Swine Flu Fever

I guess it's time to start paying attention to this whole swine flu problem.

It's reached the U.S. -- resulting in at least one death so far -- including a possible case in Rogers Park here in Illinois.

That's plenty close enough that it's probably a good idea to start taking some precautions. Just like I have in the above picture.

Hey, I have no idea where that mic has been.

Show Biz: Tuesday 04/28/09

*** One of the members of the group Take That is having a birthday today, so we brought out a hit for the group from the nineties during the birthday segment today.

Everyone remember "Back For Good"?





*** I was in a Steely Dan mood for the 80's Escape, so today we featured the 1981 smash, "Hey 19".

Show Biz: Monday 04/27/09

*** Sheena Easton turns 50 today. I was never much of a fan of hers in the eighties. Her short hair wasn't doing it for me, and "Morning Train" had to be one of the most annoying songs of 1981.

Then I saw her in a Bally's Fitness commercial later in the decade, and, well, let's just say I began to see her in a whole new light. "Sugar Walls" didn't hurt either.

In honor of her birthday, we featured "Strut" on the 80's Escape. Look for a pre-Grammy winning Bruce Hornsby in the video.

Yes We Can

The Chia Obama is finally here.

God Bless America!

It's Susan Boyle's World...

Meet Susan Boyle.

The videos of her singing on Britain's Got Talent -- along with other videos of other songs that she has sung -- are now the most watched viral videos. Ever.

Not bad, considering she only emerged on the scene within the last two weeks.

What caused all of the fuss? Here's the video, in case you're one of the five people that haven't seen her performance yet.

Don't get too used to her look, however. Even though she's only been famous for two weeks, she's already had a makeover.

Why? Her look -- along with a great voice -- is the big story here.

Great singers are a dime a dozen. But to succeed in the music business while looking like Julia Child, now that's a thing.

Idol Thoughts

Well, I almost had it. Thisclose to nailing a Top 5 prediction from a couple of months ago.

In February, I said on this blog that I'd be surprised if a woman made it to the American Idol Top 5 this season. Here's the excerpt:

"After one night of "semi-finals", I feel fairly safe in making the following prediction about this season of American Idol: There is no conceivable way that a woman wins this year.

None.

In fact, I'd be surprised if a woman makes the final five."

On last night's double-elimination episode, Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai were sent packing, leaving Allison Iraheta as the lone female in the final five.

My original prediction came after the first night of performances from the top 36. Here are some other gems from that February post:

"After last night, I'm pretty confident that Danny Gokey (above) will be in the top 3, and could easily win the whole thing..."

"...I think Anoop gets pretty far as well..."

"...Also, watch out for this guy. Adam Lambert is his name, and he has a voice that will not only shatter your windows, but it will proceed to levitate the broken shards of glass and whip them at your face.

He's a real threat."

Not bad, huh?

Of course, I also thought Scott Macintyre -- the blind guy, or, TBG as I referred to him in the February post -- was going to win the whole thing, so there's that, too.

I still think it's between Gokey and Lambert, but the two guys that might have the brightest future after this show are Kris Allen and Matt Giraud.

I don't think anyone would have predicted that. Especially about Allen.

Brewed Awakenings

The highlight of the week so far has been the different drinks we've received each morning from Todd and the rest of the folks over at Brewed Awakenings, the new coffee shop in Morris.

On Monday, they sent over a couple of Caramel Machiatos, which have espresso, steamed milk, and caramel. Mighty tasty

Tuesday, two different lattes were brought to us: The Black Squirrel -- espresso, steamed milk, and toasted hazelnut flavor -- and The Climate -- espresso, steamed milk, and rich, thick caramel. Both were superb.

Today, we got to try their fresh brewed coffee, which has a nice, robust flavor. Strong, but not overpowering. Solid.

We also got to try one of their blended espressos, the Warrior Granita. It's espresso, white chocolate, and raspberry. I'm not a big raspberry fan, but this was very good. The raspberry doesn't dominate the drink like I thought it would.

With the cold drinks, I like the fact that you can let it sit for awhile, and it stays the same. I sipped at it for a couple of hours, and it tasted the same at the end as it did at the beginning. With a hot drink, you feel like you have to zip through it before it gets lukewarm.

Although, maybe the trick would be to let it sit so long that it gets cold, just like an iced drink.

Maybe I'm thinking about this too much.

Anyway, we hope you've enjoyed the discussions Jay and I have had about these drinks about half as much as we've enjoyed the drinks themselves. And, while you're out and about today, stop by Brewed Awakenings on Route 47 in Morris, next to the Subway -- where the old Dunkin Donuts location used to be.

Just don't have too many at once.

Show Biz: Monday 04/20/09

*** Luther Vandross was born on this date, so during the birthday segment, we brought out one of Luther's hits from the 80's, "Stop To Love".

Just click the link for the video. It's a BMG tune, and they don't allowing embedding video clips on blogs and such. Yep, even I don't have that kind of pull.

Shocking.

It's worth it, though. Luther's rocking out while riding in a car. I think he's in a car. He's standing up while his vehicle is moving, which is all I really need to be entertained.



*** Happy 4/20 to those counterculturists out there. You know who you are.

Unless you've forgotten.

Probably no coincidence that Family Guy featured the song they did in last night's episode, which, by the way, was hilarious.





*** Anyone see Breaking Bad last night? It's emerging as one of my favorite shows.

Dark. Very dark.

As for the episode last night, all I'll say is, you'll never look at a turtle the same way again.

Show Biz: Friday 04/17/09

*** The birthday segment today featured a song that has to rank in the top five all-time television themes. Composer Jan Hammer is celebrating his 61st birthday today, and his theme song for Miami Vice is one of my favorites.

It's rare that a theme song to a show hits the charts. It's even rarer for that song -- an instrumental, too -- to go to number one, but it did back in 1985.

In fact, it's the last instrumental song to reach number one.

Cool show -- for back then, at least -- and a very cool theme.

I can remember waking up on weekend mornings, grabbing my walkman and tuning to whatever Top 40 countdown show was on, just so I could hear that song. Bought the 45, too.

Last month, I wrote about how it's not all that cool to play the keyboards -- I know, I play them -- and that no matter what you try, it just doesn't ever appear to be all that cool. Not compared to playing guitar, at least.

Hammer tried to merge the two, by playing a guitar style keyboard.

Nope. That didn't work either.





*** The Spring Buyer's Guide trivia contest has started. If you have a guide, hang on to it. All next week I'll be asking you questions, and the answers are in the guide.

When you call, make sure you have the answer, and the page number you found it on.

Show Biz: Thursday 04/16/09

*** The birthday segment today featured Dave Pirner, singer with Soul Asylum. That gave us a chance to bring you their biggest hit, "Runaway Train".





*** Peter Garrett is having a birthday today as well. Garrett is the front man for the Australian rock group Midnight Oil.

Their biggest hit was the feature song on today's 80's Escape: "Beds Are Burning."

Garrett is one of the most interesting vocalists that I can recall. It's hard to understand his lyrics when he sings. So much so, that the accompanying video below has captions, so you can tell what he's saying.

He's fun to watch, too. The shaved head, the awkward dancing. Was he an original member of Blue Man group?

Wouldn't surprise me.

200th Post

Welcome to the 200th post on the blog!

200 posts - no lawsuits.

Win!

Show Biz: Monday 04/13/09

*** Some musical videos for you from Monday's show.

Al Green had a birthday today, so we brought you a little Al Green from 1972 with "I'm Still In Love With You"





*** I really need to find a new website to provide me the celebrity birthday information I use each day.

Today I was reading through the names on the air, and mentioned Jonathan Brandis turned 33 today.

His name sounded familiar, so I mentioned to jay that he was probably a child star on some sitcom in the 80's, and while he did make the occasional guest appearance on Full House, and Who's The Boss, the most logical reason his name sounded familiar to me was that I probably read the story of his death when he committed suicide.

Six years ago.

Egg, meet face.



*** The 80's Escape today allowed us to bring out some Bowie. David, not Sam.

The tune was "China Girl"

Show Biz: Friday 04/10/09

*** Happy Good Friday, everyone. As you may have noticed, the poll question for the next few days centers around my high school garage band, Tempus Fugit.

Several weeks ago, I spoke about how I had been trying to track down our drummer, Pete, because he has all of our cassette tapes.

It had been years since I had heard from him, and I'd been trying -- fruitlessly -- to get in touch with him for a very long time.

Thanks to Facebook, and some mutual friends, I did find him, and after several funny email exchanges, he let me know that he has found the tapes!

He's agreed to send them to me, and I'll transfer them to CD. The question now is, do I play any of them on the air?

Do you have any interest in hearing them? Do I really want to let these tapes see the light of day? I guess that's more than one question.



*** "Babyface" has a birthday today, so during the birthday segment we played a song he helped produce, and perform on with Eric Clapton, "Change The World".





*** The 80's Escape song today had no rhyme or reason to it. Well, it probably had some rhymes, being a song and all.

We featured the self-love anthem from Cyndi Lauper, "She-Bop".

Here's an acoustic version...

Slater Trashes The Trash

Here's Jay's dog, Slater, giving baby Jack a ride that I don't think Jack is too thrilled about.

Slater was the topic of some recent discussion as Jay relayed the story of how Slater ripped through a trash bag in the Capron kitchen, sending whatever garbage he didn't eat all over the kitchen floor a couple of nights ago.

Jay discovered the mess before work Thursday morning.

A combination of the bag not being tied too tight, and Jay neglecting to take the bag out of their place were contributing factors.

Fortunately, Slater didn't suffer any health issues after ingesting plenty of trash items - even those that may have been on doilies ("adjacent to refuse is refuse").

We also learned this morning that all of Jack's diapers get discared in a different place, so Slater never even came close to stumbling upon one of Jack's, um, diamonds in the rough.

Although, considering the dietary habits of some dogs -- at least some of the ones I've had -- maybe Slater is upset about missing out on that potential delicacy.

That's right, I went there.

Good morning, everybody.

The Masters

It's Masters week. As a golf fan, and a sports fan, Masters week is about as good as it gets. Big names, great drama, and one of the finest looking sporting events you'll ever see in HD.

Every year I always check to see where Easter falls on the calendar. My hope is that Easter Sunday is not the same Sunday as the final round of The Masters, because that means I'd probably have to miss at least some of the telecast. We usually have Easter dinner at my in-laws, and they don't turn the television on in the kitchen during that meal. How dare they?

When I looked at the 2009 calendar, I noticed that the Masters would end on Easter Sunday. Blurgh!

However, our plans for Easter Sunday involve eating out in the early afternoon, so I'll be able to get home in time for all of the Sunday fun. As a sports fan -- and an avid watcher of golf tournaments -- there's nothing better than the Masters. Just as much of a tradition is the way it's presented on CBS.

The tournament is so good, and so compelling, that it allows me to look past some of the silly rules that the networks have to follow, like using the term "patrons" instead of "fans".

You won't hear the term "rough" used much, either. It's known as the "1st cut", or "2nd cut".

And, of course, they still won't allow Gary McCord within a handlebar moustache's distance of Magnolia Lane ever since he critiqued the greens at Augusta several years ago, calling them "bikini waxed".

Also, you won't see any of the analysts roaming the course. David Feherty will be in his usual spot at the 15th green, not walking the course as he does at every other CBS event.

Then of course, there is the theme music for The Masters, written by Dave "Please Come To Boston" Loggins, brother of one Kenny Loggins, who penned another classic song associated with golf, "I'm Alright", from Caddyshack.

Here are some clips from previous Masters tournaments, and at the end of the post, a clip of the music that you'll hear throughout the weekend. It's called "Augusta".

Of that song, and of this tournament, I'm a big patron.

Nicklaus wins in 1986




Tiger's chip on 16 in 2005




Davis Love's similar chip in 2002




Larry Mize recalls his winning chip shot in 1987




I tried to find some video of Greg Norman's 1996 meltdown that turned a six shot lead into a six shot defeat, but couldn't.

And, actually I'm glad about that. Outside of seeing a Philadelphia team lose a big game -- which I have way too much history of -- I don't recall ever being as sad or depressed watching a sporting event as I was on that memorable day.

Here's the music that I'd like to bring with me on my iPod every time I tee it up at Nettle Creek this summer.

Show Biz: Wednesday 04/08/09

*** Julian Lennon turns 46 today. He had a few hits in the middle of the 80's, and, I have to admit, I was a fan.

I was only nine years old when John Lennon was shot, but I was old enough to be a fan of his, and of the Beatles. And, as odd as it sounds, when Julian cranked out a few hits a couple of years later, it was almost as if John was still recording.

Granted, the quality of the songs wasn't on par with what John could have come up with, but Julian -- to me at least -- sounded just like John.

One of the songs that was a hit for Julian came in 1985, and it was our birthday tie-in song today, "Stick Around".





*** There was quite a buzz last night -- and today -- about Adam Lambert's version of "Mad World" on last night's American Idol.

We've got several clips for you below.

On the 80's Escape today we played the Tears For Fears version (the original). Lambert went more with the Gary Jules' version from 2003, which was used in the Donnie Darko film.

All three versions, plus one more, are below.

Adam Lambert from American Idol



Tears For Fears




Gary Jules




Here's the Jules' audio with a different video -- kids acting out parts of the song, as shot from above. Pretty cool

Show Biz: Tuesday 04/07/09

*** John Oates of Hall and Oates fame turns 60 today. He, and his mustache, were featured twice on our musical segments this morning.

For the birthday tie-in, we chose the 1981 classic, "I Can't Go For That"





*** We featured a great lost tune from the 80's during the 80's Escape.

Remember "Method Of Modern Love"? Once you hear it you will. Spell along with the song...

M-e-t-h-o-d-O-f-L-o-v-e...it's the Method Of Modern Love"





*** Now, about that mustache.

The John Oates' mustache is such an epic 'stache, it is the subject of an animated series.

Since the summer of '08, J-Stache has been in production from the folks at Adult Swim. The 'stache -- voiced by Dave Attell -- is a crime fighting mustache. Uh huh.

Sounds brilliant, but will probably be a dud, if it even makes it to air.

It just goes to show, you can't stop John Oates' mustache, you can only hope to contain it.

Where does Oates' mustache rank with other musician's mustaches?

Oates



The fictional Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap



Freddie Mercury



Lionel Richie



Jim Croce



Or, David Crosby -- who wins for best photo

Show Biz: Monday 04/06/09

*** Woohoo! A member of the group Air Supply is having a birthday today. The drummer, I think.

Did Air Supply even have a drummer?

Who cares?! I'm just glad we had an excuse to get out the lemonade pitcher and enjoy some Air Supply today during the birthday segment.

Trust me, if I find out that a distant cousin who had a neighbor that once met one of Air Supply's roadies at the airport, I'm using it as an excuse to play some Air Supply.

Did they even have roadies?

The tune of choice today: "Here I Am". I'm diggin' the red pants in the video, but it took me awhile to even notice them after being scarred by the sight of Russell Hitchcock's hair in the opening interview clip.






*** For the 80's Escape, I referenced a concert appearance over the weekend featuring a reunion of sorts for Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

The two hadn't been on the stage together in about seven years.

So, we delved into Macca's 80's arsenal, and snagged "No More Lonely Nights"





*** Imagine tooling around from bar to bar in your very own bar stool. Bar-s-tooling around, I guess.

That was the mode of transportation for a dude in Ohio, who built a motorized barstool -- which apparently can travel up to 38 m.p.h. -- however, his joyride came to an end recently with a DUI charge.

Naturally.

This was just one of the fine stories that made today's Police Blotter.

We'll be replaying it at 5:30am on Thursday in case you missed it.

Baseball Bet For 2009

Boy, am I a fortune teller or what?

In yesterday's blog -- which was written several hours before the first pitch of the season -- I mentioned how even though the Phillies (my team) won the World Series last year, and my angst and stress for this season would be subdued because of that title.

However, being a diehard Phillies fan, I knew that even on opening night, at the first sign of problems, I'd be having all of the same negative feelings as always, despite the title from just a few months ago.

Here's what I said...

"...if Brett Myers gives up a 2-run home run in the first inning tonight, I'll be cursing under my breath, rolling my eyes, and filled with frustration...just not as much as in previous years."

Sure enough, Myers gave up a 1st inning two-run home run -- not to mention two more home runs in the 2nd inning (including one to a guy making his major league debut), and my blood pressure was rising just like it always does during baseball season.

Granted, I had a little more riding on last night's game than I normally would.

Schramm, Capron and myself have concocted a series of baseball categories between our three favorite teams (Kevin - Cubs, Jay - White Sox, me - Phillies), that will result in a rather complex baseball bet for the year.

One of the categories - winning percentage on Sunday nights. I'm 0-1.

Here are the categories...

1) Total Wins

Simple enough, but we've weighted it so it balances out. Going off of a Vegas over/under win total, Jay's White Sox get a +12 advantage over Kev's Cubs. I get a +4 edge. With the Cubs favored to win more games than the other two teams, this seemed fair.

2) Sunday Winning Percentage

We were looking for a goofy category that would be fairly equal without having to weight the stats in favor of one team or another, and this was actually my idea. Considering I'm already 0-1, maybe not the best choice, but it is still early.

3) Total Team Saves

It doesn't matter who gets the save, all count the same for each team. The Phillies had more saves than the Cubs and the Sox last year, so I like this category.

4) Combined Home Runs Between 2 Players

We simply tried to grab two guys that had similar combined home run totals from 2008. Here's who we selected...

Cubs - Soto and Soriano (52 in 2008)
Sox - Thome and A. Ramirez (55 in 2008)
Phils - Utley and Werth (57 in 2008)

Again, I have no problems with this one.

5) Combined RBI Between 2 Players

Same premise. Our guys for this year...

Cubs - Soto and A. Ramirez (197 in 2008)
Sox - Quentin and Dye (196 in 2008)
Phils - Howard and Rollins (205 in 2008)

I like it.

At the end of the year, each category will be tabulated with first place getting three points, second getting two, and third getting one.

We'll hit a dinner spot sometime after the season with the loser picking up the tab, and the second place finisher leaving the tip.

I'll keep you updated throughout the season on how things are going.

Unless I'm losing.

Opening Day

There's nothing like opening day of the major league baseball season. Everyone has a shot.

Even the Cubs.

Normally at this time, as a Phillies fan, I'd be heading to the start of the year with equal bits of optimism and negativity. Eager for a season where my team would have a good chance to make the playoffs -- at least, since their recent resurgence of good baseball, for the last decade or so -- but doubtful that they'd get to, or win a world series because Philly teams just don't do that very often.

Of course, that all changed last October.

So, with the 2008 World Series title in the hands of my beloved Phightin Phils, I can head into this 2009 season without as much stress and trepidation as in past years.

Bad losses, individual slumps, prolonged losing streaks will be met with a little bit more of an acceptance, since, after all, we won the world series last year.

Now, don't get me wrong, if Brett Myers gives up a 2-run home run in the first inning tonight, I'll be cursing under my breath, rolling my eyes, and filled with frustration...just not as much as in previous years.

Following a favorite team during the long baseball season is unlike anything else in sports. Of course there are going to be good times and bad times, high points and low points. Thanks to that World Series win, I'm hoping to handle all the valleys a little bit better than previously.

Check back with me in October to see how all of that went.

Enjoy the games.

(If you'd like to read some of my stories surrounding the title chase for my Phillies from 2008 on my other blog, you can check out my feelings after their World Series victory here.

I blogged about the Phillies during the month of October with those entries available here.)

Show Biz: Friday 04/03/09

*** A member of Grand Funk Railroad had a birthday today. I forget who it is, am too lazy at the moment to look it up, and, let's face it, you really don't care who it is, right?

With it being a Flashback Friday, it gave us even more reason to drop a little "We're An American Band" on you during the birthday segment.




*** Apropos of nothing, our 80's Escape tune today was the Annie Lennox and Al Green duet, "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" from the 1989 movie, Scrooged.

Show Biz: Thursday 04/02/09

*** One of the dudes from Maroon 5 is having a birthday today, so we offered up "Sunday Morning" for you at the end of the birthday segment.




*** Jay referenced the catchy little ditty, "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" after I mentioned today was Peanut Butter and Jelly day -- which I inadvertently celebrated by having already packed a PB & J sandwich for lunch -- and here are some of the many videos I found.











*** Keren Woodward of Bananarama turns 48 today. For the 80's Escape, I chose "I Heard A Rumour".




*** I owe you a "Show Biz" entry from yesterday, and as you can imagine, we were jam packed with Mellencamp stuff, including our musical segments.

The birthday tie-in was actually a Mellencamp song, to help sell the idea of him coming to town for a concert. We went with "Lonely Ol' Night"




*** The 80's Escape was "R.O.C.K. In The USA"

April Fool's Over The Years At WJDK

We hope you had fun with our John Mellencamp fake concert gag this morning. I'm surprised each year when, especially our faithful listeners, fall for some of our pranks, considering how many of them we've done.

Which leads to the current web poll question: Which of our previous gags is your favorite? The poll is on the right hand side of the blog.

Through the years I've had quite a bit of fun pulling pranks on the audience, and coworkers as well. Admittedly, after all of these years, the amount of new ideas, and the creative spark needed to come up with new ways to trick everyone, have gone a bit dry. Thus, it's turned into somewhat of a dry bit.

I even tried to use my laziness to my advantage one year by making the fact that I didn't do an April Fool's gag the gag itself. Always thinkin'.

But, Capron injected some new life into the segment with his Favre to the Bears idea last year, and he was the instigator of the Mellencamp thing, too.

Here are a few of my other favorite on-air pranks from years passed, in no particular order:

Dean's Quitting

This was the first gag we pulled, and probably my favorite. Dean Tambling and I hatched the idea a few days before April 1st, took it to our owners Diane and Jeanine, and they loved it. The key was coming up with a scenario that was believable enough so that listeners would buy into it.

We came up with the notion that Dean had received an opportunity to work in Bloomington, which made sense because he had contacts down there and actually worked in that area previously. April Fool's Day was on a Saturday morning, which also was important -- Saturday mornings were the only mornings I was on the air back then (1995).

We talked about Dean leaving and that it was Dean's last day throughout the morning. Many people called in and wished Dean the best.

We let everyone in on it at the end of the show. We even got a nice feature about the gag in the Joliet newspaper.


Mayor Feeney Resigns

This also ranks high simply because of who it involved. Mayor Bob Feeney was a good sport with this prank, and even joked on the air after everything was revealed to be a hoax by saying that he had probably made a few people happy by telling them he was leaving office.

What sold this one was the fact that Dean and I had arranged for there to be a "press conference" where the mayor would make his announcement. We set up our remote broadcast equipment within my studio. The mayor came in to the studio at 8:00am to deliver his "I resign" speech. Listeners had no way to tell that everything was being done right in the 'JDK studio.

The Morris paper, and several other media folks went down to City Hall to cover the press conference. Of course, there was nothing going on there.

After the "announcement", we revealed it to be a hoax fairly quickly. The mayor followed the plan perfectly, and it was at this point that listeners most likely assumed that something would be coming each year on April 1st.


Wind Beneath My Wings

This one was torture for me, hopefully it was for the listeners as well. Another Saturday morning show where the only song I played for three hours was Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler. I kept referencing other songs and artists, but only played Wind.

I took roughly 30 calls from listeners telling me that I was playing the same song over and over, then I would point them to their nearest calendar, prompting them to either laugh, hang up, or ask me "yeah, it's Saturday, so what?"


941-QUIP

One year I promoted a joke telling contest. Callers were to call 941-QUIP and leave a joke on the machine, with the funniest joke winning tickets to a comedy club. The joke was on them, however, as there is no "Q" on a phone, thus, they couldn't dial.


Survey Says?

This one was a prank on a couple of my colleagues. With the help of a member of our sales staff sales staff (the always funny Brad Bentlin), I had him call a couple of our on-air guys (Doug Thompson and Don Neushwander) under the guise of being a survey taker.

Thompson caught on pretty quick, but Neush didn't catch on until after answering such classic questions as "When using the bathroom, do you often read a magazine", and "How much toilet paper do you use during a visit". Again, classic.


There were other gags (announcing that Dan Darlington was coming back to coach at Morris, pretending to do a broadcast at a coffeehouse in town, while the whole time I was sitting in the studio), and we hope we've given you a laugh or two with these each year.

Hopefully you had a good April Fool's Day and didn't get caught in anything too embarrassing.

If you did, hopefully someone caught it on tape.

Mellencamp Tour De Farce

Hey gang, sorry to inform you that the John Mellencamp "Small Town" concert tour is a gag.

It is, of course, April Fool's Day.

We appreciate the calls for "tickets" to the faux show in Morris June 20th, and we really appreciate the good natured reaction from everyone that called.

Lots of laughs, and "good one" comments from the listeners today, and that was exactly what we were hoping for.

As was the case last year with our Brett Favre gag -- which you can read about in the previous post -- we snagged some audio from a previous interview (this time, from Farm Aid 2008) to snare a couple of quotes about small towns, etc.

The "Small Town Tour" is actually a pretty good idea -- does Mellencamp read this thing?

Happy April Fool's Day

Remember our April Fool's gag from 2008?

Jay and I came on the air at the start of the show to tell everyone that Brett Favre was coming out of retirement to play for the Chicago Bears.

What helped sell it was the audio we used of Favre -- pulled from his retirement press conference -- to make it seem like he was coming to Chicago.

"There's no better place to play"

We had to make it seem as though the story had just broke, overnight even, since, obviously, the sports websites and networks wouldn't have any of this info, so we filtered the audio of Favre's comments to make it sound like it was from a phone call. This helped sell the idea that Favre was contacted on the phone, rather than at an official press conference.

We also grabbed some comments from real fans that were talking about Favre -- but not in this context -- to try to make it seem like they had been interviewed very early that morning, "reacting" to Favre coming to the Bears.

We found a clip of one woman saying she wasn't much of a fan of Favre, but liked Brian Urlacher better. Classic.

In case you missed it back then, I've got some audio for you.

Here's where we first make the Favre announcement.

This clip is later in the morning, with more audio cuts.