Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes

Showtime is producing a limited-run series about the life of Roger Ailes called "The Loudest Voice in the Room". It's based on the Gabriel Sherman bio of the former Fox News boss.

When I heard that Russell Crowe would be playing the lead role, I thought "perfect!"

Crowe can be very creepy, and with his weight gain over the past decade or two, he can really pull it off.
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Monday, June 25, 2018

Richard Reeder

The moment the author receives his first copy of his book is the best part of being a publisher. Congratulations to Richard Reeder. His book is coming out very soon on Eckhartz Press.

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Putting the Youngster to Work

My son Tommy graduated from Columbia College and is doing freelance video editing, including this one he did for the old man...

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Over the weekend the press secretary Sarah Sanders made news when she tweeted that a restaurant in Virginia asked her to leave. This started a firestorm over the weekend in the ("Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen") conservative media world, which once again has a single anecdotal episode to slam 60% of the country. (Look how "mean" the left is!)

I have a few comments about this.

1) The restaurant owner in Virginia is NOT the Left.
2) This was impolite, but NOT babies in cages impolite.
3) When you support Trump, you lose the right to complain about impoliteness. Period. Read a tweet or two.
4) There are consequences to lying to the American people every day.

I wouldn't have done it, and I don't approve of it, but I'm not surprised by it. This is exactly the country you voted for.

Not me.
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Glenn Beck

Not sure what's happening with Glenn Beck, but he had a bit of a hissy fit over the weekend. From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

Glenn Beck walks off a Sunday CNN show. Beck detached his lapel mic after Brian Stelter asked about a Daily Beast report that his “media empire is imploding, again.” Beck talked a bit more, says the Washington Post – then stood up and walked off-camera. That left CNN interviewer Brian Stelter asking “What game did I just play?” The Daily Beast piece centers on Beck’s TheBlaze, which supposedly just “fired another round of staffers.” There were supposedly sale talks with the backers of Ben Shapiro’s “The Daily Wire” website, but the Daily Beast says discussions “broke down and the sale is now effectively dead.” Beck was doing the interview with Stelter from his Dallas-area facility of TheBlaze. Last week Beck – who’s known for dramatic moves – told his Premiere radio show that he’s putting his house in the Dallas suburbs up for sale, because “I fear this economy, as we are headed for trouble, and I don’t want to be sitting with a big huge house.”
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Radio Hall of Fame

Johnny B is in the class of 2018. Several others have Chicago connections, including Jim Kerr (WLS), Mark Levin (WLS), Dr. Laura (WLS), Mike & Mike (ESPN), and the Fabulous Sports Babe (ESPN). From the RAMP Newsletter...

The votes have been tabulated; the results for the 2018 National Radio Hall of Fame's 24 nominations in six categories are in. Four of the categories were decided by a voting panel comprised of nearly 1,000 industry professionals, while the other two categories were voted on by the public.
Listener voting was administered by Votem and overseen by the accounting firm of Miller Kaplan Arase, and they report an unprecedented level of listener participation this year, with over half a million votes cast for the two public voting categories -- Music Format On-Air Personality and Spoken Word Format On-Air Personality. This increase is attributed to the competitive and creative campaigning waged by the nominees.

The inductees by Public Vote:
• Kid Kelly, host of Backtrax USA with Kid Kelly, syndicated by Westwood One; and on-air host and programmer, SiriusXM Hits 1 -- (Music Format On-Air Personality)
• Mark Levin, host of The Mark Levin Show, syndicated by Westwood One -- (Spoken Word Format On-Air Personality)

The inductees by Industry Panel:
• Jonathon Brandmeier, The Jonathon Brandmeier Show, Chicago -- (Active Local/Regional, 10+ years)
• Jim Kerr, host of The Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show, WAXQ (Q104.3)/New York -- (Longstanding Local/Regional, 20+ years)
• Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, Mike & Mike, ESPN Radio -- (Active Network/Syndication, 10+ years)
• Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Dr. Laura, SiriusXM Stars 109 -- Longstanding Network/Syndication, 20+ years

The NRHOF nominating committee also voted to induct four other individuals for their contributions to the industry: Nanci Donnellan , a.k.a. The Fabulous Sports Babe, a pioneering voice in local and national sports-talk radio; Mike Francesa, longtime afternoon host on WFAN-AM/FM (The Fan)/New York; Joan Hamburg , host of The Joan Hamburg Show on WABC/New York, and before that, WOR-AM -- known as New York's "First Lady of Radio," and Fred Jacobs, of Jacobs Media, a creator of the Classic Rock format, as well as a consultant to both commercial and public radio stations.
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I got a little verklempt

No idea why...but this was emotional for me. I think I'm getting soft in my old age.



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Friday, June 22, 2018

CWA Party

This is where I will be tonight...

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The Star Plaza is Being Torn Down

The Northwest Indiana Times has the story. It's a bummer.

I not only attended more than a dozen concerts at the Star Plaza (in Merrillville), I was part of two different groups that performed there. It was a great mid-sized concert hall with good accoustics and good sight lines.

I guess time marches on.
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Roseanne without Roseanne

ABC has decided to bring back Roseanne's show...without Roseanne.

It will be called The Connors, and it will feature all the characters minus the racist one.

Roseanne actually had a very adult response to this: "I agreed to the settlement in order that 200 jobs of beloved cast and crew could be saved, and I wish the best for everyone involved."
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Melania's Jacket

How believable is it that Melania just accidentally wore the jacket saying "I just don't care, do you?" on her back yesterday? She was on the way to visit some of the kids on the border.

Was this really a Marie Antoinette moment?

The BBC offers five possible explanations for this ridiculous moment.
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RIP Charles Krauthammer

I disagreed with him almost all the time, but I always respected his intellectual consistency. He was an eloquent conservative voice. Krauthammer died yesterday at the age of 68.
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Thursday, June 21, 2018

Great Cover

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Seth McFarlane Puts Money Where Mouth Is

From this morning's RAMP Newsletter...

Days after Seth MacFarlane's outrage over Fox News host Tucker Carlson's suggestion that viewers should discount any other media besides Fox News, the creator of Family Guy, American Dad! and The Orville made a $2 million donation to NPR and another $500,000 to KPCC/Pasadena, the top news distribution for NPR content in Southern California. The news was first reported by Deadline.com.

In MacFarlane's tweet last Saturday, he criticized Carlson, whose comments he interpreted as telling viewers, "don't think critically, don't consult multiple news sources, and in general, don't use your brain."

To counter that impression and to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public and strengthen democracy, MacFarlane's sizeable donation is designed specifically to support NPR's Collaborative Journalism Network, which was created to better connect NPR's nearly 1,800 journalists embedded around the world by linking newsrooms within geographical regions to better share resources, cover breaking news more efficiently, collaborate on overall coverage and ramp up investigative reporting, hire and deploy more beat reporters and elevate local and regional stories to the national level, eliminating "news deserts" in certain areas of the country.

Amen, Mr. McFarlane. I applaud your efforts.
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What happens when you ask your girlfriend for text updates of the game

I thought this was pretty darn funny. It has gone viral in England...

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Jerry Springer Signs Off

I honestly didn't know his show was still on the air. Jerry Springer has wrapped up his show. Robert Feder has the details...

There was a time when the end of “The Jerry Springer Show” would have been front-page news in Chicago. But word this week that the syndicated talk show had ceased production after 4,000 episodes and 27 seasons mainly drew shrugs of good riddance. Named the worst TV show all time by TV Guide in 2002, the sleazy slugfest originated for 17 years from Chicago’s NBC Tower before relocating to Connecticut in 2009.

I met Jerry several times while his show was airing in Chicago and found him to be very different off the air. He was thoughtful, intelligent, and very funny. He guested on John Landecker's show a number of times. I always thought he would get back into politics one day. Maybe that day is now.
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The Bidding for Fox

I know I've used this space to hammer home my opposition to further media consolidation many times. I wrote a book ($everance) which showed the absurdities caused by the last big era of consolidation, and I've urged many times since then not to make the same mistake again.

Too late. It's happening again, and once again, it will be very bad for consumers and employees of those media giants.

Right now there is a bidding war going on over 21st Century Fox. Both Comcast and Disney are bidding, and bidding such ridiculous price tags that they will be in debt forever. Comcast bid $65 billion (with a B) last week. Disney is now bidding 71.3 billion (with a B)

You've seen what happens when six companies own all the media in this country. We're about to see what happens when only five companies do.
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Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Free Kicks, Episode 7

EP7: Adam and Rick go over the first week of the incredible World Cup, and preview what’s to come this week.

Listen to it here.
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Minutia Men, Episode 99

EP99: Rick and Dave discuss heads in tailpipes, killing bobcats with grandma’s bare hands, meth morons, Every Cub Ever beginning with the letter L, and Rick’s brush with Tom Cruise.

Listen to it here.
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Rachel Maddow Breaks Down

Rachel Maddow broke down last night reporting the news of the baby camps--and today conservatives are mocking her. That's about as low as it gets.



I see like this guy does...


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Stick To Your Guns

This sickening little piece of information comes from the Washington Post...

There are more than 393 million civilian-owned firearms in the United States, or enough for every man, woman and child to own one and still have 67 million guns left over.

Those numbers come from the latest edition of the global Small Arms Survey, a project of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

The report, which draws on official data, survey data and other measures for 230 countries, finds that global firearm ownership is heavily concentrated in the United States. In 2017, for instance, Americans made up 4 percent of the world's population but owned about 46 percent of the entire global stock of 857 million civilian firearms.

I still love my country, but I don't love this shameful part of it.
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Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Steve & Johnnie

From this morning's Robert Feder column...

Steve King and Johnnie Putman have been tapped to host the inaugural broadcast Wednesday of “WGN Nightside,” the new late-night show on Tribune Broadcasting news/talk WGN 720-AM. Airing from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., it’s the bridge between evening co-hosts Patti Vasquez and Andrea Darlas and overnight host Nick Digilio. King and Putman, who drew top ratings for WGN on overnights for more than 26 years, were inducted in the WGN Walk of Fame in 2015. Could this lead to more for the husband-and-wife team? “If, now and then, the planets align and WGN and the two of us feel like revisiting this kind of occasional slide back inside your radio speaker, it might be fun,” King said. “WGN Nightside” will air on nights without live sports broadcasts.
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Bye Bye Tronc

I love this headline in the New York Post: Tronc finally realizes it has a stupid name.

Now that the genius who named them that is out of the company, they are going back to Tribune Publishing.
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Jeff Zucker's Job Appears Safe

Now that AT&T and Time Warner have officially merged, the new boss of AT&T was asked if any changes were coming to CNN (part of Time Warner).

Here's what he said: "First of all, Jeff [Zucker] needs to continues to do what he does, which is continue to run the organization incredibly well, and that first and foremost will continue and as you know he is here for the ride going forward and I’m really pleased and excited about it. He’s a very talented indivdiual and that will obviously be the first driver."

(Full article is here)

As a veteran of at least five corporate media mergers, all I have to say is, watch your back Jeff Zucker.
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Monday, June 18, 2018

Another Potential Creep Revealed

Et tu, Chris Hardwick?

Are even the nerds going to be implicated in the #Metoo movement.

Sounds like it, courtesy of Variety.
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Lou Manfredini vs. Dean Richards

Robert Feder's column today features internal e-mails from WGN insiders about the big move out of their incredible showcase studio into new digs.

Not sure why everyone was e-mailing each other, but Lou Manfredini let loose with a critique of the on-air product, suggesting they return to less politics and a friendlier, less polarizing approach. Dean Richards responded with a counterargument--suggesting they have no choice but to point out what is going on while the world is burning.

Interesting stuff. Worth a read.

My two cents: Lou is probably correct. I've heard that from many older former die-hard WGN fans, many of whom are Republican. They don't like having the person they voted for in the White House rubbed in their faces. It's impolite.

That said, I don't know how you can report the news these days without pointing out the constant lying and norm-breaking. It seems like that's a pretty big part of the story.
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Germany in the World Cup


So...my pick to win it all lost to Mexico 1-0 yesterday. That's right, the Fatherland let me down on Father's Day.

I'm sure this will come up on this week's episode of Free Kicks. We tape it later this afternoon.
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My Kind of Town

Went down to the lakefront with Bridget and sons 1 & 3 over the weekend just because...sometimes we take for granted what a great city this is.

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Green White U18 Girls

Congratualtions to Green White Soccer Club's U18 Girls team. They went to the regionals of a national tournament (The President's Cup) in Cincinnati representing the state of Illinois, and they won it!

Next stop: The Nationals in Indianapolis!

Very impressive. So proud of these girls. (Not technically my girls--but my club--and I've known all these girls since they were little).

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Saturday, June 16, 2018

RIP Matt "Guitar" Murphy

Bummed to hear the news of his passing. He died over the weekend at the age of 88. I will always remember him for this scene in the Blues Brothers...

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When Cruelty Becomes Impossible to Ignore














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Friday, June 15, 2018

The Loop (sort of) Lives On

From this morning's Tom Taylor NOW column...

Sure enough, Cumulus preserves the “WLUP” calls with a move to one of its Twin Cities FMs, as Friday’s Rumor Mill item suggested. So the “Loop”-identified calls won’t be going to Chicago (at least now), but WRXP Cambridge, Minnesota/105.3. It’s part of the classic hip-hop “Vibe” trimulcast, and Northpine, writing about the WLUP move, says “another Vibe 105 station, WWWM-FM Eden Prairie/105.7, has hosted a callsign parked from the Toledo market since 2016.” The Loop is not entirely MIA for Chicago listeners – Cumulus runs it on the HD2 channel of its LMA’s alternative WKQX/101.1. Cumulus got the intellectual property of the Loop, plus rights to the call letters, out of its pending $18 million purchase of WKQX from Merlin Media.

Seems like a weird move to me. Those heritage call letters belong in Chicago.
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Minutia Men, Episode 98

EP98: Rick and Dave discuss a parking conundrum, a forgotten password, World Cup minutia, the laziest dog ever, a celebrity Cub fan from a bygone era, and Rick’s brush with former Beatle drummer Pete Best.

You can listen to it here.
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Thursday, June 14, 2018

Free Kicks, Episode 6

EP6: Adam and Rick preview World Cup Groups G & H, and give you World Cup picks and viewing tips.

Listen to it here.
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A co-host for Seaver

From this morning's RAMP Newsletter...

Hubbard Classic Rock WDRV (97-1 The Drive)/Chicago welcomes Janda Lane in a new, multi-purpose role -- she will contribute content and information to Steve Seaver's afternoon drive show while also lending assistance to The Drive's programming department, starting Monday, July 9.

Ms. Lane arrives bearing two decades of multimedia experience, including radio stops at WEND/Charlotte; WAVF/Charleston, SC; KNDD/Seattle and 91X/San Diego. She also spent time in Los Angeles working at KCRW and at Soundbreak.com. On the label side, Lane has worked for Sub Pop Records, Rhino Entertainment and Silva Artist Management. Lane also spent nine years as an Executive Producer at Yahoo! Music, and she most recently served as Content Director for Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

This sounds like a PD who is trying to find a spot for a friend. Not sure there's a need for an afternoon co-host.
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World Cup Question

Serious World Cup question. Since USA/Mexico/Canada are hosting in 2026 now, and the host nation gets an automatic bid, does that mean Canada will get a bid too? They have only been in one WC ever (1986).Serious World Cup question. Since USA/Mexico/Canada are hosting in 2026 now, and the host nation gets an automatic bid, does that mean Canada will get a bid too? They have only been in one WC ever (1986).
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Who Will Be Next One?

Looks like Trump is going to have to find someone else to spout his untruths for him. From CBS News...

Two of the most visible members of the Trump administration are planning their departures, the latest sign of upheaval in a White House marked by turmoil.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders and principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah are both heading for the exits, according to sources inside the White House and close to the administration. Sanders, who has become a confidante of President Trump since the departure of former communications director Hope Hicks, has told friends that she plans to leave the administration at the end of the year.
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Steve Dahl Garage Sale

I think I'm actually going to go to this. I've been in his storage locker. He has some very cool stuff. From Robert Feder's column this morning...

Four decades of treasures collected by Steve Dahl will be up for grabs next month. The Chicago radio legend will host “The Steve Dahl Garage Sale” July 14 at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines. “It’s time to cut the storage unit bill and get rid of my collection of crap,” he wrote. “Well, not all crap, there’s actually an array of collectible items, memorabilia, artwork, furniture, and odd and ends that I’ve collected over my 40 years in radio.” All proceeds will be donated to Beds Plus, a charity serving the homeless with housing and supportive services in west suburban Cook County.
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Wednesday, June 13, 2018

2026 World Cup

It's coming back to America! FIFA announced it this morning. It's actually going to be in Canada/Mexico/and the USA, and it won't be in Chicago, but still...Yeah!


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Biondi Movie

Looks like this movie is finally coming out...

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Minneapolis Raccoon

Have you been following the story of the raccoon in Minneapolis/St. Paul that got stuck on a skyscraper? Apparently, he climbed up looking for food, and then couldn't get down. So...he kept climbing up. He eventually made it all the way up to the roof (above the 23rd floor), where he was captured and released into the wild.


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Hannity vs. Hannity


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Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Chicago Radio Ratings

From this morning's Tom Taylor NOW column...

Chicago keeps regional Mexican WOJO (4.2-5.0-4.6) in the top five, even if it can’t retain last month’s all-time best PPM share. Ahead of it - #1 urban AC “V103” WVAZ (iHeart, 6.1-6.1-5.9), news WBBM/WCFS (Entercom, 5.1-4.9-4.9), classic rock “Drive” WDRV (Hubbard, 4.2-4.6-4.8) and sister hot AC “Mix” WTMX (5.1-5.0-4.7). Chris Huff says the 4.8 is “the Drive’s largest share since September 2011.” WVAZ, the big urban AC, is #1 in three dayparts (afternoons, nights and weekend), while the WBBM combo is second in mornings. On the Hubbard signals, “Drive” is #1 middays and Mix is #1 with “Eric in the Morning with Melissa & Whip.” Then comes “Que Buena” WOJO, followed by the best book since August 2014 for Cumulus classic hits WLS-FM (3.5-3.8-4.3). WLS-FM is adding cume for the week, and it now places third in middays. Two stations tie at 3.6 shares (iHeart CHR “Kiss” WKSC, 3.1-3.3-3.6, and Entercom sports/Cubs baseball WSCR, 2.3-3.2-3.6). Close behind are Entercom’s adult alternative WXRT (3.5-3.3-3.5) and Weigel-run easy oldies WRME-LP (a third straight 3.5). Entercom’s new-since-November classic hip-hop/throwbacks “104.3 Jams” WBMX may’ve settled into its niche (4.5-3.5-3.4). It ties with iHeart AC WLIT (3.1-3.3-3.4). Chicago’s country scene is Entercom’s “US 99” WUSN (3.9-3.5-3.3) and iHeart’s “Big” WEBG (1.5-1.8-1.8). Both are seeing less time-spent. Finally, there’s Tribune’s waiting-to-be-sold talk WGN (2.2-2.0-2.2). Its worst daypart is nights, with the White Sox, where it’s tied for twenty-third. CHR “Kiss” pulls Chicagoland’s largest cume, at 1.915 million.

Robert Feder has it all broken down into dayparts. Here are the morning numbers...

1. WTMX 101.9-FM Eric Ferguson 7.7 (7.2)
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM Felicia Middlebrooks and Pat Cassidy 6.9 (7.0)
3. WVAZ 102.7-FM Steve Harvey 5.4 (5.0)
4. WOJO 105.1-FM Raúl Molinar, Carla Medrano and Andrés Maldonado 5.2 (5.5)
5. WDRV 97.1-FM Brian Sherman and Steve Tingle 3.9 (4.3)
6. WKSC 103.5-FM Christopher “Fred” Frederick and Angi Taylor 3.7 (3.6)
7. WLS 94.7-FM Dave Fogel and Kim Berk 3.6 (3.8)
8. WXRT 93.1-FM Lin Brehmer 3.5 (3.6)
9. WLEY 107.9-FM Alberto Terry “El Terrible” Cortez 3.4 (4.0)
10. WSCR 670-AM Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley 3.3 (3.6)

My old pal Bob Stroud is #1 in middays.
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Monday, June 11, 2018

Goodbye Net Neutrality

Starting today, your cable providers will have the power to charge more for faster internet speed. Net Neutrality is officially dead.

Small companies will have a much harder time competing with the big boys. Innovation will be supressed.

As the owner of a small company, I'm wearing black today. It goes well with my red face, caused by years of warning you this could happen.
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Embrace Retirement

Spent Saturday afternoon in Mundelein for the book launch party of "Embrace Retirement" by Russ Fahrner and Bruce Bohrer. What a great turnout! Congrats to Russ & Bruce. They really have something with this project. The point of the book isn't your usual financial planning angle--they write about all the great things you can and should do with your newly discovered free time. I'm not quite there yet, but they've given me some great ideas.

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Whoops


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John Lasseter Leaving Disney

The creative genius behind Pixar (and some of the greatest kids movies of all-time) is stepping down officially at the end of the year. The #Metoo movement exposed him, and his employees at Disney made it known he wasn't wanted back. From Deadline Hollywood...

As recently as last month, sources floated the possibility of Lasseter returning to Disney in a role that would retain his creative input but limit his managerial responsibilities.

But one well-placed source told Deadline there was a gathering sense that the employees didn’t really want Lasseter to return. Some even threatened to quit, according to another person familiar with the matter. Indeed, some in the animation community started a #LoseLasseter campaign on social media and launched a petition on Change.org demanding his ouster.

Sad ending to a great career. Bottom line--nobody is above the law--even in Hollywood.
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Friday, June 08, 2018

RIP Richard Irwin

Probably not a name you knew, but if you've ever searched for old radio clips or airchecks online (like I have many times), you definitely ran into Irwin's website reelradio. Tom Taylor's NOW column has the details...

Richard Irwin, founder/operator of the “ReelRadio” online museum, died yesterday. That’s the news posted on Facebook by Jeff Rothman. He says “For more than 20 years, [the ReelRadio Top 40 Repository] was the first place I looked every Sunday morning for updates.” “Uncle Ricky” had been in poor health and had been posting about recent medical tests and procedures – but it’s sad news for followers of his “Reel Top 40 Radio Repository.” Irwin ran it as a not-for-profit, and had recently said he’d stopped accepting donations and would spend down what was left in the bank. ReelRadio launched in the pre-dawn days of the Internet – February 1996. It claimed to be “the Internet’s largest archive of popular music radio programs...Most have been saved from the era of top 40 radio (1955-1985) and feature favorite stations and disk jockeys.” Irwin said “our virtual museum is user-supported and our website was the first of its kind.” You’d have to say that onetime North Carolina broadcaster Richard Irwin was himself one of a kind – and he genuinely loved radio. A NOW reader who knew him at East Carolina University says “Richard was one of the most talented and enthusiastic people about radio that I ever met. In college, Richard Irwin lived and breathed radio.”
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Safe Inside


"Safe Inside" by Lee Kingsmill (Eckhartz Press) is now also available as an e-book on Amazon.

Get it for your kindle here.
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RIP Anthony Bourdain

This is a shocker. Sad news. Famed chef/television star Anthony Bourdain died last night in Paris. He was 61 years old. The cause of death appears to be suicide.

CNN has the details.

His biggest moment on CNN was probably this one, when he convinced the president of the United States to have food with him in a little dive in Vietnam...



Here are Bourdain's favorite Chicago spots.
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Printers Row Litfest



This weekend is the Printer's Row Litfest, near the UIC campus in Chicago. I won't be able to make it down there because of a few other engagements, but two Eckhartz Press books will be there.

Look for the CWA (Chicago Writers Association) tent, and you will find "The Write City Review" and "Cubsessions" along with some of the authors that contributed to each.

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Thursday, June 07, 2018

What He Said

He'll always be a Chicago Bull to me...


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Free Kicks, Episode 5

The World Cup is coming soon! In this week's episode we break down Groups D, E, & F...Some of the best teams in the world!

Listen to it here.
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Minutia Men, Episode 97

EP97: Rick and Dave discuss deli-counter comedy, whiskey arm pits, Jenkins at the FBI, swings for 20-somethings, Ever Cub Ever roulette, and Rick’s brush with Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones.

Listen to it here.
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Walk Off Grand Slam

Sean and I were there last night for one of all-time games...





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Wednesday, June 06, 2018

WGN Lineup Shuffle

The ratings at WGN haven't been good for some reason lately--they rank #22 in the market, even among their target audience. They say it's not the reason for the lineup shuffle, but it must be part of the reason.

Robert Feder has the details.

The gist of the news is this--Justin Kaufmann's show will no longer be on from 7-10pm. He is being moved to the morning show, to co-host with Steve Cochran. Also, Andrea Darlas is being moved from the morning show into that 7-10pm slot, to co-host with Patti Vasquez.
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Tuesday, June 05, 2018

I, Robot

I still remember the day I bought this album at the Kaufhof in Heidelberg in 1977. Tonight I'm taking my two grown sons (ages 22 & 20) to see it performed live in concert (amongst other APP songs). They love Alan Parsons more than I do. Son #2 just scoffed "You only have 14 Alan Parsons Project songs on your iPod!"



UPDATE: They played the entire "I Robot" album. It was tremendous.

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Like Seeing a Unicorn

An actual Fox News apology...


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Q&A with Todd Manley

WGN Radio moved out of their Tribune Tower digs this week, and into new studios on the other side of the river. The Tribune (who also moved recently) interviewed station manager Todd Manley about the move and the impending ownership by Sinclair.

You can read it here.
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Cubs pick another shortstop

It's funny how many shortstops the Cubs have picked in the first round since Theo & Company arrived. Their theory is these are the best athletes, and if they are also great hitters, they will turn out to be big time players. They did it again yesterday in the first round of the draft. MLB.com explains the pick...

24. Chicago Cubs: SS Nico Hoerner, Stanford University
I'm a little surprised the Cubs passed on a couple of the college arms that were available here, but Hoerner is an offensive-minded middle infielder with a track record of hitting in college. Those are hard to find, and he should continue to hit at the next level, with good power for his position. A lot of scouts see Hoerner more as a second baseman than a shortstop, but he should definitely be able to stay up the middle.
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Mike Mulligan


The June issue of the Illinois Entertainer is out and features my interview the Score's Mike Mulligan.

Read it here.
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Monday, June 04, 2018

Javy Steals Home

This was the winning run of the game. Doesn't get more exciting than this...


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Another Facebook Bombshell

The New York Times has the story, and it's even worse than you thought...

As Facebook sought to become the world’s dominant social media service, it struck agreements allowing phone and other device makers access to vast amounts of its users’ personal information.

Facebook has reached data-sharing partnerships with at least 60 device makers — including Apple, Amazon, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Samsung — over the last decade, starting before Facebook apps were widely available on smartphones, company officials said. The deals allowed Facebook to expand its reach and let device makers offer customers popular features of the social network, such as messaging, “like” buttons and address books.

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