consensus--all of those stories were picked by at least one show.
1) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu spoke to the U.S. Congress and ripped the American president (to thunderous applause from Republicans).
2) Former CIA Director David Petreaus admitted to passing classified documents to his mistress, and faces a potential prison sentence.
3) Former Secretary of State (and probable presidential candidate) Hillary Clinton was revealed to have conducted all of her official business as Secretary via a private e-mail account, sparking concern about security breaches and transparency.
4) The Department of Justice released a report alleging that the Ferguson Missouri police department was casually racist--although not criminally liable for it.
5) The House of Representatives passed the DHS funding bill without any anti-immigration riders--after pretending last week that this was something that could NEVER happen.
6) And today, the Supreme Court hears arguments to end a provision of Obamacare based on a technical use of vague language--that would immediately kick five million people off their insurance plans.
I got a kick out of watching the cable news shows trying to figure out what story should lead their programs. There was no consensus--all of those stories were picked by at least one show.
Curt Schilling Defends Daughter In Twitter-Hate-Fest
Tweeters went after his daughter--and that's never acceptable. He tracked them down, and called them out.
Read his full take on it here.
The Wave of the Future?
The Hollywood Reporter has the details.
I have a feeling this is the future for network broadcast television (and probably cable too).
Chet Coppock
Chet takes shots at Dan Bernstein ("gutless", "wimp", "look in the dictionary under 'bitch' and you'll find Dan Bernstein"), Julie DeCaro ("little tart"), Chris Rongy ("forever a recap guy, never a host"), and a guy downstate.
If you're interested take a look at the tweets at the link above.
I'm guessing Chet wishes he hadn't done it (which is why he deleted it), but the thing that seemingly (I'm guessing based on the article) sparked his anger (talking about the Patrick Sharp rumor with no substantiation) is a legitimate gripe. He could have addressed it without expressing his opinions quite so graphically, but Chet does have a tendency of going into full-Wrestling announcing mode pretty quickly.
The blog post suggests Chet was probably drunk when he did it, but I don't think he was. Chet doesn't drink.
(I interviewed Chet for the Illinois Entertainer last May)
Steve Dahl
I think this is a very good article in Chicago Magazine about my old boss, Steve Dahl. Steve gave full access to the writer, and the writer presented Steve fairly but compassionately.
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
Bill O'Reilly from Buenos Aires
Here's the actual tape of O'Reilly's report from Buenos Aires...
It looks pretty hairy to me. Not a war zone, and nobody being gunned down in the streets, but pretty ugly. This riot looks like the one in Ferguson Missouri earlier this year. But it's not a war zone.
Remember, Brian Williams was suspended for saying he was in a plane that was shot...when it was actually a plane near him. I'd say this embellishment is in the exact same category, unless I'm missing something.
Again, it's not going to matter because Fox News will never suspend him for something like this (or anything else as long as his show is bringing in the cash), but it's nice to know where the truth lies.
It looks pretty hairy to me. Not a war zone, and nobody being gunned down in the streets, but pretty ugly. This riot looks like the one in Ferguson Missouri earlier this year. But it's not a war zone.
Remember, Brian Williams was suspended for saying he was in a plane that was shot...when it was actually a plane near him. I'd say this embellishment is in the exact same category, unless I'm missing something.
Again, it's not going to matter because Fox News will never suspend him for something like this (or anything else as long as his show is bringing in the cash), but it's nice to know where the truth lies.
Every Cub Ever (I)
There are only six entries in all, but one of them is a Hall of Famer, another is the player acquired for Greg Maddux, plus there’s a classic baseball card and a song.
Check it out here.
Haters Gonna Hate
Sometimes internet commenters just forget that they are ripping a real person. Some of the vile things that are said out there have taken my breath away, and not just towards political figures like the president (or the previous president). Even in the world of radio things can get ugly--especially when people are allowed to comment anonymously. That just happened in LA to the newest member of the Kevin & Bean show on KROQ. From Tom Taylor's column this morning...
New Kevin & Bean cast member Allie Mac Kay says on Facebook “needless to say, been a rough 4 days for everyone involved. I can take a lot of abuse...but death/rape threats and lies spread about my addition to the show is way over the line.” Some social media posters turned very ugly, says Don Barrett’s LARadio.com, when CBS blew out 24-year traffic reporter Lisa May and newsman “Doc on the ROQ” Boyd R. Britton from the L.A. alt-rocker. As Don Barrett says, “Lisa was told she was gone...nothing was said on the air, then Allie shows up, and nothing is really said about introducing her to the audience.” That’s when the hating began, particularly against former KTLA-TV reporter Allie, who was seen as replacing Kevin & Bean’s female voice. (Even though Lisa worked for an outside traffic service.) Garman says “for Allie to get death threats, rape threats and the names she’s been called online...it hurts me to think our listeners are capable of that.” Some aren't even good spellers, as Allie wryly notes on Facebook - “it's called "the C word" for a reason...spelling it with a "k" made me sad for so many.”
The rumors that have been swirling around Chicago regarding Patrick Sharp fall into the same category for me. Are they true? Everyone involved says that they aren't, but wow have they spread. If you're in Chicago, you've heard the rumors. Patrick Sharp even felt it necessary to make a public statement yesterday addressing the issue. He pointed out that he's a real person--that he has two daughters--that his parents even called him to find out if it was true. It it was, the Hawks surely would have traded him. The deadline passed yesterday. The guy's reputation has been tarnished forever. That seems like a pretty high price to pay just for being in the public eye.
The rumors that have been swirling around Chicago regarding Patrick Sharp fall into the same category for me. Are they true? Everyone involved says that they aren't, but wow have they spread. If you're in Chicago, you've heard the rumors. Patrick Sharp even felt it necessary to make a public statement yesterday addressing the issue. He pointed out that he's a real person--that he has two daughters--that his parents even called him to find out if it was true. It it was, the Hawks surely would have traded him. The deadline passed yesterday. The guy's reputation has been tarnished forever. That seems like a pretty high price to pay just for being in the public eye.
Peter Bowen
News came out yesterday that Peter Bowen has been named the new market manager for Cumulus in Chicago. Here's the blurb from Radio Online...
Cumulus announces that 20-year Chicago radio veteran Peter Bowen has been named Vice President/Market Manager for Cumulus Chicago. Bowen moves into the role previously held by Donna Baker, who was promoted to Regional Vice President for Cumulus. Bowen joins Cumulus from CBS Radio, where he was Senior Vice President/Director of Sales for CBS Radio's six radio stations in Los Angeles. Prior to that, Bowen worked for CBS Radio Chicago for 16 years, serving as Senior Vice President/General Manager of WBBM-FM and WJMK-FM, and as Vice President/Director of Sales for CBS Radio's Chicago stations.
I worked with Peter at WJMK when he was a salesman there. Nice guy. I wish him the best.
I worked with Peter at WJMK when he was a salesman there. Nice guy. I wish him the best.
Monday, March 02, 2015
Guy Bauer
This month I spoke with former Brandmeier producer Guy Bauer--who is now a successful video entrepeneur.
Read it here.
My New Favorite Show
John Oliver's show on HBO is fantastic. Every week he spends about half of it delving into one topic. This week it was infrastructure.
WSHE
Robert Feder has the details.
KSHE, by the way, is a legendary rock and roll station in St. Louis that doesn't target women at all.
Happy Pulaski Day!
His EVERY CUB EVER entry is listed below…
~Moe Drabowsky 1935 (Cubs 1956-1960)
Moe was born in Poland, and was a hot young gun pitcher for the Cubs in the late 50s. His best season with the Cubs was probably 1957, when he won 13 games as a 22-year-old for a very bad Cubs team. He never lived up to that in the proceeding years, so the Cubs eventually gave up on him. He later pitched for the Braves, Athletics, and Reds in the early 60s, but really found a home in Baltimore. Moe became a key part of the bullpen for two World Series champions Orioles teams in 1966 and 1970. He beat Don Drysdale to win Game 1 of the 1966 World Series. Moe ended up pitching 17 years in the big leagues.
The other 4 Polish-born players were Elmo Valo (who played 20 seasons in the big leagues, mostly with the A’s), Nap Kloza who played for the Browns, and Henry Peploski and Johnny Reder, who both played one season in Boston.
More O'Reilly Truth Stretching
Nothing will happen to him at Fox News, of course, but he's getting very ticked off at the "hatchet job" of the mainstream media. Unfortunately for Bill, these are all pretty easily disprovable things that he said. He's starting to sound like Bill "depends on the definition of is" Clinton when he tries to explain them.
When you live by the hatchet (is there anyone who hatchets people more regularly? he calls people pinheads nightly), you are bound to be wounded by the hatchet yourself. Luckily for Bill, he makes a ton of money for the network, and that's the only thing his bosses care about.
Every Cub Ever (H)
What will you find there? Four Hall of Famers, 25 classic baseball cards, 12 videos, seven classic audio clips, five celebrity fans, two broadcasters, four executives, two managers, a scribe, three members of the Hairston family, seven Cubs named Hughes, four 1969 Cubs and two 1908 Cubs, two that were banned from baseball, a father/son team, three no-hitters, the rooftop homerer, the villain from the movie “42″, the pitcher who sustained the most embarrassing injury, another pitcher who was acquired just to destroy him, plus Shanty, Egyptian & Bubbles.
Check it out here.
Green White Schlachtfest
Green White staged our annual Schlachtfest on Saturday night (February 28th), and a great time was had by one and all. The Johnny Wagner band provided the music, and the club provided the festival of meat--including the famous Zimmer Hungarian sausages. A big crowd (over 300) showed up for the event, including our many longtime members, plus a large contigent of players from the first team, over 30s and over 40 teams, and quite a few members from our youth division.
We gave out a number of awards, including the First Team MVP (Monroe Bell Jr.) and the over-40 MVP (Barnacus Hernandez), and a we recognized club senior VP Jon Duddles for his dedication and service to the club. Jon is the man who runs our Steve Zimmer Memorial Tournament every summer.
It's also become a Schlachtfest tradition to crown Miss Green White, and Miss Green White 2015 is Elayna Mork (granddaughter of longtime member Fritz Spiess). Elayna gave an eloquent speech about what the club means to her and her family.
I used to dread doing these events--I'm not a big fan of speaking in public (despite my radio background) But as I'm getting older, I enjoy it more and more. And I enjoy seeing old friends and eating some incredibly delicious German food.
Thanks Green White for asking me
RIP Minnie Minoso
Minnie Minoso was one of the all-time greatest Chicago White Sox players. He set a major league record in 1980 when Bill Veeck brought him back for two at-bats, allowing him to have played in the major leagues in 5 different decades (40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s). He passed away yesterday in Chicago at the age of 92.Sad news about Minnie Minoso over the weekend. Everyone in Chicago loved Minnie. I met him many times over the years. He lived in Chicago, and every time I called him up and asked him to appear at one of the John Landecker Show's live broadcasts, he happily agreed. He would show up with a pile of promo pictures and patiently autograph them for anyone who wanted one. He was a heck of a guy.
Now if you've ever heard Minnie speak, you know that his English was very shaky--even after living here for more than fifty years. (He was supposedly one of the inspirations for the SNL character who always said "Baseball has been berry berry good to me.") So why would we have someone who could barely speak the language on our radio program? Well, the event we invited him to every year was our annual Mini-Golf fund raiser. We invited several local celebrities to participate, but Minnie was always our star attraction. Bob Sirott from "Fox Thing in the Morning" always sent over a TV crew to simulcast Minnie's portion of our show. Why? Same joke every year.
Bob: Is that Minnie Minoso there, John?
John: Let me ask him. What's your name?
Minnie: Minnie Minoso.
John: What are you playing?
Minnie: Mini-Golf.
Here's a picture from our first tournament. Standing from left: John Landecker, White Sox organist Nancy Faust, Santa Claus, WJMK afternoon man Scott Miller, Sidekick Vicki Truax and her daughter Teddi, Barry Newman (singer from the Crests), Radio hall of famer Larry Lujack, Carl Giamarese (singer from the Buckinghams), Minnie Minoso, Late sportscaster Tim Weigel, Ronnie Rice (singer from the New Colony Six), Elvis, and Ronald McDonald (This was a benefit for Ronald McDonald House). Kneeling in front holding the sign: Rick Kaempfer & WJMK Promotions Director Michelle Dirks.I'm not qualified to render an opinion about whether or not Minoso belongs in the baseball Hall of Fame, but I will say this...
Minnie was berry berry good to me.
Friday, February 27, 2015
RIP Leonard Nimoy
Mr. Spock has passed away at the age of 83.
He was a great Mr. Spock, but he also hammered out love between his brothers and his sisters, all over this land. RIP, Leonard Nimoy.
He was a great Mr. Spock, but he also hammered out love between his brothers and his sisters, all over this land. RIP, Leonard Nimoy.
Every Cub Ever (G)
What will you find there? Five Hall of Famers, 14 videos, 24 classic baseball cards, four celebrity fans, two classic audio clips, two managers, a song, an executive, a psychologist, six Gonzalezes, four Griffiths, the first Latin Cub, the father of the curveball, plus Peaches, Patcheye, and Piano Legs.
Check it out here.
Net Neutrality
The FCC Passed Net Neutrality yesterday and I've been reading some dissents that bear no relationship to the actual truth. If you want it explained to you, John Oliver did the best job of it, back when the FCC was thinking of buckling to cable company demands...
And this is Tom Taylor's take on the decision, via his NOW Newsletter...
That last quote sums it up perfectly. Everything else you hear is noise. Don't be fooled into agreeing with the people who clearly don't have your best interests at heart. There's no agenda behind this decision, but there's a big time (and big money) agenda behind it's opposition.
And this is Tom Taylor's take on the decision, via his NOW Newsletter...
“Unfettered access to any lawful content.” That’s FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, who also says “This is no more a plan to regulate the Internet than the First Amendment is a plan to regulate free speech.” Wheeler and the two Republican Commissioners were cordial at yesterday’s snow-delayed meeting – but they couldn’t be further apart, philosophically. Ajit Pai says the 3-2 “open Internet” vote has “awakened a sleeping giant.” He says whether it’s struck down by a federal court or a future (Republican-controlled) FCC, “I do believe its days are numbered.” Michael O’Rielly huffed about the agency’s “attempts to usurp the authority of Congress.” But in the post-meeting Q&A with reporters, Wheeler predicts that “It will be hard for [opponents] to get a stay” of the rule in court. Wheeler says he’s got just three bright-line tests – “no blocking, no throttling, no prioritized fast lane.” He says the big guys like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and TimeWarner Cable “have all said we didn’t intend to” do any of that stuff, anyhow. Another way to say what the FCC says it’s doing – big ISPs “may not impair or degrade service, or may not favor some Internet traffic over other Internet traffic in exchange for consideration.” Among the witnesses introduced by Chairman Wheeler was Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson, who says 88% of the mostly home-based craft-workers who sell with his Brooklyn-based site are women who shouldn’t have to pay extra to gain faster access. Another supporting witness, via video from Europe, was no less than Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web. To Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, “we cannot have a two-tiered Internet with fast lanes that speed the traffic of the privileged, and leave the rest of us lagging behind.”
That last quote sums it up perfectly. Everything else you hear is noise. Don't be fooled into agreeing with the people who clearly don't have your best interests at heart. There's no agenda behind this decision, but there's a big time (and big money) agenda behind it's opposition.
Johnny B signs a deal with Westwood One
This is obviously why he turned down that job offer at WJMK.
Brandmeier will be the new midday guy at WLS Radio, replacing John Kass and Lauren Cohn, but he'll also be syndicated in several markets. Here's that part of the story, via Radio Insight...
He's replacing Dennis Miller for Westwood One. Miller has decided to give up radio
Congrats to Johnny. He did well in this timeslot at WCKG about a decade ago. As Mark Twain once said--the rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. Robert Feder posted this e-mail Johnny sent to his fans...
And the RAMP newsletter has the word from Dennis Miller...
Brandmeier will be the new midday guy at WLS Radio, replacing John Kass and Lauren Cohn, but he'll also be syndicated in several markets. Here's that part of the story, via Radio Insight...
To be based at Chicago’s 890 WLS where it will air live, the show will also air on 790 KABC Los Angeles, 570 KLIF Dallas, 860 KKAT Salt Lake City, 790 WPRV Providence, and 1050 KTBL Albuquerque at launch.
He's replacing Dennis Miller for Westwood One. Miller has decided to give up radio
Congrats to Johnny. He did well in this timeslot at WCKG about a decade ago. As Mark Twain once said--the rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. Robert Feder posted this e-mail Johnny sent to his fans...
“WHAT did I say?!” Nothing is over until we decide it is.
We’ve got some news for you about our new radio homes. Yes, homes – it’s plural.
It’s been a crazy few months, trying to figure out the next move. There were options we were seriously considering, but life (or Baby Jesus and Hanky) had another plan:
We’re still “living in the future” – we’ll be expanding our digital platforms and the show will be available online – stay tuned for more details about where to stream, download podcasts, etc. closer to the launch.
THANK YOU all for your patience.
And the RAMP newsletter has the word from Dennis Miller...
Westwood One confirmed that Brandmeier's new show will replace The Dennis Miller Show. "I'm stepping aside from radio at the moment," Miller remarked. "It's been a great run and I've had a phenomenal time interacting with my guests and audience. But with so many other commitments right now, it's hard to maintain a daily talk show. It's time to pass the torch as I move on to explore other opportunities. I wish Johnny B lots of luck."
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Ask the Historian
I learned a few new things about baseball history.
Every Cub Ever (F)
What will you find there? Two Hall of Famers, six videos, seven classic baseball cards, two managers, two celebrity fans, two classic audio clips, a Cubs broadcaster, a Cubs scribe, a player/author, a 1908 Cub, the 1918 World Series goat, the first Mexican born big leaguer, the most famous usher ever, three Foxes, Death to Flying Things, a musician, a song, a Cub who kept a pet Cub, and a live toad swallower.
Check it out here.
Jon Stewart Fights Back
Here's the Vine video he mentions if you want to look at it a little more closely. Click on it to pause it.
Johnny B Turns Down WJMK
There's a lot not written in that piece for those of you who like to read the tea leaves. Sounds to me like the money offer wasn't sufficient, but that's just a complete guess. After listening to the people filling in on the Loop, however, I'm hoping he's working on deal to return there instead.
US-99 Wins More Awards
US-99 was named major market country radio station of the year, and Ray Stevens & Lisa Dent were named best major market personalities. More details are here.
Congrats to everyone at US-99. I just interviewed Ray Stevens for a recent column at the Illinois Entertainer, if you're interested in reading more about Ray.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Truffle Hunt
Thanks for your patience Truffle Hunt fans. The book ships today!
Congrats to author Brent Petersen. The book looks fantastic.
Order your copy today.
Worst Day in Chicago Sports History?
UPDATE: He's out 6-10 weeks, and the playoffs start in 7 weeks.
And then the scroll under the game announced that Derrick Rose had ANOTHER knee injury, and will have ANOTHER surgery. He may be finished entirely. (This is starting to feel like Gale Sayers all over again)
Two superstars in one day. Has there been a worse day in Chicago sports history?
Boston's David Stern
Well, meet Kyle Waring of Boston. After this historic snow-filled winter, he is now selling "Boston Snow"...and people are buying it.
Full details here.
Who Will Replace Jon Stewart?
It won't be Jason Jones or Samantha Bee.
They just signed a deal for a TBS series, and they are also leaving the show.
O'Reilly Goes For the Jugular
People can agree or disagree with the basic premise of the article--that O'Reilly embellished. I agree he did, but I don't think it rises to the level that he should lose his job for it.
But one thing is beyond dispute: Bill O'Reilly is a dick.
UPDATE: Uh oh. There's a new story about another embellishment this morning. This one is about his Kennedy book.
UPDATE 2: I've gotten several e-mails from people who are upset with me for not demanding an O'Reilly resignation or suspension. I can't really explain why I don't think he deserves it, other than to say, I have never considered him a credible news source anyway. This isn't like Brian Williams--who I really did trust.
Net Neutrality Wins The Day
This fantastic news comes courtesy of some really engaged activists who rallied the troops and let the people in Washington know that a few business giants cannot simply change everything we know about the internet simply because they have the cash. From Tom Taylor's NOW column...
A blitz of 55,000 calls to FCC officials on behalf of Net Neutrality, bypassing the switchboard. That’s unprecedented. Below the water line, there’s been fierce advocacy for Net Neutrality. The New York Times says “in mid-October, the technology activist group Fight for the Future acquired the direct phone numbers of about 30 FCC officials, circumventing the switchboard to send calls directly to policy makers.” We already know about the literally millions of comments filed by members of the public in last Fall’s rule-making. We’ve seen very little upfront from Netflix, Amazon and other big guys. In fact, the Wall Street Journal says that after years of pressing for net neutrality, Google is now “straddling” the issue, and says that “Soon after President Obama announced his support for strong net neutrality rules late last year, Google’s executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told a top White House official the president was making a mistake” – because neutrality’s no longer a priority with Google. It’s now worried about the possibility of new regulations over the Internet. But the Times says “a swarm of small players, from Tumblr to Etsy, BoingBoing to Reddit, has overwhelmed the giants of the tech world.” As Tumblr’s director of social impact and public policy Liba Rubenstein says, “We don’t have an army of lobbyists to deploy…what we do have is access to an incredibly engaged, incredibly passionate user base, and we can give folks the tools to respond.” The Times says that “Republicans who had branded Net Neutrality ‘Obamacare for the Internet’ have grown much quieter under the barrage.” Now comes tomorrow’s FCC vote – and it appears Chairman Wheeler will get his way.
Making the case that this is bad for consumers requires a Fred Astaire-quality dance, and people just don't dance that well anymore. Even Ted Cruz sounds ridiculous arguing that this will harm innovation. All it harms is innovative new ways to gouge consumers. Instead they'll just go to court, find a Republican judge that agrees with them, and try to get it all the way to the Supreme Court. The big boys don't believe that rules should ever apply to them.
Making the case that this is bad for consumers requires a Fred Astaire-quality dance, and people just don't dance that well anymore. Even Ted Cruz sounds ridiculous arguing that this will harm innovation. All it harms is innovative new ways to gouge consumers. Instead they'll just go to court, find a Republican judge that agrees with them, and try to get it all the way to the Supreme Court. The big boys don't believe that rules should ever apply to them.
Program Director of the Year
Congratulations to Jeff.
Every Cub Ever (E)
Today we feature EVERY CUB EVER beginning with the letter E. From Don Eaddy to Scott Eyre–45 entries in all.
What will you find there? Four Hall of Famers, six classic baseball cards, two videos, an incredibly memorable audio clip, two managers, an executive, two Cubs scribes and a publishing house, an Evil Eye, plus someone who really lived up to his nicknamed Bad Bill.
Check it out here.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Keith Olbermann Suspended Again
Details are here.
You know, I follow Keith on Twitter and it always amazes me when he stoops to respond to every single person who says bad things about him. He is an immensely talented man, but he's also his own worst enemy.
Michael Keaton Vine
This is a bummer moment for Keaton. It's the moment he puts away his acceptance speech after losing best actor Oscar.
Dancing with the Stars
ABC announced the new lineup for Dancing with the Stars. I've actually heard of four of these people this year. That's a nice change of pace. The pairings are below.
Noah Galloway with Sharna Burgess
Robert Herjavec with Kym Johnson
Patti LaBelle with Artem Chigvintsev
Nastia Liukin with Derek Hough
Riker Lynch with Allison Holker
Charlotte McKinney with Keo Motsepe
RedFoo with Emma Slater
Michael Sam with Peta Murgatroyd
Willow Shields with Mark Ballas
Suzanne Somers with Tony Dovolani
Rumer Willis with Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Basketball Twilight Zone
The most ridiculous basketball game in history.
Drink More Coffee
Fair enough. I think I will.
I have a feeling that medical science will eventually come around on all the staples of my diet. Still waiting on that "Salami saves lives" piece, but mark my words, it's on the horizon.
Every Cub Ever (D)
What will you find there? Four Hall of Famers, eight videos, eight classic audio clips (including a few with some profanity), three broadcasters, two celebrity fans–including one who was shot dead, a song, two brothers, a 1908 Cub, nine Davis’, the one that got away, a homocide detective, a jewel thief, a player who was banned from the game, plus Boots, Cozy, Dizzy, Pickles, and a hell of a mustache.
Check it out here.
Did Bill O'Reilly embellish?
He claimed he had reported from a war zone during his time in Buenos Aires, and a report in Mother Jones magazine says he had exaggered (ala Brian Williams). It all revolves his reports for CBS News at the time. O'Reilly angrily asked that the footage be released to prove his point. CBS News did release it...
WLS Drops Bruce Dumont
Robert Feder has the details.
A few years ago I interviewed Bruce for Chicago Radio Spotlight. At the time he was still running the Radio Hall of Fame. He passed the baton on that project last year.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Every Cub Ever (C)
What will you find there? Three Hall of Famers, 17 videos, 26 classic baseball cards, two Cubs scribes, three Cubs broadcasters, three classic audio clips, three songs, three celebrity fans, six Campbells, five Collins, four Clarkes, three Clarks, a manager, a ballgirl, a father/son team, and the most famous Cubs movie star ever.
Check it out here.
The Morning Shift
If you think of it, tune in to the Morning Shift between 9:00am and 10am. I believe I'm scheduled to be on the air around 9:15 or so, and will be done by 9:45.
I'm excited about reaching a new audience. The NPR audience is notoriously loyal and doesn't tune away to other stations very often.
Late update: Here's the photo taken of me on the air (from outside the windows). Thanks again for having me on WBEZ!
If you want to hear my WBEZ interview from this morning, it's posted on their website now. It begins at the 33 minute mark: Author Rick Kaempfer Proves That Father Knows Nothing
Let it Be
I own every Beatles album in every conceivable format. I've seen virtually every special ever written about them. I have delved into the depths of Beatles trivia to the point that I'm probably more than a little annoying when the subject comes up in conversation.
I've never seen the Beatles perform live, but I have seen Paul about a dozen times now, and Ringo a few times too, and I've also seen at least ten or fifteen different Beatles tribute bands. Most of them are pretty good, but there have been more than a few clunkers along the way.
On Saturday night I took my entire family to see the show "Let it Be" at the Rosemont Theater. Nobody was excited about going. When I announced it was time to leave, I heard a collective groan.
But the performers in "Let it Be" won them over pretty quickly. They were extremly loyal to Beatles authenticity, from their costumes and hair styles to their insistence on each Beatle playing the proper part. When it was a Paul song...Paul sang. When George and Paul did the backup vocals on the record, they did it on the stage. Paul played lefthanded. John's voice was spot on. George was outstanding on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Their ad-libs were even exact replicas of real Beatles ad-libs (which I have to say--did annoy me a bit).
I was really enjoying the show, but then again, I'm easy. That's not the test. When I looked over at my family I noticed that my boys were singing along with every single song. That's the test, and Let it Be passed it with flying colors.
I don't know why I never thought of doing this before. It's the perfect night out for the family. The tickets were reasonably priced, the music was excellent, and we all bonded together as a family. I don't have to tell you how rare of an experience that is with two teenagers living in the house.
If the show comes back again, I recommend checking it out.
The Living Wills
I'm not sure what is causing this, but there's been a recent resurgence in sales for my novel (written with Brendan Sullivan) called "The Living Wills". The reviews on Good Reads have been really nice. Thanks to everyone who is buying it, and thanks to everyone who has posted nice reviews. We really appreciate it.
Gary Kroeger
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