Late Night Trump Jokes

Hard Rock Hotel to Change Name

I worked across the street while they renovated the old Carbide an Carbon building over a decade ago. It was always a beautiful building, but they really refurbished it before re-naming it the Hard Rock Hotel. The process took several years.

Crains reports that the name is being changed again. (There's a great picture at the link of the gold detail they did at the top of the tower)

I hope the new owners don't undo the renovations. It sounds like they might.

Review of Donald Jr.

The New York Post (owned by Rupert Murdoch): Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot

David Brooks Getting Skewered

Twitter exploded yesterday after David Brooks' column came out in the New York Times. Brooks is an old fashioned country club Republican, trying to connect with the Trumpian Republican revolution, and he failed miserably with this bizarre anecdote...

Recently I took a friend with only a high school degree to lunch. Insensitively, I led her into a gourmet sandwich shop. Suddenly I saw her face freeze up as she was confronted with sandwiches named “Padrino” and “Pomodoro” and ingredients like soppressata, capicollo and a striata baguette. I quickly asked her if she wanted to go somewhere else and she anxiously nodded yes and we ate Mexican.

That's the kind of story you tell your golfing buddies at the club while you sip your martinis. "And then, Chauncy, I ate something they referred to as 'enchilada'. I've seen Guadalupe make those for my gardener, and I thought, my word--how does one eat this. My uneducated friend gave me, are you ready for this, she gave me a plastic fork. It was charming. Sometimes it's good for the soul to eat among the uneducated. They have such resourcefulness."

Fox and Friends Apologizes

On Monday they accused James Comey of leaking classified documents. The President retweeted them.

On Tuesday they had to admit they had no evidence of their original report. The President did not tweet that.

Just as an aside, during the 6pm hour last night (central time), the wife and I switched on Fox News to see how they were handling the explosive Donald Trump Jr. story. It wasn't mentioned. It wasn't on the chryon scrolling below. The only thing mentioned was that Trump Jr. would be appearing on Hannity later in the evening.

Seriously.

An all-news station.

Donny & Marie Rock!

Warning: You can't unsee or unhear this.

I went to a different school

This is an op-ed written originally for the Philadelphia Inquirer. It was an angry response to people who made fun of Trump fans who got mad at NPR for tweeting the Declaration of Independence because they thought it was ripping our President.

Not cool, this column says, to make fun of those people for not knowing.

Um, OK. But this is the paragraph that made my head explode...

I’m not saying everyone who voted for Trump did it to “get back” at the schoolyard bullies, the ones who were always telling them they weren’t good enough, tolerant enough, organic enough, multicultural enough, tech-savvy enough, gender-sensitive enough, and so on and so forth to the tenth power of nausea.

Wow, did this writer capture the schoolyard bullies of my youth. I remember they used to chase me down, pin me, and then yell at me for not being organic and multi-cultural enough, and mocked me for not being able to write code, before dangling a wad of spit above my face.

Friggin' bully nerds. I will never forgive their tolerant and intellectual violence.

Colbert is Back

He came back on a good day...

No Different Than Me

Not sure why this made me laugh out loud, but it did...

Baby Loses Train Of Thought https://t.co/VJsVh7TJK3 pic.twitter.com/axeKlhxtSo

— The Onion (@TheOnion) July 11, 2017

James Rodriguez

Rodriguez burst onto the scene during the 2014 World Cup, but has been buried on the bench at Real Madrid.

It looks like Bayern Munich is swooping in to rescue him.

I'm sure the rest of the Bundesliga (the German profesional league) is sighing. Bayern has already won five championships in a row, and 14 of the last 20. This is like adding Ty Cobb to the Babe Ruth Yankees.

Trying to Woo Trump With Food

French President Macron is inviting President Trump to dine with him in the Eiffel Tower's restaurant, in a last-ditch effort to convince him to remain in the Paris climate deal.

A six course taster-menu at the Jules Verne would normally set you back €230 per person. That's before you've tasted some of the 430 wines it boasts in its cellar.

According to Paris Match Trump and Macron and their respected delegations, other halves and special guests will dine on blue lobster and caviar as well numerous other delicacies.

I hope they have ketchup, or this ain't goin' anywhere.

Boris Epshteyn

For those of you wondering what will change when Sinclair Broadcasting officially takes over WGN-TV, meet Boris Epshtyn. He's the nationwide political commentator for the network, and Sinclair forces all of its outlets to run his commentaries NINE times a week.

I'm sure Chicago's audience will cheer his "mix of cheerleading and defensive arguments on behalf of the Trump administration’s agenda"

Fred Savage

I think somewhere in the recesses of my mind I knew that Fred Savage was originally from the North Shore of Chicago.

Didn't know until this morning that he was a Cubs fan.

I like him even more now.

That's the 1945 Cubs logo by the way. I like to mix it up a bit. Have't had many chances to write about the Cubs this year.

Marconi Finalist

Chicago has one finalist for this year's Marconi Awards, and you might be surprised who it is...

MAJOR MARKET PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Valentine in the Morning, KBIG-FM, Los Angeles, CA
Funkmaster Flex, WQHT-FM, New York, NY
Big Boy, KRRL-FM, Los Angeles, CA
Raul Brindis, KLTN-FM, Houston, TX
Omar “Omarcillo” Ramos, WVIX-FM, Chicago, IL

That's Univision's radio property in town. Good for him (and them). If you speak a little Spanish and want to listen, tune in to 93.5/103.1FM. That second frequency used to air heavy metal back in the day.

The New Entercom Crew

Looks like the executives of Entercom will be a mix of both CBS & Entercom folks after the merger. They sent out their list in alphabetical order today.

JD Crowley, EVP of Digital
Mike Dee, President of Sports
Michael Doyle, Regional President and President of Sales Operations
Ruth Gaviria, Chief Marketing Officer
Weezie Kramer, Chief Operating Officer
Chris Oliviero, EVP of Programming
Pat Paxton, President of Programming
Bob Philips, Chief Revenue Officer
Rich Schmaeling, Chief Financial Officer
Andrew Sutor, SVP and General Counsel.

I worked for Weezie when she was the GM at WJMK in Chicago. Always liked her. I interviewed with Chris when he was trying to hire me to produce David Lee Roth's show in New York. Thought he was a little young for that job at the time, but it was over ten years ago. Don't know the others.

Entercom will be taking over WXRT, WJMK, B-96, WBBM-AM, US99, and whatever the call letters for the NewsRadio FM simulcast are.

Sale, Price, Wright

Literally the only https://t.co/AnGe2iUf5h commercial I've sat through & actually rewatched. Sale, Price & Wright. "Who's on First?" Take. pic.twitter.com/FBodE57Bzs

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 10, 2017

Climate Change

On the one hand, some people believe there is no such thing as climate change. I know some of those people. They are ones making jokes when it is cold outside and saying things like "Climate change, my ass. Tell that to this snowball."

On the other hand, some scientists think it could be much worse than previously reported...during the lifetimes of our kids.

This New York Magazine story will keep me up at night. It's called "The Uninhabitable Earth". Nothing to worry about except for: "Famine, economic collapse, and a sun that cooks us"

Media Mogul Meeting

In my book "$everance", I go behind the doors of the annual media mogul meeting to speculate what is taking place. I'll grant you my take is somewhat ridiculous, but it's also based on an actual story I read about Michael Eisner and Rupert Murdoch fighting over who gets the biggest condo. That was reported in a Michael Eisner biography.

After the book came out, I thought it was funny that people just assumed I made up the whole concept of a secret media mogul meeting every year. There's no way the media gets together every year to hold secret meetings is there? I absolutely did not make that up. They do it every year. In fact, they're doing it again this week. The meeting itself isn't secret. Only the content of what takes place behind closed doors. The handful of moguls who control 90% of the nation's media (yes they fit in ONE room) have zero reason to worry about it being covered in the press. They'll fire anyone who does.

They presumably talk about deals, and with a new FCC open to allowing just about anything in terms of media ownership, look for another big merger or purchase to take place. Every new merger or deal will only make a terrible situation even worse, not that anyone seems to care anymore.

Every year this meeting drives me crazy. This year, it has inspired me to write a follow up piece to my book $everance on the eve of its 10th anniversary.

It will be my August Media column in the Illinois Entertainer.

RIP Claude Hall

I had several e-mail exchanges with Mr. Hall over the past decade, but especially when I was working on John Landecker's book. He was always very cordial and inquisitive. Big loss. From this mnrning's RAMP Newsletter...

Our industry has lost another legend -- Claude Hall, the iconic former Radio Editor of Billboard magazine, whose Vox Jox column was required reading for any aspiring radio pro, died at 12:02am on Friday, July 7 at Sunrise Medical Center in Las Vegas after complications from a fall earlier last week. That sad news was delivered by Claude's son Andy, who added, "His family was with him and loved him dearly. He loved his friends, students, and colleagues. He remained proud of radio and music stemming from his days listening to radio as a kid. He sent out his obit by accident in February of 2016... But this time... He has joined the radio waves he so treasured."

Radio legend Joey Reynolds said of Hall, "Claude was my hero and a stranger in the middle of the radio and records revolution, a cultural giant who created the idea of bringing radio people together in a forum commonly known as a convention." He added, "Claude loved radio and was truly a friend to the undiscovered talents or someone who needed a jump start... maybe you were unjustly fired or terribly forgotten, Claude was there with a pat on the back and offered the hope that kept you coming back to the greatest entertainment industry since motion pictures. Radio was king and Claude Hall made you feel like a prince." A memorial luncheon to honor Hall's memory is being planned.

Mitch Michaels in Elmhurst

Mark your calendars for July 23rd. Sounds like a fun panel discussion. Among the people there, newly signed Eckhartz Press author Mitch Michaels. From Robert Feder's column...

“Chicago in the 1970s: Music, Sports and Radio,” a panel discussion inspired by the infamous 1979 radio stunt known as Disco Demolition, will be presented at 2 p.m. July 23 by the Elmhurst History Museum. Moderated by Dave Hoekstra, veteran Chicago journalist and author of Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died, the panel will include: Jeff Schwartz, former general sales manager of WLUP FM 97.9; Mitch Michaels, former program manager of The Loop and longtime Chicago rock jock; Mike Veeck, former White Sox promotions manager; Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune baseball writer; Bob Chicoine, former Comiskey Park vendor at Disco Demolition; and Jim Rittenberg, former general manager of Faces disco club. The program is in conjunction with the Disco Demolition exhibit on display at the museum through October 8. For tickets see: elmhursthistory.org.