Not sure if anyone remembers, or cares, but now that we're a little over a month into the season, I thought I'd update you on the progress of the season-long baseball bet going on between the Three Stooges (your truly, Jay, and Kevin).
It's a pretty tight race. We weighted the win total category, since the Cubs are picked by just about everyone to rack up more wins than the Phillies and White Sox. We just may not have weighted it enough.
Going off a Vegas gambling site, we had the Cubs slotted for 92 wins, the Phils for 88, and the Sox for 80. Well, Kev's just about caught me in that category (just one game behind heading into this weekend), and he's just seven behind the Sox (making up almost 50% of the deficit within the first six weeks of the year is not a good sign for Jay).
On the flip side, with the injury to Aramis Ramirez, and the slow start for Giovanny Soto, Kev is lagging behind in third place in the RBI category.
Our "goofy" stat is the Sunday winning percentage, and so far, Schramm's Cubs are a perfect 4-0.
That category was my idea.
Excuse me while I bang a baseball bat over my head.
The good thing is, the overall stats are very close for our bet, and it should make for a competitive season.
I'll update you again in a few weeks. Be sure to clear your schedule.
*** Stevie Wonder turns 59 today. He is one of the best -- and one of my favorite -- singers/artists of the past forty-plus years. There's no debate.
While it was tempting to reach deep into the Stevie archive during the birthday segment and bring out "I Wish", or "Living In The City", or the always satisfying "Superstition", I chose to go with one of his softer classics, the glorious "Overjoyed" from 1985.
*** One of the stories we discussed today was one that virtually all of us can relate to, the workplace refridgerator. More specifically, the food that gets left in that fridge, and the problems that arise.
We do a pretty good job here at the station of keeping our fridge pretty clean, and limiting the amount of food that sits in there for more than a few days.
Most of what's in our fridge consists of drinks and condiments, with the occasional lunch -- usually mine that I eat every day.
It's a far cry, thankfully, from the work fridge at the AT&T building in San Jose. There was so much moldy and spoiled food in there that the smell that came from that fridge when it was getting cleaned sent dozens of workers to the hospital.
A hazmat team had to be called out.
Now, there have been times here at the station that a hazmat team certainly could have been called out after some excursions in the bathroom, but never for anything in the fridge.
*** Adam Clayton of U2 is having a birthday today, so for the 80's Escape we played one of U2's hits, "New Year's Day".
*** Steve Winwood turned 61 on Tuesday. Always liked his stuff, whether it was with Traffic, Blind Faith, the Yardbirds, or his solo work.
I mentioned that he recently toured with Eric Clapton -- the two played together in the group Blind Faith -- and the 80's Escape song from Tuesday was Winwood's "Split Decision" from 1986.
The version below is with Clapton on guitar during their tour together from last year.
The studio version of the song features Joe Walsh on guitar, who also co-wrote the song.
There's still time to get on the bandwagon, folks.
Could things get much better for the Chicago Blackhawks this season? A young team, getting better day by day, their longtime play-by-play announcer, Pat Foley, back in the booth where he belongs (although, in a sad twist, wouldn't be behind the mic in the Cup Finals, if they get that far), all games on television for the first time ever, over 22,000 fans in the seats, and in the standing room sections, pushing overall season attendance to over one million, and a berth in the conference finals!
It's been an amazing transformation, and a long time coming. Back in the 60's and 70's, when Bobby Hull, Stan Makita, and Tony Esposito were stars for the team, the Blackhawks were the hottest ticket in town.
There was a brief resurgence in the mid 80's, when Denis Savard helped the 'Hawks to a couple of Conference Finals appearances.
For a time in the early 90's, the Blackhawks also enjoyed a handful of years where they were legitimate contenders for the Stanley Cup, reaching the finals once, but getting swept by Pittsburgh (I was in attendance for the final game. A sad night, for sure, but, man, I got the chance to watch a team skate around with the Stanley Cup. Even though it was the opponent, it was an awesome moment for a hockey fan like me).
When players were allowed to leave via free agency without getting paid what they deserved from "Dollar" Bill Wirtz, the team started to struggle, fans found other ways to entertain themselves, and the Blackhawks became an afterthought.
Then, Wirtz passed away, and everything turned around. Son, Rocky Wirtz took over operations, hiring John McDonough from the Cubs as President of the team. He brought back Pat Foley, all games were televised, and -- most importantly -- the team on the ice continued to improve, becoming contenders at just the right time.
Will the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup this year? Who knows? They may get swept in the next round. But, there's no denying that the future looks as bright for this team as it has in a very long time.
*** One of the most underrated singers of the classic rock era, Eric Burdon, is celebrating a birthday today.
Even though we don't play as many 60's and early 70's songs as we used to on WJDK, there was no way I was passing up a chance to bring you some Eric Burdon vocals, so during the birthday segment we brought out a little "Spill The Wine".
*** During the 80's Escape, I played one of those obscure songs that, for some reason, has stayed in my head for over 20 years.
Back in 1987, the immortal Jon Astley had a song called "Jane's Getting Serious" that reached #77 on the Billboard Chart. Not exactly a scorching success, but, it did chart.
My friend Brian and I would constantly sing the chorus line at school, in the proper mocking tone, which is something we did -- and still do -- with virtually all worthy pop culture references.
"...Jane's getting serious...Jaaaaannne"
It's just one of those silly, random things that sticks with me, and after today, maybe it is sticking with you as well.
For what it's worth, Jon Astley has had a pretty impressive career as a music producer, helping produce, or at least master albums for The Who, Eric Clapton, Deborah Harry, Abba, George Harrison, Tori Amos, The Rolling Stones, Tears For Fears, Led Zeppelin, Level 42, Toto, Norah Jones, KT Tunstall, Van Morrison, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Bono.
Not too shabby. Sounds like Jon's been gettin' serious. Jooonnnnnnnn.
On the show this morning, Jay and I recounted the events of Sunday's Amazing Race episode, when Jen and Keisha finished in last place due in large part to Jen's inability to control her bladder.
As they were racing to the finish line, Jen -- who had gulped down several bottles of water to help get her through a difficult eating challenge -- couldn't hold it anymore, and had to stop at a restroom to relive herself.
That allowed the cheerleaders to sneak ahead of them, and finish in third place, sending Jen and Keisha home.
I referenced a marathon runner who displayed much more determination, bravado, and fearlessness when he faced a similar situation while racing recently. And, this was much more than just a simple need to relieve the bladder.
Yes, this racer was faced with a more colon-related matter. A fecal matter, if you will.
However, there was no way this racer was going to let that get in his way. Either that, or he just couldn't get to the port-a-potty on time.
One of my favorite sitcoms of all time, Scrubs, signed off last night -- most likely for good.
There's a chance it will come back next year with a few of the cast members gone, including star Zach Braff, but, even though I'd welcome the chance to get a few more laughs from future episodes, considering how strong last night's finale was, I think the best plan would be for it to go away for good.
There are a large amount of great montages and clips at Youtube, and I'll just leave it up to you to dig up some of your favorites, or some clips you haven't seen in awhile from the show's past.
On today's show I played the song "Book Of Love" (the Peter Gabriel version) that played over the final scene as J.D. pondered his future outside of the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.
While the song is strong enough on its own, seeing it in the context of what was happening on the show adds the proper amount of depth.
As you can see by the wide smile on my daughter Megan's face, she was absolutely thrilled to meet Drake Bell, the star of Nickelodeon's now defunct hit show Drake and Josh.
Drake and his band were at the Rialto Square Theatre for a concert Saturday night.
Thanks to some connections here at the station, I was able to round up an interview with Drake the day before the show. When the interview was over, I started to ask Drake if he would do me a favor. He must have already known what I was about to ask, because he interrupted me mid-sentence and said, "do you want me to record a message for your daughters?"
He must get that a lot.
As of Friday, one day before the show, I had kept the fact that Megan and I were going to the concert a secret from her. I was holding out hope that I could get Drake to help out with my favor in the hopes of really giving Megan a thrill.
I had Drake record a message to Megan basically inviting her and myself to the Saturday show. I told Drake that we had seen him perform at the Illinois State Fair in 2007, which he included in his message, and that he was hoping to see her at the show.
After recording Drake's message, I called home and had my wife let the machine pick up. Then, I played back the audio as if Drake was personally calling our house.
After picking Megan up from school, my wife and I told her there was a special message waiting for her on the phone. We rolled some video, and captured her surprised reaction to the Drake Bell "phone call".
I'd post the video, but computer speakers all across the region would probably be destroyed by the piercing scream of joy that she let out about three seconds after the message was finished.
After she asked a few obvious questions, we let her in on how he actually got around to "calling" her, and she was fine with the reveal, and still in the same amount of shock and awe.
As we prepared for the Saturday show, Megan wanted to make a poster for Drake saying that she was the "Megan" that he left the message for. A simple "Hi Drake, I'm Megan" was designed late Saturday afternoon, complete with hearts above the i's, and a big I "heart" U at the bottom.
Then, I called the box office to ask if posters could be brought to the show. A simple "No" was the response, and that was that. Of course, once we got to the show, we noticed several fans with posters, that were allowed inside. No matter. What happened later made up for it.
We had also read something about no cameras being allowed, so, foolishly, we left our digital camera at home. Then we got to the Rialto, and noticed everybody walking in with a camera, no questions asked. Then I saw a sign on the door saying that Drake would be signing autographs after the show, and that no one would be turned away.
Fortunately, we were there early enough, and we live close enough that I was able to call my wife and convince her to bring the camera to the Rialto for us to use during the night. I couldn't let this opportunity pass.
And, if we were to get to say a quick "Hi" to Drake in the autograph line, the need for the poster was gone now.
The show was good, a real solid set of fun, upbeat songs, and the appropriate amount of squeals from the primarily young female audience.
Afterward, Megan and I met up with a classmate and her dad, and we waited in the autograph line. Since we stayed for all of the songs, unlike others that preferred a better spot in line, we were at the back of the pack of autograph seekers. It was worth it, though.
As we got closer, Megan grew more and more excited. I had purchased a Drake Bell poster for her before the show, and that was what we handed over for Drake to sign. As we got to him, I told him that I was the one who interviewed him the day before, and he smiled and shook my hand. I then introduced him to Megan, the subject of his message. He smiled, shook her hand, and asked if she got his message.
Megan looked at him with a wide-eyed grin and shook her head yes. Speechless, but at least not totally unresponsive.
He kindly allowed us to take his picture with Megan, and it capped off a great two days of fun for my daughter. And me.
Yep, I'm a fan. As I mentioned in the interview, I always thought he was funny, from watching him portray the Tony Soprano-esque "Tony Pajamas" on the old Amanda Show, all the way through his time on Drake and Josh.
Plus, his music is very adult-friendly as well. His main influence is the Beatles, so it doesn't take long to follow along with his music, and find some common ground. He's talented, and watching him work the fans in his autograph line, he seems to get it, which I respect.
He went out of his way, even if just for a few seconds, and gave my daughter a couple of memories that she'll always have, and a few days she'll never forget.
*** On this Cinco De Mayo, we went with a Mexican flavor with both of our musical tie-ins today, and with our drink choice from Brewed Awakenings in Morris.
The artist of choice, Santana. The drink of choice, the South Of The Boarder Mocha, featuring Mexican chocolate.
"Evil Ways" was the chosen song at 6:50a.
*** One of my favorite Santana songs from the 80's was featured on the 80's Escape.
"Winning" was the choice, and the video below shows Carlos Santana in a snazzy red scarf.
Always love the videos of a full band lip-syncing and pretending to be playing their instruments.
I'd love to hear the real audio of the shoot. You know the drummer has to actually be playing his kit, because it would be too easy to notice if he wasn't even hitting the skins.
The guitars might not even be plugged in, or turned on, who knows. The actual audio from these video shoots must be a hoot.
Love the singer, too. He looks like a cross between Andy Gibb and Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) from Die Hard.
At the end of the week, we'll give away an Ultimate Spa Experience from Shantel's.
Be listening for the montage of mom lyrics to play. When you hear it, be one of the first three callers at 815-941-9570 to qualify a mom in your life for the prize.
*** We also started giving away some prizes from Brewed Awakenings in Morris.
Be listening all week for the chance to win a coupon good for five free Espresso drinks from Brewed Awakenings.
By the way, I highly recommend the drink I had this morning, The Boss. It's a signature mocha, with espresso, steamed milk, mocha, and butterscotch flavor.
*** For the 80's Escape this morning, we went back to 1987 for the Genesis hit, "Land Of Confusion".
We're hoping to have an interview with Drake Bell, star of the Drake and Josh show on Nickelodeon, that will air on the Saturday morning show between 6:00 and 9:00.
UPDATE: I did the interview Friday afternoon, and it will air Saturday, May 2nd, at 8:15am.
Bell is appearing in concert at the Rialto Square Theatre Saturday night, May 2nd.
I highly recommend it.
In the summer of 2007, I took my oldest daughter, Megan, to go see Bell, along with Corbin Bleu, at the Illinois State Fair. You can read about that here.
Bell's music is heavily influenced by the likes of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Brian Setzer. His songs, written and performed by Bell and his band, are catchy, upbeat, and very accessible. If you can concentrate on the songs over top of the screaming girls, you'll notice some really good music in there.
We'll be at Saturday night's show, too. Moms and dads, if your kids have seen the commercials for the concert tomorrow, or heard me talking about it, and are bugging you to go, there are still tickets available at the Rialto Box Office.
*** 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".
*** 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.
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.
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.
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.
*** 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.
*** 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.
*** 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.
American History X Anchorman Big Borat Brokeback Mountain Casablanca Citizen Kane Crash Dances With Wolves Do The Right Thing Donnie Brasco Dreamgirls Easy Rider Edward Scissorhands Fargo Fight Club Glory Gone With The Wind Good Will Hunting It's A Wonderful Life Juno Kill Bill (Vol. 1 and 2) L.A. Confidential Lost In Translation Memento Midnight Cowboy Munich Natural Born Killers Network No Country For Old Men Oceans 11, 12, 13 Office Space Planet Of The Apes Raging Bull Scarface Schindler's List Spiderman Taxi Driver The Dark Knight The DaVinci Code The Deer Hunter The Departed The Graduate The Green Mile The Player The Rocky Horror Picture Show The Passion Of The Christ The Shawshank Redemption There Will Be Blood Tin Cup Unforgiven When Harry Met Sally X-Men
Not sure if anyone remembers, or cares, but now that we're a little over a month into the season, I thought I'd update you on the progress of the season-long baseball bet going on between the Three Stooges (your truly, Jay, and Kevin).
