For years and years athletes have been praising a higher power whenever they have success on the field. Many baseball players will kiss the tips of their fingers and then point to the sky. Many football players thank the Lord in post game interviews for helping them win the game.
I've always thought this was a little strange because does it mean that this higher power hates the other team? If the Dallas Cowboys have a miracle play at the end of the game does this mean God is a Cowboys' fan? Really? He can do better than that.
One NFL player has finally blamed the Lord for his mistake on the field. Steve Johnson dropped a game winning catch for the Buffalo Bills in overtime. If he would have caught the ball, the Bills would have upset Pittsburgh. That really would have been a miracle.  Johnson was so upset after the game he sent this unholy Tweet.
Bravo Mr. Johnson. You're right. How could the Good Lord above let this happen? Well, we here at Jonathan's Jabberings have arranged an interview with The Big Guy to find out why.
Me: Hello Lord. I know you're busy, but thanks for taking a few moments to talk with me.
Lord: Yes, Jonathan. It's my pleasure.
Me: So, God. How could you let Steve Johnson drop that pass? Don't you like him?
Lord: Let's be honest. He plays for the Buffalo Bills. I don't really have a big problem with the team except for O.J. I can't believe that guy got away with that. Residents there have enough problems just living in Buffalo. Creating Buffalo was not one of my best achievements.
Me: Didn't they lose four Super Bowls in a row back in the early 90's?
Lord: Yes but that had to do completely with their quarterback Jim Kelly. When he was a 15-year-old he asked me to help him kiss Jenny Deanstag. She was a girl in his English class. His exact words were: "Lord, if you can just help me get a little tongue time with Jenny. I'll never ask you for anything ever again."
Me: So...
Lord: He got his make out session with Jenny, but it cost him four Super Bowls.
Me: Pretty hefty price.
Lord: I know. Here's the best part. After making out with Jim she realized she didn't really like boys and she's been "playing for the otherside" ever since. Which I fully endorse by the way.
Me:Â On a side note, do you watch me while I'm sleeping like Santa Claus?
Lord: Aren't you Jewish?
Me: Yes.
Lord: So Santa doesn't stop at your house no matter if you're naughty or nice.
Me: Good point.
Lord: Anyway, I don't really have time to watch you. I'm too busy watching all these other sports where athletes are constantly asking me for help. I've got soccer, football, baseball and basketball. And that's just on a pro level.
Me: What about hockey?
Lord: Are they still playing that professionally? Anyway, I've got all the college sports and high school sports and little leagues to pay attention to all at once. I mean I am God, but come on. There's only so much I can do.
Me: I understand.
Lord: So you have to understand I didn't have time to pay attention to Steve Johnson's dropped pass.
Me: So you're saying it wasn't your fault. You had nothing to do with it? It was all in Johnson's hands or not in his hands in this case?
Lord:Â No, I actually had bet on Pittsburgh.
Yankees Acquire Lee in 6th Inning
By Jonathan Suttin
New York (AP) -- The New York Yankees were able to acquire Texas Rangers' pitcher Cliff Lee in the middle of game two of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.
"He was on fire and I felt like that was a performance worthy of a New York Yankee," said New York general manager Brian Cashman. "I mean he was striking everybody out and we need a guy like that to help our team win," Cashman continued.
The move came as a big surprise not only to Lee's teammates, but to the ace pitcher as well.
"I was sitting in the dugout getting ready to pitch the sixth inning and strike out some more of those guys," Lee said.   "All of a sudden someone taps my shoulder. It was a man wearing a tux and white gloves. He called me Mr. Lee and was standing on a red carpet. He told me to follow him down the hallway," according to Lee.
The man in his mid-70's is named Hobson and has been the Yankee's official butler for the last 47 seasons.
"Yeah, he got the royal treatment," said Yankee team captain Derek Jeter. "Hobson is the best. He always shines my shoes and personally irons my underwear during the game. He even gave my mom one of his kidneys," added Jeter.
Lee wasn't sure what to do when a Hobson said in a dry English accent, "This way sir."  Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington told him he had to go.
"I felt bad to let Lee go because he was pitching great for us in the playoffs this year. The Rangers really never make the playoffs, but what's good for the Yankees is good for baseball...I guess, " said a clearly deflated Washington.
Lee was then led down the hallway to the Yankee locker room where he was quite impressed with what he saw.
"My goodness there are chandeliers everywhere, " said a wide-eyed Lee, "and my locker is bigger than the basement in my house. MY LOCKER, not the locker room."
Lee says he felt "instantly more talented" when putting on his Yankee pinstripes. "I suddenly felt like I was much better than any other baseball players in the league," Lee said boldly, "I mean look at Nick Swisher. He SUCKED when he played for the White Sox. I mean HE REALLY SUCKED, but now he's a hot-shot power hitter because he wears pinstripes and doesn't have his name on the back of his jersey."
Yankee fans would have cheered for the move, but every fan had already left by the fifth inning since their team was trailing in the game.
Did you hear the story about the whale that traveled more than 6-thousand miles searching for a mate?! The poor female whale swam from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Indian Ocean in hopes of finding that special whale. Scientists are amazed by this feat, but I'm kinda sad.
I started to wonder if this particular whale had tried on-line dating. Wouldn't that be better then schelpping all the way around the world looking for someone to swim around with for the rest of her life? I want to help this poor thing find true love so I'm going to help create her profile. The big question is which website should this whale (named Natalie) should use.
I guess we could go with E-Harmony, but there are so many questions on that site I may not really know if Natalie's perfect Thanksgiving includes having sweet potatoes instead of mashed potatoes.
Next I thought J-Date might work, but then I found out Natalie is not a Jewish whale.
After a little more searching, I found the perfect site: Plenty of Fish. Okay, I know Natalie is a mammal, but it's got a water theme and I think that might work.
So I've been working on Natalie's profile and here's what I've come up with:
Name: Natalie Whale
Body type: Big boned
Likes: Enjoys water activities, but hates lying on the beach!  Attrached to guys named Jonah.
Dislikes: Japanese fisherman and captains named Ahab.
Ideal first date: Light swim across the ocean, scare a few boaters and about 4,000 pounds of plankton for dinner.
Favorite bands: Moby, Phish
Favorite movies: Titanic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Poseidon Adventure (the 1972 version with Ernest Borgnine and Shelley Winters), Ocean's 11 and The Breakfast Club.
Short paragraph explaining yourself: I'm a sassy whale with a lot of stamina.  After all, I traveled more than 6000 miles looking for Mr. Right! However,  I'm not desperate. I'm just picky. There may be whales a lot younger then me, but I'm smart and independent. Choose me and I'll never ask you to stop at a gas station to get directions because I've pretty much been everywhere!
Most Bears fans are pretty fired up for tonight's match-up between Green Bay and Chicago, but I have to admit I'm a little nervous. For those of you new to my blog I'm a Bears fan, but  I will not apologize because I was born and raised in Chicago.
During the last 11 years it's been pretty tough to be a Bears fan in Wisconsin. Yes, in recent years (excluding last season) the Bears have managed to win a few games against the Packers, but overall we Bears fans have had Green Bay quarterback envy basically since forever.
It seems like it should be different now because the Bears have a decent quarterback, but for some reason it isn't yet. Aaron Rogers seems like a quarterback destined for many great seasons while Jay Cutler seems like a quarterback who might be good if he doesn't get himself in trouble.
I remember when the Rolling Stones weren't the only ones Sucking in the Seventies. Both the teams were horrible and they only highlight of the season was finding out which team sucked a little less.
The Bears dominated the 80's but then it turned into all Packer gold. The Packers have been great and the Bears well, besides the Super Bowl appearance a few years ago, there hasn't been that much to cheer.
Years ago both teams were good at the same time and maybe we'll be lucky to have that again.  These days most of the players on both teams don't consider this game any bigger than any other game of the season. That's not how it used to be when the Packers and Bears faced off. Supposedly, Bears owner and coach George Halas used to turn off the hot water in the visitors locker room when the Packers came to town. It's also rumored he would provide towels with huge holes.
Hopefully tonight will be a close game that ends in heartbreak for one side. This is still a good rivalry, but it's time for it to be a great one again.
I love when someone takes a classic story and turns it around completely. That's exactly what happens in the musical Wicked, which is now playing at Overture Center. We've all seen the Wizard of Oz and we've all been scared by the flying monkees and the Wicked Witch of the West.  Would you ever think you could root for that green skinned evil woman? You do in this version of the story.
I saw this show in Chicago a few years ago and the production here was just as fantastic. The costumes, acting and sets are all amazing.  The only criticism is there doesn't seem to be a song that stays with you after you leave. Classic musicals like Hair or Cats and even Rent have at least one song that you're singing to yourself the next day. It didn't happen with this show, but it's still a well worth seeing.
You can still get tickets for the show, but you may actually get better seats by going to the Overture box office or call 258-4177. They even sell some seats in the first few rows for just $25! Those are sold in a lottery system 2 hours before each performance.
The posters for the show have a great line: So much happened before Dorthoy dropped in.Â
Don't miss it!
I had the chance to see U2 while Lindsay and I were on our honeymoon in Greece and although it cost more than I would have liked to pay, it was worth every penny.
I had never seen U2 in the past, so I can't compare pre and post back surgery Bono, but even if this was Bono and half speed it was still amazing.
I have never seen a major rock band outside the United States before and there were some interesting things I noticed. First of all, it's funny to hear the crowd sing along to a song like "Without or Without You" but hear a distinct accent. For at least 95% of the crowd, English is their second language.
There was also tons and tons of smoking. Despite Olympic Stadium being totally open air, it still smell like a giant ash tray.
When Bono addressed the crowd he spoke in English, but in one particularly preachy section of the show, Bono was sure to have his thoughts translated into Greek on a big video screen. It really didn't matter because in English or Greek the crowd just wanted to hear the hits. Preachy doesn't work well here and it doesn't in Greece either.
The concert was excellent. All the moving parts (Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullins and Adam Clayton) worked together without a hitch. Musically they were right on.Â
As far as what they were wearing, it always suprises me how they dress so differently. Bono is always in leather, The Edge looks like a gay lumberjack (he wears a flannel shirt with some sequins or rhinestones on it), Adam Clayton was wearing a glittery t-shirt that could have been stolen from Mick Jagger's closet and Larry Mullin had the typical drummer t-shirt. It was tight and had some sort of design on it, but it was rather subtle.
Finally, a quick review of the food. I didn't see a lot of choices, but they did have hot dogs. The dog had some kind of mystery sauce and it was DELICIOUS. Lindsay was grossed out, but I thought it was great and not expensive.
So in short: Good music, good crowd, too much smoking and great hot dogs.
Tomorrow night the Packers and Browns will play a pre-season football game at Lambeau Field. Too soon! I know there are tons of football fans ready for the season to begin, but I'm not one of them.
Perhaps, it's the fact I'm a Bears fan and the Packers will probably be better than the Bears again. It will be quite annoying for me when Aaron Rodgers passes for 9,000 yards this season. Okay, slight exaggeration. He'll probably only throw for 6,000.
One of the other reasons I'm not ready for football has to do with body paint. As you may know, I ventured into the world of body painting when I went to a New York Yankee game last week. If you haven't seen the horrifying pictures you can check them out here. I'm worried about my new urge to paint again and a football game would be the perfect place to do it.
However, I think the real reason is football means the end of summer. I know there's still time left, but I want to make sure I take another swim, go for another joyride on my bicycle and maybe even squeeze in another picnic or two before it's too late.
You should too.
This morning 77 Square's Rob Thomas stopped in to review a new movie starring Casey Affleck. However, I couldn't stop looking at the shirt he was wearing. He purchased it at the concert he attended the night before.
There was no problem with the shirt. The problem I had was that Rob was wearing it the day AFTER the show.
I don't know why, but I don't like when people wear the a concert t-shirt the next day. It seems like they're too eager. I can't really justify my stance. I don't have a logical reason. What's even craizer is the fact that I wouldn't have a problem if he wore it a few days later.Â
At least I'm not as bad as an old friend of mine, Ned. He would refuse to wear clothing into a store he purchased. In other words, if he bought something at The Gap he would never walk into the store wearing the shirt he purchased there. His reason? He didn't want to look like "a fan" of the store.
Now that's crazy!
I generally think of myself as liberal, but I think I want to make a change. No, I'm not turning into a conservative or a radical. I'd like to declare myself as "open-minded".
I think what pushed me into this new way thinking was after watching Bill Maher perform last night at Overture Center. I usually enjoy Mr. Maher's takes on world events and last night was decent, but in some ways it didn't seem much different than a rally for those annoying Tea Party freaks.
Most of us like to think we're open-minded, but I just don't think it's true. One of the main things that bothers me about many of the the conservative talk show hosts are the sweeping generalizations about liberals and democrats. Conservative talk show hosts will says democrats are trying to ruin the country and want to keep people on welfare.  It felt last night at times that Maher was doing the same thing about conservatives and republicans.
Are all liberals good hearted and all conservatives evil? Hardly.
I like to take things on a case by case basis. Maybe it's not realistic, but I just can't get on board with one group and simply delcare that another group is filled with idiots. It appears we're all taking the easy way out by simply picking a side and sticking with it.Â
Is it possible to be in a favor of gay marriage and the right to bear arms? Â
What ever happened to critical thought and analysis?
Some of my heros (in no particular order) are:
Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko
Steve Martin
James Taylor
My parents
Walter Payton
A lot of people want to meet a hero to talk about what a big influence that person had on their life. Obvioulsy, I can do that with my parents.  Although they still haven't given me their cell phone numbers. Â
I've never really want to meet my heros because I always expected it will be a real let down. What could James Taylor say to me after I would tell him how much I enjoy his music? Really, what's the point?  He doesn't know me. He's not suddenly going to become my friend after I shake his hand.  The only thing we have in common is that we can both sing all the words to "Shower the People". He wrote it. I just like it. If I was a musician perhaps we'd have some commong ground, but only if he heard a song of mine and liked it.Â
I did talk to Mike Royko once. I was nervous and I ended up hanging up on him. Cool. I met Walter Payton for a brief second when I was in high school and got his autograph, but I didn't really say much.Â
I think we all have this fantasy that we'll meet our hero and he or she will want to become friends and will chat with us. I'm a stranger to James Taylor. I'm sure he appreciates that I buy his music, but that doesn't mean he wants to be my friend or could even be a friend.Â
All that being said, I had a chance to meet Steve Martin last night and I went for it. He played at Overture Center. I was called on to introduce the opening act, The Punch Brothers. After I finished my duties, I was left alone back stage unsupervised. I heard some music coming from a dressing room and headed in that direction.
It would be great if the story then went something like this:
I wander into the the room and there is Steve sitting on the couch. He smiles and asks me to sit down. I tell him I've been a fan of his stand-up comedy, his novellas and even the play he wrote. I tell him how much I admire his early struggles in show business and how much I've enjoyed his comedy pieces in The New Yorker. I admire that he's an avid art collector and a deep thinker. He thanks me and asks me where he should get a drink after the show. I suggest Le Tigre Lounge and he agrees to meet me there after the show. We hang out for hours. At bar time, he give me his cell phone number and invites Lindsay and me to visit him the next time we are in California.
Not so much.
Here's what happened:
He was sitting with two members of his back-up band. I said, "Welcome to Madison, gentlemen." He smiled brief and went back to playing the banjo. I shook hands with the two other musicians, but Martin refused. He said his hand is sore and he needs to be careful so he can play the banjo. There was a brief pause and then I told them I was the Mayor of Madison. I don't know why. The two other musicians were slightly impressed and one of them said, "Thanks for having us in your city." Martin didn't seem that interested. I then said, "I'm really just a morning guy from a local radio station." I then slowly backed out of the room. Game over.
It was exactly as I expected. He wasn't rude, but he wasn't interested. I completely understand. Why should he been interested? He was getting ready for a show and some random guy pops in for no reason.
So the only person on my list who I haven't met or spoken with briefly is James Taylor. Next time he comes to Madison, I think I'll do my best to be out of town.
For weeks the sportsworld has been waiting to hear where LeBron James will play basketball. He finally gave his answer and it's Miami.Â
I feel bad for Cleveland. He's leaving that city after seven years of service and no championships. The city of Cleveland hasn't had any sports team win a championship since 1964.
As bad as I feel, it's not even close to how the owner of the Cleveland Cavailers feels. Check out what he wrote online:
Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight;
As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.
This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.
Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.
The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.
There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.
You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.
You have given so much and deserve so much more.
In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:
"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER âKINGâ WINS ONE"
You can take it to the bank.
If you thought we were motivated before tonight to bring the hardware to Cleveland, I can tell you that this shameful display of selfishness and betrayal by one of our very own has shifted our "motivation" to previously unknown and previously never experienced levels.
Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there.
Sorry, but that's simply not how it works.
This shocking act of disloyalty from our home grown "chosen one" sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn. And "who" we would want them to grow-up to become.
But the good news is that this heartless and callous action can only serve as the antidote to the so-called "curse" on Cleveland, Ohio.
The self-declared former "King" will be taking the "curse" with him down south. And until he does "right" by Cleveland and Ohio, James (and the town where he plays) will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.
Just watch.
Sleep well, Cleveland.
Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day....
I PROMISE you that our energy, focus, capital, knowledge and experience will be directed at one thing and one thing only:
DELIVERING YOU the championship you have long deserved and is long overdue.... Dan Gilbert
Majority Owner
Cleveland Cavaliers So Dan, how do you really feel?Â
Musician Laurie Anderson put on a concert the other night for dogs. I'm talking real dogs. Yes, dogs.Â
Why?
Apparently, Ms. Anderson said she was backstage at a concert with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and said, "Wouldn't it be great if you're playing a concert and you look out and everyone's a dog?"
I wonder if she asked Yo Yo Ma if he thought it was a good idea. I also wonder if he was able to contain has laughter? It doesn't matter what he said because she held the concert the other day in Sydney, Australia.  The music included whale sounds, whistles and some high-pitched sounds that humans cannot hear. Â
After the concert, Anderson says she loved performing for the dogs because they were  "uninhibited."
Of course they were unihibited! They're dogs!  They lick themselves and sometimes eat their own crap!!  What did she expect?!
Check back here tomorrow because I'll have a guest blogger who attended the concert!
I have never served in the military nor did my father or even my grandfather. However, we've all had great respect for those who have served our country.  Anytime I meet someone who currently is in our Armed Forces or is a veteran I ALWAYS thank them.Â
This weekend is the unofficial start of summer. It's a time to hang out with friends, bbq and get excited for good weather and lots of fun activities. However, you should really take a moment to remember that we are honoring all those who sacrificed their lives so we could hang out with friends, grill some burgers and watch baseball or the Indy 500 or the Stanley Cup.
Today the Rolling Stones re-release their classic album "Exile on Main Street". What's even more classic to me is the band's drummer, Charlie Watts. I've always been fascinated with him.
Why? There are several reasons:
1) He is beyond cool. He is the drummer for the biggest band in the history of rock and roll and yet it appears his real love is jazz music. Along with drummer for the Stones and making albums for the last 40 years, he has done tons of jazz projects too.
2) He's been married to the same woman since 1964.  It's hard enough for everyday people with everyday jobs to stay married these days. Think of all the temptations Watts had while on the road?! Perhaps, this should have been first on the list.
3) He has amazing taste in clothes.   Just a few years ago Vanity Fair added him International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Watts' idol when it comes to fashion is Fred Astaire.
4) He doesn't take crap from anyone even Mick Jagger.  There is a story (hopefully it's true) that Jagger once called Watts in the middle of the night during a tour. Jagger supposedly said, "Where's my drummer?".  Watts shaved, put on suit and tie and then went down to Jagger's room and punched him in the face. Legend has it that Watts said, "I'm not your drummer! You're my singer!" Brilliant.
5) He's clean and sober...most of the time. Watts said he had a problem with drugs and alcohol between 1983 and 1986 but otherwise everything in moderation. Amazing and almost unbelievable considering the Stones basically have had access to any kind of drugs.
He loves jazz, he is faithful to his wife, he dresses well, he doesn't take crap from anyone and he doesn't use drugs.
Charlie Watts, you are my hero.
Attention all Facebook users! I don't think you're going to change people's opinions with your status comments about health care. When I was a kid, my dad told me the two subjects you shouldn't really bring up at a dinner party are politics and religion.Â
He said, "You're not going to change anyone's mind and you'll probably irritate everyone at the party including yourself."Â
Well said.
It seems like pre-Facebook we didn't really know all the political view of our co-workers or our acquaintances. Maybe that was a good thing. Now with Facebook in play haven't you been rather suprised by comments (liberal and conservative) by someone you thought you "knew" at your office?Â
It's created some strange situtations for me and I've watched people get into rather heated discussions about it on Facebook walls. Is debate a good thing? Of course, but it doesn't seem like debate. It seems more like TYPING IN CAPS AND YELLING WITH LINKS AND VIDEOS.Â
There's no discussion. It feels like everyone's getting more and more close minded.
I never thought I'd miss the days of inane Facebook updates about taking a nap or making a sandwich, but I do!
I've always enjoyed playing Norah Jones on the radio, but I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy an entire evening of her songs. She's been dubbed "Snorah" by some critics because they think she is boring.
When she came out in her little polka dotted dress to the big Overture Hall stage, she looked tiny despite have a five piece band behind her. She gave a little wave to the crowd and started to sing.  Uh oh.Â
She seemed a bit stiff when playing the guitar and much more comfortable while playing the piano. No matter what she was playing on stage her voice was beautiful. Early on she didn't have much to say to the crowd except that she was going to play some songs from her new album before she got to the "old stuff." She did become a little more chatty as the evening progressed as she explained the dress she was wearing was purchased the day before at a vintage clothing store here in Madison. She wondered if the original owner was in the audience and how strange that would be for both of them.
Norah is definitely trying to expand her sound with the new album and it seems to be working, but it seemed like she got the biggest response for songs from her first two albums. Although she may have gotten the biggest round of applause for a song on her new album The Fall. The song is called Man of the Hour. It's about her dog.  She also did a few covers including Long Way Home from Tom Waits and Strangers from The Kinks.
Jones and her long time boyfriend/bass player Lee Alexander broke up before this album was created and perhaps that's what changed her sound.
Both the old and new were great and she certaintly WASN'T "Snorah".
There's a new video game set to the television show Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury. Do you remember that show? I never ever watched a single episode. I think it was on Sunday evenings on CBS. Now it's a video game.
Seriously?
Have they run out of ideas? Are senior citizens playing this game? You know what's coming next if this one sells well don't you?
Matlock! Although I do know one senior citizen who would buy that game. Click below to find out who I'm talking about.
As many of you know, I'm a Chicago Bears fan. Don't blame me. I was born and raised in Chicago so it only makes sense.   Therefore, I've been watching the whole Brett Favre saga from a somewhat neutral vantage point.
I've talked with so many Packer fans this season and heard so many different thoughts on whether or not it's okay to root for Favre throughout the season. It seems to come down to three basic positions:
1)Â Root for Favre when he's not playing the Packers
2) Root for Favre and forget the Packers
3) Forget Favre
I'm not sure which choice Packer fans should make. Favre did provide Packer fans with so many thrills over the years, but he also kept fans hanging each year as they wondered whether he was going to retire. He did bring the Packers out of no-man's land. Remember how being drafted by Green Bay was considered like a trip to Siberia? However, it did feel at times like he was more concerned about Brett as opposed to the entire team.
I think Packer fans will really know how they feel about Favre after Sunday's game against the Saints. If Favre throws for four or five touchdowns and no interceptions en route to a huge win and you don't get sick to your stomach, I guess you still don't mind him that much.
As a Bears fan, I'm still just trying to imagine what it would be  like to have a hall of fame quarterback to get annoyed with!
As we look back on the 2000's, I can't pass up the chance to pick out the best episodes of the Simpsons for the decade. I've decided to choose one from each year.
Behind the Laughter (May 21, 2000)
The Simpsons are featured in a parody of VH1's Behind the Music. They even used the same narrator as the real show. The best part was when the revealed the Simpsons are from Kentucky! Throughout the show they've never really said what state our favorite yellow family lives. However, in re-runs of the episode they always change the state.
Worst Episode Ever (Feb. 4, 2001)
You know it has to be great with a name like that. Comic book guy has a big role in this episode and the one scene that still makes me laugh is when Comic Book Guy hooks up with Seymour Skinner's mom (who looks like she's about 80 years old).  The music Comic Book Guy puts on so he can get it on with Agnes is Bread's Baby I'm A Want You.
How I Spent My Strummer Vacation (Nov. 10, 2002)
I'm not always a big fan of famous guest appearances on the show, but this one is classic. Homer goes to fantasy band camp and gets to mingle with rock n' roll royality including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer. Perhaps the funniest scene is Tom Petty's giant car that's in the shape of a devil's head.
Today I Am a Clown (Dec. 7, 2003)
This one stars Krusty who finally decides he should have a Bar Mitzvah. Jackie Mason is back as Krusty's disappointed rabbi father who had a hard time understanding why his son got into showbiz. Krusty decides to put the ceremony on television and spruce it up a bit. It includes a cameo by Mr. T. Krusty is happy that the show is a rating success.  Probably the best line is when Krusty refers to how well the show did. He says:  It's "Everybody Loves Raymond re-run good".
The Way We Weren't (May 9, 2004)
This is another episode where Marge and Homer talk about their past. They discover that they had a brief fling when they were both 10-years-old and at overnight camp. Marge didn't know it was Homer because he pretended to be someone else. The name he makes up? Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar.
Milhouse of Sand and Fog (September 25, 2005)
Bart is trying to help Milhouse get his parents back together, but in the process almost breaks up his own folks. The best part of the episode is a reference to the television show The O.C.  The cast of the show is going to Knott's Berry Farm with a giant snoopy. For some reason Snoopy holds them up at gun point and makes all the characters take money out of an ATM. Priceless.
Girls Just Want to Have Sums (April 30,2006)
Springfield Elementary decides to divide the school by gender. Of course, Lisa wants to learn math with the boys.  The opening scene is what really made me laugh. The Simpsons go to see the musicial "Stab a Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musicial". It's a great paraody of the Lion King and includes Marge trying to avoid being noticed by the actors who are walking through the crowd. She says something along the lines of "Looking through my purse so I don't get noticed". Of course, she's picked to participate.
24 Minutes (May 20, 2007)
This one is a fantastic paraody of the Fox show 24. One of the best lines comes from Apu who can't stand the smell of some really bad old yogurt Homer tries to return to the Kwik-E-Mart. Apu says, ""If a homeless man and a dead fish had a baby, and the baby puked, and a dog ate the puke," the yogurt would smell like "the rear end of that dog."
Treehouse of Horror XIX (Nov. 2, 2008)
Treehouse episodes always have three short stories and I really liked the first and last of the three stories. The first one is a great paraody on Transformers. The second one takes a shot at the AMC show Mad Men and the third is a great paraody of "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". Milhouse plays the Charlie Brown roll and things get rather twisted.
The Devil Wears Nada (Nov. 15, 2009)
I rented  The Devil Wears Prada a few days before watching this episode which may have made it even more funny to me. Homer becomes an assistant to Carl who has become a manager for the power plant. The best scene is Marge and Ned eating strawberries together and almost kissing.
Some of the unusual holiday gifts Kitty and I have shared with you during the past few weeks may not be suitable for everyone. However, I'm pretty sure that this gift is suituable for no one.
It's a bloody shower curtian and bath rug.  Sure, it might be kinda fun to have this in your bathroom for a halloween party, but what about the other 364 days of the year?
I've been trying to think of who would actually like this all year round. I think the list is pretty short.  It would include Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, Sissy Spacek (as Carrie), the guy who played Freddie Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street and Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates).Â
Actually, there's one more person who should be at the top of the list. It's Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith because he's been butchering the team for the last three seasons!
So you've got someone on your holiday list who loves the outdoors? You know someone who wants to be a survivor man or woman and dreams of being dropped off in the woods equipped with only a pocket knife?Â
Well, we've got the perfect gift for this wilderness enthusiast:Â It's the biggest friggin' pocket knife you'll ever see.
This thing is insane. It has EVERYTHING. I believe along with being able to cut things it can:
Balance your checkbook
Make you a better lover
Pay your electric bill
Take your place at boring office meetings
Make dinner
Walk the dog
Please use caution with this wonderful gift. Why? Well the one thing it doesn't have:
First aid kit
Yet another gift that could actually start a fight between the person giving it and the person getting it. It's  a little sterling silver treadmill charm. Is this a good idea?Â
It seems like if you give it to some people everyone, they might be insulted.Â
I'm sure some would say: "You think I'm fat?! You think I need to exercise?!"
Another possible response: "What?! You think all I like to do is run on the treadmill?! You think I have a problem?!"
And yet another: "Thanks a lot. You know how much I hate having to exercise, but the doctor says I have to do it. Now when I'm not on the treadmill I can be reminded of it every other second of the day! Thanks a bunch!"Â
Good luck!
We're doing out best this holiday season to find gifts for your whole family, so we can't forget about the family pooch. I'm sure any dog would be more than thrilled to get this doggie raincoat.
I mean look how thrilled the dog in this picture looks! I can almost hear what he's thinking. It's probably something like: "Oh my goodness. My owners better not take me to the dog park this way. If that cute Collie I've been peeing near every time I come to the park sees me I will die of embarrassment. If my German Shepherd friend Rex sees me, I will never hear the end of it! Oh why don't you just get me neutered right now. I feel like you already have!!!"
Anyway, this is the perfect gift and it only costs about $34!
Los Lonely Boys came to visit Studio M yesterday and they didn't disappoint. This was their third visit to Triple M and they were ready to entertain. The energy these guys have is amazing.
Henry, Jojo and Ringo are three brothers who really seem to get along at all times. You'd think brothers would sometimes fight with each other or at least get annoyed with one another.   They give the impression that they just want to entertain and they're happy that people want to hear their music. I don't think it's an act. I really believe they love the music and are happy to be playing whenever and for whoever will listen.
They came into Studio M to share some of their new songs.  Actually, it's all covers of songs released 1969.  Henry says at first they didn't even realize all the songs were from the same year, they just liked the tunes.
We liked them too as you can tell in the exclusive Live from Studio M video.
Even if you're not a fan of sports, you have to admire what happened to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday afternoon. Pitcher Mark Buehrle tossed a perfect game. What's the big deal? A perfect game is an incredibly rare event to say the least. How rare?  Since 1876 there have only been 18 perfect games including Buehrle's.
For those not familiar with a perfect game, it means no batter makes it to first base. There are no hits or walks. The pitcher literally gets every batter out in a row. What makes Buehrle's perfect game even more exciting is what happened in the ninth inning. Check out this amazing catch by Dwayne Wise to keep the perfect game in tact.
Of course, I missed the game. I was taking a nap while Buehrle was on his way to the record books. Typical. Regardless of my bad timing, I'm still getting a chill watching the last out over and over again.
Will another White Sox pitcher throw a perfect game? Well, the team was founded in 1901 and this is only the second one in team history and that's what makes this so special.
I saw an article the other day talking about who is now America's Most Trusted Person since Walter Cronkite has passed away. The choices included:
Oprah, Jon Stewart, Tom Hanks, Suze Orman, Colin Powell, Tom Brokaw, Michelle Obama, Jay Leno and General David Petraeus and Warren Buffett.
This list was quite perplexing to me. I admit I like most of the people on the list, but how can we pick one as the most trusted in America?
Let's break it down:
Oprah: Oprah is Oprah and she does tell us what books to read, but how can we trust someone who unleashed Dr. Phil on the world?
Jon Stewart:Â I love him and enjoy watching The Daily Show every night, but he's a comedian and he's the first to tell you he's doing a comedy show that happens to have a little bit of news.
Tom Hanks: Love his movies, but we're talking movies! I feel like he's a decent human being and probably shares many of the same political views as me, but he's not a journalist. Although I have to admit he's great in everything he does including Bosom Buddies.
Suze Orman: She's the financial talk guru. It's not her fault, but she'll have to wait until my 401K gets back up to at least a 301K before I can consider her.
Colin Powell: A great American hero, but would have been even more trustworthy if he would have run for President of the U.S. and switched parties. Also I know it's not his fault, but I can still picture him standing in front of the United Nations with all those charts explaining why we should attack Iraq.
Tom Brokaw: Love Tom, but what has he REALLY been up to since he left the NBC Nightly News?
Michelle Obama: Wonderful first lady, but she's got her hands full right now with two little girls and that whole First Lady gig.
Jay Leno: Good comedian, hard worker and has the reputation as being one of the all-time nicest guys in show business. However, he never takes vacation.  Even when he's not doing his show, he's doing stand-up somewhere in the U.S. How can we trust a guy who NEVER takes vacation?
General David Petraeus: This is a Catch 22 situation. He's another military guy. I trust the military, but I also know that sometimes they have to lie to us so how can I trust them?
Warren Buffett: He's hard working and started from nothing to create a vast empire. He's a great investor and not a show-off. He's truly followed the American Dream, but he's so #$%@-ing rich! Even if he's humble, it would still get annoying that he can buy and sell most small countries several times over!
So what can we do? Is there no Most Trusted Person in America to follow Walter Cronkite? I think I've made my decision. He's brutally honest and has a great sense of humor.  I present to you the Most Trust Dog in America: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Just watch him do a weather forecast in Hawaii.
Bruno
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hour 23 minutes
2 stars out of 4
Sasha Baron Cohen as Borat was brilliant for severeal reasons. First of all, it was kind of like Candid Camera on steroids. It was funny to watch everyday people react to this rather unusual man from another country. It was fun to watch people try to be polite as Borat did so many innapproaitate things.Â
However, Cohen's latest character seems to miss the mark. I did enjoy watching Bruno as one of the three characters on Da Ali G show on HBO. But for some reason, it doesn't work as well as a full length movie.
It almost seems like Cohen is trying too hard to create a shocking scene and it is forced. It was genius when Borat went to the bathroom in someone's house and then brought his "droppings" out in a plastic bag. It was so unbelievably awkward and funny.  In this movie, Cohen tries to shock people with outrageous homosexual acts. People are offended, but would be just as offended if they were outrageous hetrosexual acts. It just doesn't seem as clever as Borat.
Borat seemed like a real experiment on human nature. Will people spend time in a rather uncomfortable situation because cameras are rolling? In Bruno it seems like all Cohen is trying to do is offend as many people as possible.
I still love your work Mr. Cohen and you are a brilliant comedian, but in this case you've already been there and done that.
You can see Bruno at Star Cinema. Click here for showtimes.
I can't say that I loved all of Michael Jackson's music. I liked a lot of it, and own some of it, but I don't regularly listen that much anymore. However, I have paid close attention to Jackson as a person throughout the years.
I've always been fascinated with his strange habits, but also didn't want to simply dismiss him as a freak. Actually, he was a freak. He became famous as a child and became bigger than life worldwide. Sure, there are plenty of world famous people, but no one as big as him.
I can't imagine what that would really be like. Sting seems to have handled it. So has Madonna. Paul McCartney does just fine too. Why was it different for Jackson? Was it because he never really had a childhood? Was it because he literally could not go in public without a complete mob scene taking place?
I remember seeing David Bowie once at a restaurant in Miami. He was with Iman and they were eating at a table. People were looking at them, but they were able to have a meal without the entire restaurant going crazy.  That was never a possibility for Jackson.Â
What is it like to not be able to go outside by yourself in public...ever. It might make you a little crazy. By no means am I saying that makes it okay to take advantage of children. However, I'm not really ever sure if Jackson really did horrible things to kids or if he really was just a kid trapped inside an adult and that the only people he felt comfortable around were children.
I'll also never understand all the plastic surgery. What was he running from? Why was he so desperate to change his look? We'll probably never really know the answers to any of these questions.Â
The only thing I do know is that you have to have been one talented person to be recognized around the world for good or bad like Michael Jackson was for the last 30 years.
Up
Rated: PG
Running Time: 1 hour 36 minutes
3.5 stars out of 4
I've always been a sucker for animation, but I know this movie is good because my folks loved it as well.  They usually never see any animated flicks and they thought this was a keeper. This is a great story that will tug at your heart strings and make you laugh as well.
When I first saw a preview for this movie, I thought it was just about a grumpy old man who ends up on a crazy adventure. That's partially true, but there's also a great love story too. I always love talking animals in cartoons and the dogs in this one are hysterical. This review is short, but there's not much to say except:
Pixar does it again!
You can see UP in 3D (which I highly recommend) at Star Cinema.
Click here for showtimes.
The Propsal
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
2.5 stars out of 4
You already know what's going to happen in this movie, but Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds pull it off quite well. Bullock plays a high powered book editor in New York and Reynolds plays her assistant. She's from Canada, but never got her VISA squared away and is about to be deported. In a desperate attempt to stay in the United States she orders Reynolds to marry her.
They head to the U.S. Immigration office where Bullock makes the mistake of telling the officer that she's going with Reynolds to visit his parents over the weekend. She doesn't realize his parents live in Alaska. Can these two opposites get along and actually find love? Cue the pop hit of the day and watch the comedy unfold.
Both Bullock and Reynolds do a solid job together. Betty White plays Reynolds grandma and plays her part well including being an over zealous patron at the local strip club. However, the shock value of an older woman like White mixing it up with a stripper has already been done recently. How do you top Cloris Leachman french kissing John Stamos at the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget or dry humping Jack Black on NBC's 30 Rock?
Oscar Nunez who plays Oscar on NBC's The Office plays a waiter, stripper, store clerk and is funny but out of shape guys in G-Strings doesn't seem that funny anymore.  Will Ferrell and Chris Farley have already done it so many times before.
This is a good date movie and you'll definitely get some laughs despite the fact that it's a text book romantic comedy.
See The Proposal at Star Cinema in Fitchburg. Click here for showtimes.
The Hangover
Rated R
Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
2.5 stars out of 4
We've heard this type of story before: guys have a crazy bachelor party and have to pick up the pieces the day after. However, this one is told a little differently then the others. A story about guys being stupid and doing really stupid things can be either really funny or really stupid. The Hangover tends to fall more on the funny side, but at some points I felt like it was trying too hard to be off-the-wall.
Zach Galifianakis does a great job of playing the rather quirky future brother-in-law of Justin Bartha. Bradley Cooper plays the Vince Vaughan type of role. He's a little too cool for the room and you're not sure if you like him or he's just a trouble maker. Ed Helms plays a straight-laced dentist who has a nagging girlfriend and really just needs to cut loose.
In this movie, the guys have a wild night which we don't get to see. We follow them the next morning as they try to find the groom who has disappeared. The movie does throw in a good dose of random with a cameo by Mike Tyson, but sometimes it feels like this movie is just trying to be random to be random. It's a good laugh, but I don't think I'll be quoting lines from this movie for years to come. By the way, be sure to stay and watch the photo montage during the credits.
You can see this movie at Star Cinema. Click here for showtimes.
When was the last time you washed your clothes while wearing them? Until last Saturday the answer for me would be never. However, that all changed when Lindsay and I stopped into the Foam Party at the Cardinal Bar downtown. I thought it would be fun to try something a little different. Sure dinner and a movie can be fun, but dinner and a trip into a giant washing machine... now that's entertainment!
We knew this would be a rather unusual event when we walked in and noticed the majority of people were wearing bathing suits and most probably turned 21 within the last few months. Despite being in regular clothes we decided to dive right in. Lindsay and I tend to be on the short side on the height scale so within seconds we were completely underneath all the foam. I hope that was her hand I was grabbing. Trying to enjoy a cocktail or two can also be quite a challenge when your mouth is filled with bubbles.
After about a half hour we decided we had enough and we headed to the car. A soaking wet car ride home didn't seem like the best idea. I had a couple of towels in the trunk so we stripped down to our underwear and jumped into the car. Of course, one car did slow down to see what was going on. I said to Lindsay that some guy was checking us out. Honestly, I don't think he was really paying much attention to me.
Will we become regulars at The Cardinal's Foam Party? I'd say no, but it did give me a new appreciation of a nice quiet bubble bath at home.
Today's Jonathan has a guest writer for his blog. Please welcome Mr. Oinkers who will comment on a new study regarding Pig Slurry.
Greetings Humans!
I'm -snort- Mr. Oinkers -snort- and I'm here to talk about -snort- a new development in the world of swine. As yu know, we've gotten -snort- a rather bad rap the last few months because -snort- of that stupid H1N1 virus! It's been tough -snort- to get any good press these days.
However, there's been -snort- a new development that I wanted to share with -snort- you. A new study says pig slurry -snort- can help fight climate change! That's @#$%-ing right!!! The swine -snort- is back! You can click here to read the entire story.  You don't really need to read -snort- the whole thing. I can give you the -snort- jist of the story.
Here it is: STOP HATING PIGS. Our waste is helping to create electricity! I didn't really -snort- read the story -snort- all the way through myself. Okay, I admit -snort- I only read the headline: Pig Slurry Helps Helps Fight Global Change.
Okay, I admit -snort- I didn't even -snort- know what pig slurry was until I looked it -snort- up because of this article. In fact, I think Pig Slurry -snort- sounds kinda gross, but screw you!! It's better than that stupid Swine Flu any day!
For the last several years it's been a tradition for me to go to Opening Day for the Chicago White Sox. Win or lose, it signals the start of another baseball season and the end of winter. This year I had my ticket for the first game, but it was snowed out and the make up game was scheduled for the next day. Since my job is to wake up Madison every morning, it wasn't possible for me to go to the next day.
However, I got to go to my first game over Memorial Day weekend. In fact, I took Lindsay to the game. I was excited to get back to the park despite the fact that the White Sox have been struggling so far this season. I was also excited because over the winter I shelled out some cash for a brick with my name to be installed outside the stadium.
For those of you unfamiliar with White Sox history, the team won a World Series back in 2005, but that was the first championship in 88 years! World Series wins are rare in Chicago so a giant shrine was installed outside the park honoring the 2005 champs. Suckers like me could pay good money to have a brick installed around the shrine.
Here's a picture of my brick:
So when we got to US Cellular Field I was excited to see the brick and to show Lindsay how cool I was to have my very own brick. I have a feeling it is something that probably impressed me more than her. I can't imagine she'll be saying to her friends, "Did you know Jonathan has his own brick at U.S. Cellular Field?!"
She doesn't have to tell anyone yet because there is no brick...yet. Apparently the bad weather over the winter made it difficult to install the new bricks so mine wasn't in place. The picture you see is of the "copy brick" that was sent to my apartment.
I was slightly disappointed the brick wasn't there, but it was still time for baseball!! Lindsay and I had great seats behind home plate and she seemed to enjoy the game. They were playing the Pittsbugh Pirates and there were quite a few Pirates' fans sitting around us. I got a little tired of making small talk with Pirates fans about the rivalry between the Cubs and White Sox or how could voters have elected Rob Blagojevich as Governor of Illinois.
However, the game moved at a pretty decent pace and suddenly it was already the top of the ninth and the there were two outs. The White Sox were leading 3 to 2 and the fans all jumped to their feet to cheer for the final out. Then the White Sox ace reliever, Bobby Jenks gave up a home run and then a few more hits and suddenly it was 4 to 3 Pittsburgh.
They ended up losing the game! I've been a White Sox fan for about 27 years and honestly most of those years have ended in disappointed. So to steal another sports term: I guess my first visit of the year was "par for the course."
E-mail forwards are pretty annoying in general. However, every now and then there will be one that is a complete gem. My friend, Michael forward me a link to a great site called Awkward Family Photos. It's definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!
Over the weekend, I took a quick trip up to Minneapolis because Lindsay was there on a business trip. We went out to a restaurant called Chino Latino . It was a cool, although the wait for a table was two hours!!  We decided to eat in the bar instead.
After we were finished with dinner, we were hanging out and all of a sudden I saw Cedric Yarbrough walking by. Who? I didn't remember his name either and I probably wouldn't know who he was if you said his name. He's one of the characters on Reno 911. It's a show on Comedy Central. I don't even watch the show that much, but for some reason I thought it was cool that I recognized him.
I tapped him on the shoulder as he walked by and said, "Hey, man. You're awesome."
He really didn't say much and just moved on.
I got blown off by a D-List celebrity.
Star Trek
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours 6 minutes
3 stars out of 4
I've always admired Star Trek from a distance. I haven't seen all the television shows, but anytime I watch it I enjoy it. I saw the first few movies and always have great affection for Leonard Nemoy and William Shatner.
Even though I'm not a superfan, I was drawn into the new Star Trek movie immediately. J. J. Abrams takes us to the very beginning. Kirk, Bones, Scotty, Spock and the rest of the gang are just kids. It was a great way to start the movie and he creates a great twist to make it work.
I love seeing Kirk as a reckless kid and Spock as a bright Vulcan confused by the fact that his Vulcan father married a human woman.
Don't worry, Abrams doesn't spend a ton of time with the crew as children. The plot moves along and the special effects are great but don't dominate the movie.
The movie is just over two hours and as usual could have been cut a little, but not much. Strap in and enjoy the ride. To get the full experience you should really see it on the IMAX screen at Star Cinema in Fitchburg.
Click here to see what time the movie is playing at Star Cinema.
X Men Origins: Wolverine
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 1Â hour 47 minutes
3 stars out of 4
I have to admit I hadn't seen the other X-Men movies and was a little skeptical about going to this one. However, it was fantastic! You don't have to know much background to enjoy this adventure. I was taken in immediately during the opening credits because they did a very clever job of showing Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber working together through time as superheros.
Just like any origin story, there are people being deceived and love lost. I get pulled into these stories hook, line and sinker every time.  I feel the hero's pain as he or she battles to get revenge and feel his or her sorrow when a loved one disappears. Okay, that's a bit dramatic but this was a great adventure with cool special effects and exciting story that keeps you locked in for the whole movie.
Click here to see movie times at Star Cinema in Fitchburg
The Soloist
Rated PG-13
Running time: 1 hour and 57 minutes
2 stars out of 4
When I first saw the trailer for this movie I couldn't wait for it to come out. It seemed like I had to wait and wait and wait for its release. It finally came out and as I was watching it I felt like I had to wait and wait for the story to unfold.
I'm a huge fan of Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. but unfortunately this story dragged on and on. I understand that this is a true story and it may take more than 90 minutes to tell it, but they should have tried.
It is a fascinating story of a cellist who was accepted to the Juilliard Music school, but had to drop out because of a battle with schizhophernia. The musician played brilliantly by Jamie Foxx is name Nathaniel Ayers. Robert Downey Jr. plays a Los Angeles Times columnist named Steve Lopez who discovers Ayers living on the street.
The relationship between the two is complicated and we discover more and more about the challenges both these men face in their lives. Since it is a true story, there is not a neat and simple ending. I'm fine with that, but they could have gotten there a whole lot sooner.
Click here for a list of movie start times at Star Cinema in Fitchburg.
It appears the Swine flu or the H1N1 virus may be passing, but some people are still scared. In my office, management has put Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in every room. Should I blow my nose with those things?
Well now you can rest easy, there is a test you can take to see if you have the Swine Flu.
Simply CLICK HERE to see if you have it.
Good luck
It's so strange how freaky a phone call or doorbell can be when you're sound asleep. I usually take a nap in the afternoon (I know, just like a little kid) and I usually turn off my phones. However, I can't turn off the front door buzzer. This afternoon the buzzer rang and you'd think it was the start of World War III. I was totally disoriented and thought I was late for work. Baxter, my cat was also freaked out.
I ran to the door and wondered if I was getting a special package from the delivery guy. Perhaps it was Publisher's Clearing House with one of those giant checks?! I quickly pushed the talk button. Here was the exchange:
Me (groggy sounding): Hello?
Voice: Terry?
Me: Who?
Voice: Oh, sorry. Wrong apartment.
I know. I know. You're sick of hearing about Brett Favre. Enough already! However, Favre was given his release by the New York Jets and while he's officially retired he can come back if he really wants as a free agent. Packer fans seem to all say they don't care anymore. However, what if this happened:
They say the opposite of love is indifference not hate, but could you really be indifferent to this?
After I heard the news about Pontiac being shut down by General Motors, I thought back to the Firebird I had as a teenager. It was a 1984 Firebird and it was  pretty cool car. I remember I cried like a baby when I had to sell it years later.
These days you can go to You Tube for a trip down memory lane so I started to look up old Firebird commercials. I found one from 1967 that Kitty and I were making fun of on the air. Here it is:
Kitty and I both thought the commercial was crazy. However, several astute listeners were sure to call in to tell us that the commercial was referring to other cars including the Mercury Cougar, Ford Mustang and Plymouth Barracuda.  So we were put in our place. Jonathan and Kitty regret the error!
We're all looking for other ways to make a little extra cash these days, so I was very excited when I saw a story on line called: 7 Great Side Jobs for Extra Cash.
I started to think about how I could do all these little jobs and the cash would start rolling in. I, of course, would spend the money very carefully. I would get automatic massaging chairs for the Triple M Studio plus I would get a studio audience to come in every morning and laugh at the jokes Kitty and I tell on the air.
However, it all came crashing down when I read what each of these potential money makers was all about.
1) Dog walker. The article said you could make up to $16 dollars and hour. The problem: Baxter, my cat would never allow it.
2) Handyman. The article said you could make up to $17 bucks an hour. The problem: the only thing I could do that relates to being a handyman is sing the James Taylor song.
3) Medical transcription. Up to $13 an hour. The problem: I would get paranoid and think I had all the different ailments I was transcribing.
4) Wills/Medical Power of Attorney. Up to $55 an hour. The problem: I would have to go spend the money to go to law school.
5) Income Tax Preparer. Up to $26 an hour. The problem: I have a hard enough time calculating how much that shirt on sale at the store will really cost me when the tag says 40% off.
6) Teach a Hobby. Up to $16 an hour. The problem: Does watching The Simpsons and The Chicago White Sox on television count as a hobby?
7) Babysitter. Around $9 an hour.  Usually the kids end up putting me to bed because I get up so early for work
So the other day I was out for a run along the bike path on John Nolan Drive and I heard a car honking. I looked over and there were two guys in the car. The passenger stuck out his finger and said, "F---- You, Steve!"  The two guys smiled and then drove off.
I looked around hoping there was a guy with a t-shirt that said "I'm Steve" on the front. However, I did not see anyone else near me.  There were some ducks in Lake Monona. I hoped one of them perhaps went by the name Steve, but I noticed they didn't turn their heads when the guy shouted. I then wondered if some of the trees in the area perhaps were known as Steve Trees. No such luck.
So I don't know who those guys were or what they have against Steve, but now I'm thinking of wearing a shirt while I run that says "Not Steve".
I'm pretty into team logos and I've always thought the Detroit Lions logo was not too bad. Here it is:
It's really not that bad, but here's the new one:
Okay. I admit that was a cheap shot. However, I do admire that the first team to go 0 and 16 decided to change the team logo. Here it is for real compared to the old one:
I actually do think it looks a lot better. Can changing a logo really do much for a team? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers old logo:
After they changed to this:
They won the Super Bowl. Oh yeah, they also got new owners, a new stadium, a new coach and a lot of new great players. Good luck to Detroit. At least they're started to head in the right direction.
Have you caught the AMC show "Breaking Bad"? It's an amazing program in its second season. My friend, Keith introduced me to the show about a month ago.Â
It stars the dad from the Fox comedy Malcolm in the Middle in a MUCH different role. Bryan Cranston plays a high school science teacher who is dying from cancer. He has a son and his wife is pregnant with their second child.
He wants to raise enough money to keep his family comfortable after he dies. Through a strange series of events he decideds to create a Meth lab with one of his former students.
I know it sounds crazy, but the story is very real. After all, we watched the adventures of Tony Soprano for all those years. This show is created by Vince Gilligan. He's written other shows including the X-Files. Within the first few minutes of watching this show, you'll know you've come across something great.
You probably already have enough show to watch on television, but try to add this one to your list. It's on Sunday nights at 9pm on AMC.
Just yesterday one of my friends and a guest on my show, Steve Carpenter (better known as Star Cinema Steve) decided to bail out of Facebook. He said he just got tired of all the items like "What kind of fish are you?" or "5 places you would want to build a treehouse".
I understand where he's coming from. It does seem like all this connection with people from the past is a bit overdone. I have enjoyed connecting with people...at first, but then I lose interest quickly in their jobs or their kids. If I did care, I would probably still be friends with them, right?
Although I do have to admit I did get a picture from an high school buddy. It's me at my high school graduation. Here it is:
So I have to admit it is kind of fun to see the picture, but would my life be incomplete if I didn't?
Madison has been dubbed America's most liveable city. I think it can also be dubbed as America's most convenient city. Just last week Lindsay came to visit and we were wandering around Monroe street. Somehow I missed all the clearly posted signs that reminded me my car would be towed if it was on the street between 4:30 and 6pm.
So you can probably guess what happened. I was towed. I thought I would have to go really far to find my car. I pictured this impound lot about a million miles away with mean barking dogs and a giant fence.Not the case, the towing company simply moved my car to a nearby side street and put me in a totally legal parking spot. Talk about easy access. I should have parked there in the first place.
Granted it still cost me 90 bucks, but it could have been a lot worse. As odd as this sounds, the city made my first towing experience (and hopefully my last) rather comfortable.
Have you ever wished you could go back to high school? I certainty wouldn't want to go back for a full four years. I don't think I'd even want to go for a week, but perhaps just a few hours.
Some high school football players are going to be able to do just that in a few weeks. Apparently there are two rival high schools on the East Coast that have been playing each other for 102 years. Back in 1993 the two schools: Easton (Pa.) and Phillipsburg (N.J.) played to a tie. They didn't have overtime back then.
Those two 1993 teams will play each other again on April 26th. Yes, these guys in the 30's are getting in shape and finishing the game once and for all.
Click here to read more about this unusual high school reunion.
So the Obamas FINALLY got the family dog. Sasha and Malia can rest easy because their dad came through with his promise of a pooch if they all made it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The new pooch is named Bo and was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy. Didn't it seem like it took the Obamas forever to get the dog? Why didn't Senator Kennedy give them the pooch a few months ago?
Now I'm wondering if Sasha and Malia will really take care of Bo. Will the Secret Service have to walk Bo in the morning? I have a feeling the President and the First Lady will not stand for the girls blowing off the job of pet care.
I'm also wondering if Bo gets a nickname? The President is refered to as Renegade by the Secret Service. Michelle is known as Renaissance, Malia as Radiance  and Sasha as Rosebud. What can they call Bo?
Here are some suggestions:
1) Lincoln Bedroom Bedspread Chewer
2) Oval Office Carpet Stainer
3) Rose Garden Digger Upper
4) West Wing Hallway Humper
Wait, did they already use that last one as a nickname when Clinton was in the White House?
Did you hear Billy Bob Thornton on CBC radio the other day? If you're not familiar with CBC, it's Canada's NPR.Â
Billy Bob Thornton has a band called The Boxcutters. I know. I haven't heard of them either. I'm all for people trying to create music. Idon't think it's wrong when actors cross over into the music world. Â
However, Billy Bob was a total a-hole to the guy interviewing him. Why? Because there was a slight mention that Thornton is an oscar winning actor. Come on! Billy Bob should realize he wouldn't even be interviewed by the CBC if he just some guy in a band.
Click here to listen to the interview.
Senator and former candidate for President John McCain was in Vietnam yesterday and he actually paid a visit to the place he was held as a prisoner for five years during the war.
It's nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton and I can't get over the fact that McCain went back there. It's now a museum and there's even a flight suit and boots on display that were supposedly McCain's. He looked at them and said it didn't look like his stuff.
It amazing to me that he wanted to go back. I have a great respect for anyone who has served in the military and obviously someone who survived as a prisoner is an amazing person.  However, I can't imagine how McCain can actually go there and not have any bad memories.Â
I've refused to go back to a store because I thought the person behind the counter was a little rude. He went back to a place that took away five years of his life.
McCain may be old, but he's still pretty tough.
I tend to be an optimist especially when it comes to baseball. Not only do I think the White Sox have a chance to win the World Series every year, but I always think every game I'm going to see in person will be played.
I've been driving to the park in downpour, but I still go. It seems like most of the time the games still happen. Sure, there will be a rain delay, but eventually the game gets played that day.
I always do my best to go to Opening Day. People always ask me what's the big deal about going to Opening Day. They always say there are so many more games and the weather will be nicer later in the year. This is true, but there's something about going to that very first home game of the year. It marks the rebirth of the greatest game out there.Â
I'm pretty faithful to Opening Day. A few years ago I sat through a six hour rain delay and finally watched them play on Opening Day. I'm not saying I'm smart, but I'm always optimist that they'll play the game. That actually turned out to be a great Opening Day because by the time the game started there were only about 3-thousand people in the stands. I ended up with great seats.
The reason I stayed was because the year before I left after a two hour rain delay and massive downpours.  However, they ended up playing that game that night. I remember thinking to myself that I would always wait out the rain delay especially on Opening Day because it seems like they always end up playing.
Not this year. The game got postponed the day BEFORE it was going to be played. Granted on Sunday evening it was snowing pretty heavily in the Chicagoland area. However, I didn't expect them to postpone the game until well after it was supposed to start on Monday.Â
Not the case. They actually decided to skip Monday and try again on Tuesday. They made the call mid-day on Sunday.
Here's the most annoying part: It was a pretty nice day on Monday. It wasn't perfect baseball weather but it was partly sunny and about 40 degrees. That's not so bad for Opening Day in the Midwest.
So I missing my first Opening Day in about seven years. It's not because I didn't want to go, it's because White Sox management pulled the plug a too early on deciding about Monday's game.
I'll live and I'll go to many games this summer. However, I'm still disappointed I missing the very first time the team will take the field.
I've heard before that men are able to see old friends and pick up right where they left off the last time they saw each other. I now know this is a fact.
On Thursday night, I went to a film at the Wisconsin Film Festival because a college friend of mine, Andrew Dickler was the editor of the film. I hadn't seen Andrew or talked to him about 18 years. However, when I called him on the phone it was like we had just chatted the day before.
Another one of my friends, Greg decided it would be fun to come in for the movie and visit Madison because he also hadn't been here in about 18 years. Now I have to admit, Greg and I have had more communication since we graduated from the UW. I've probably talked to him a whopping 7 times total on the phone in the last 18 years.
Another one of my college friends, Dan lives in Evansville and I didn't even know it. He went out with us as well and there was no problem talking with each other. It was like we just saw each other at the Union the day before.
We all hung out on Friday night and hit a few of the Madison bars. There was never a lag in the conversation and we had some great laughs. We talked about our success and failure in relationships and work over the past 18 years. No one was trying to brag. I was interested in their lives and they were interested in mine. There was no competition with each other.
At about 1:15 in the morning, we weren't sure if we should go to one more bar. We were standing by the Capitol near The Inn on The Park Hotel.  Here was the ending conversation:
Me: Um, I'm parked in the other direction.
Greg: Well, I guess we're done.
Andrew: Yeah, I'm going back to the hotel.
(We all shook hands and there were some brief back patting)
Me: Okay see you.
Greg: Later, man.
Andrew: Take it easy.
And that was it. No long goodbyes or "We really should get together more often" . We were done and we knew it.
I do have their cell phone numbers now and I know I could call them anytime. Perhaps we'll talk again before another 18 years passes.
Either way it's okay with me.
Tonight I'm heading down to the Orpheum and staying up past my bedtime to see the film Anvil: The story of Anvil. It's part of the Wisconsin Film Festival and sounds amazing for so many reasons.
A guy I went to college with here at the UW, Andrew Dickler  is the editor of the film, so even it was crummy I would still go. However, it's received rave reviews all around the country at many different film festivals.
The story is about a heavy metal band that has been trying to make it big for more than 30 years! Apparently, Anvil played some huge gigs with other big, hair, heavy metal bands but they could never hit it big.
What makes the story so interesting is that they never gave up. In fact, they're still trying to make it. If you can make it tonight, I urge you to come down to the Orpheum. It starts at 8:45.
Monsters vs Aliens
Rated:PG
Running Time: 1 hour 34 minutes
Jonathan's rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
Animation! Animation! Animation! This time it's in 3D, but sadly the story falls a bit short in this one. Don't get me wrong, this is a fun movie you should take your kids to see. However, it's not a classic that is perfect for anyone of any age. The characters are cute, but don't seem to have the lasting impression that Dory the forgetful fish did in Finding Nemo.
Some animated features make such a point of throwing in pop culture references for parents that it becomes annoying. Monsters vs Aliens does not have that problem, in fact it could have used a touch more adult humor for parents.
The 3D is great and this movie should be seen at the IMAX theatre and a great way to spend an afternoon with the little ones, but it isn't a movie that you'll want to watch again and again.
Click here for showtimes of Monsters vs Aliens in 3D at the IMAX theatre at Star Cinema.
The Haunting in Connecticut
Rated PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour 32 minutes
Jonathan's rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
A good horror movie sticks with me long after I leave the theatre. There will be a few scenes that stick in my mind and make me check behind the shower curtain at home to make sure no one is there. The Haunting in Connecticut had some freaky scenes, but the movie certaintly did not stick with me.
This is the supposed true story of a family battling not only a child's cancer, but some rather angry spirits. Virginia Madsen plays Sara Campbell. She's a mom who is doing everything possible to help her son, Matt played by Kyle Gallner. Matt is battling cancer and the hospital providing treatment is far from their home so they decide to rent a home closer near the hosptial.
Mom, Dad, two younger siblings and a cousin all move to a house that turns out to be a former funeral home. Yikes! There are scary things going on in the house or is it just in Matt's mind? There are some creepy scenes but in the end I didn't have to leave the lights on while going to sleep.
You can see The Haunting in Conneticut at Star Cinema. Click here for showtimes.
There's a very disturbing out story out of Canada. Apparently some medical students are intubating patients inproperly. I'm not a doctor but I believe that's when you stick a tube down a patient's throat to help with breathing.
The problem is some of the students are learning how to do it by watching medicial shows like ER. No big surprise that the actors on ER do not intubate patients properly. They shouldn't have to because it's a television show!!!
I guess I can see how they 're copying the television show. I do the same thing with my job. I've based my entire career on the show WKRP. Here are a few things I learned from the show.
1) It's okay to wear the same outfit to work three or four days in a row
2) It's okay to sleep on the couch in the break room for a few months until you have enough money to pay the back rent you own on your apartment
3) It's not okay to throw turkeys out of a helicopter.
I'm sitting here at my computer taking part in a fantasy baseball draft chatting with the other team owners, I have my I-Tunes playing, I'm also on Facebook, I'm surfing the internet for interesting stories and I'm writing this blog.  But it still doesn't feel like enough. I think I should be talking on my cell phone and texting a few people as well.
What the @#$&?! When did we become so multitask oriented? The funny part is that we're doing most of it while sitting in one place. It seems to be getting worse, at least for me. I have to admit that when I go to the bathroom my Blackberry comes along with me. Is it really necessary for me to check messages or take a quick peek at the internet while I'm in the can?! Yes, yes it is. I'd write more, but I have to update my Facebook status to let people know I'm writing a blog.
Once again my home state of Illinois is in the spot light for something shady. This time it doesn't have to do with an elected official, but it still sucks. The Illinois High School Boys State Championships were this past weekend and one team totally got screwed!
You won't believe this story. North Lawndale College Prep played all their games this season in the same uniforms. There's one pictured on the left.
According to the rules, the stripe under the arm is too wide. No one ever pointed it out during the entire season...until the championship game when the Illinois High School Association basketball director Kurt Gibson directed the referees to assess a technical foul against the team for a uniform violation.
The penalty was that the coach of North Lawndale could not get up from his seat during the game. Some coaches do sit on the bench for most of the game, but to not be able to get up and instruction your players must have the coach crazy.  The coach even offered to have his team change into their other uniforms, but Gibson said those were too colorful.
North Lawndale ended up losing the game by one point.
I'm not sure what this teaches the kids on either team. All I know is that it's sure not a positive lesson.
IÂ Love You, Man
Rated: R
Running Time: 1 hour 48 minutes
It seems like these types of comedies have been hit or miss with me lately. Some of them are hysterical and some are just crude and dumb. This one falls more on the side of hysterical. Paul Rudd plays the role of a nice guy who just got engaged. His fiance (played by Rashida Jones) finds it kinda of strange that he doesn't have any close guy friends.
Rudd goes on a mission to make some guy friends and hopefully find someone to be his best man for the wedding. Andy Samberg plays Rudd's gay younger brother and does a pretty good job at the role. He tries to help Rudd find some guy friends and those adventures are fairly humorous.
However, the main part of the story is Jason Segel's character. He's the cool guy Rudd eventually meets and becomes his "best bud". This movie definitely has some crude parts, but there aren't tons of unnecessary f-bombs and other vulgar words for shock value.
Jamie Pressly and Jon Favreau have smaller, but funny roles in the film as does Lou Ferrigno. As usual the film could have been a little shorter, but still worth seeing.
Click here to check movie times at Star Cinema in Fitchburg.
Remember when Bill Clinton appeared on Arseneo Hall's late night talk show? At the time, some critics thought it was undignified for a man who was trying to become President of the United States to go on a common talk show.
Wow! Times have sure changed. Last night Barack Obama was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We've never had a sitting President sit in on a talk show.
I thought Barack was great and what was most impressive was his ability to appear like a regular guy. He told a few funny stories about his kids riding on Marine One and about getting the family dog.
Many people have said our last President was quite charming in person. However, it always seemed like he was guarded and wasn't sure what to say next.
The only mistake Obama made was when he was joking about his poor bowling skills and said he should be in the Special Olympics. He apologized before the interview even aired.
How important is it for a President to be good on a late night talk show? Not very, but I did enjoy the fact that Obama seemed like a real person and not a politician who seemed out of touch with all of us.
The world's deadliest spider was found yesterday shopping at a grocery story in Tulsa, Oklahoma! Can you believe that?! It was wandering around the bananas in the produce section. I'm getting chills just thinking about it! I know spiders are important to our world and I know they're cool, but they still give me the heebie-jeebies.
Apparently one of the clerks found the Brazilian Wandering Spider in some bananas that came from Honduras. I'm not sure what I would have done if I came across this guy. I know I shouldn't discriminate against spiders. He was probably just trying to buy his groceries like everyone else, but I would have had a real problem if I was working at checkout.
I probably would have tried to act cool and ask if he wanted paper or plastic, but I imagine I would have said something inappropriate like, "Do you really need us to bag this stuff? You have so many arms, don't you think you could help?!"
And now here's the Spiderman cartoon theme song for absolutely no good reason:
Greetings Humans,
It's Baxter, Jonathan's cat. You may have heard about the complaints Jonathan has been getting regarding that house fire from last week. A fellow feline died in the fire and some people think Jonathan made some rude comments.
I was listening to the show and I think all he said was that he wondered if fire fighters used a tiny oxygen mask while trying to revive the kitty.
There have been some complaints on a website I enjoy. Click here to read them. It's the fourth or fifth story down.
I have to admit that sounds rather insensitive, but don't worry. I'm planning on punishing Jonathan a bit. There are a few things I plan on doing the next few days:
1) Stand in front of his computer screen even more than I do now when he's trying to type
2) Some late night incessant meowing
3) Extra "presents" in kitty litter box
4) Large hair ball suprises by his pillow
Hopefully this will whip him into shape. In his defense, Jonathan did adopt me from the animal shelter and has provided me with a wonderful home.
I will admit he can be stupid at times. Honestly, he's even dumber than that huge Labrador Retriever, Rex who lives next door. That's saying a lot because Rex eats tennis balls and dirt!
Jonathan took the time to make a video. I think you should check it out.
U2 has been a super band for years and it all started in Larry Mullen's kitchen when the guys were all about 14 years old. It's amazing the band was able to not only make it, but last so long. As the story goes Larry Mullen put up a flyer at his secondary school looking for people to join his band. All four current memebers showed up as well as The Edge's brother and two other guys.
The band was originally called "Feeback" and then they switched to "The Hype". At some point fairly early on the other potential members left the band and you had these four guys. They won a St. Patrick's Day talent show in 1978 and the rest is history.
I wonder if Mullen (who is second on the left in this young picture of the band) really ever thought they would become rock stars or if he just thought it would be cool to be part of a band while in high school? And what was the key ingredient that made them successful? Is it just dumb luck? Is it their destiny? Perhaps a little of both. I also wonder how many other potential super bands have been out there and just missed making it big? Who came in second at the 1978 St. Patrick's Day talent show? What would have happened if U2 came in second?
They didn't and they've been making great music for about 25 years.
We have all kinds of cool stuff planned for today as we celebrate U2's day on Triple M. In the morning Kitty and I will be playing U2 covering some of their favorite artists at 8am. Pat will have some cool live stuff in the Radio Deli at noon and then Gabby will play some rare stuff from U2 around 3pm.
Of course, the band will take over our radio station tonight at 8pm live and then we have an awesome concert they performed back in 1987 at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago.
Watchmen
Rated: R
Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
I didn't think this would be my kind of movie. I'm not a comic book fan, but I was pleasantly surprised by The Watchmen.
I didn't know anything about the controversy behind this film. I was unaware that Alan Moore, who created the comic book series, didn't want this movie to be made. There are also tons of his fans who feel the same way. After hearing about these "issues" I thought I would be an outsider watching the movie and not understanding all the subtleties of the comic book that were left out.
That was not the case. This was all I needed to know for the film:
There were a group of regular people who dressed as superheros in the 1940's and helped protect America.
Only one of "The Watchmen" really has superpowers, the rest are mere mortals with great fighting skills.
Some are still around and it is now 1985 and there's a new generation of regular superheros, but they've basically forced into retirement by President Richard Nixon. That's right, we apparently loved Nixon so much we dumped term limits so he could remain Commander in Chief. We've also got a big problem with the Soviet Union and the two countries are on the brink of a nuclear war.
Some of these heros are getting knocked off. Â Hence the line, "Who will watch the Watchmen?"
The special effects were great and I found myself sucked into the movie immediately. Yes, it's long but worth it.
If you're going to go, it's a must to see it on Star Cinema's IMAX.
So I've been flying a lot more these days and it seems to me that all the pilots are using the overhead speaker as a training ground for open mic night at the Chuckle Hut.
I guess it's not a big deal but on one of my last flights the pilot got on the speaker and said,
"All aboard! This train is on its way too Minneapolis!" And then he played a sound effect of a train whistle.
Another pilot talked about the flight attendants and how you could watch them on their new television show on Tuesday nights.
A third pilot gave explicit details on the route we would be taking, but he pretended like we were driving in a car. He even talked about pulling over to the side to get something to eat.
Don't get me wrong. I have a great respect for pilots. Supreme Court Justices, pilots, surgeons and pharmacists are the handful of professions I totally respect. However, it seems strange to me if my surgeon was cracking jokes just before the anesthesia kicks in. Could you imagine if Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren had been making jokes as they were ruling on Brown v Board of Education?!
As you probably have guessed, I'm a radio geek. That's why I do this job. When I was a 7-year-old in Chicago listening to the radio, I knew this was the job I wanted. My hero is a guy named Larry Lujack who did morning radio. However, there' s another guy I've always respected. His name is Paul Harvey.
It's not a big surprise. He's a radio legend who was also based in Chicago. He wasn't a rock and roll disc jockey. He was a "news guy" with a rather unusual delivery. As you probably heard, he passed away over the weekend.
I never met Paul Harvey, but I'm sure I would disagree with most everything he stood for politically. However, I respected the way he did his job.
He was also a morning guy and did his show in a suit and tie every day. I don't wear a tie, but I certainly don't dress sloppy. He once said something along the lines of needing every edge when you do radio and one of them is dressing properly. I totally agree. That's why if you ever come to my studio, you'll never see me in a baseball cap or sweatshirt.
More important than fashion was the way Harvey delivered his stories. He was a master of pauses. This is one of the most difficult things to do not only in radio, but in regular conversation.  If you do it right, it can be even better than the things you are saying. Sports talk show host Jim Rome is great at it and so is Rush Limbaugh. (I don't support anything Rush says I just think he's great at radio. Sometimes too good and that could be dangerous, but that's for another blog another day.)
Harvey was also a master of advertising. He would do ads for various products and you wouldn't even realize he was selling you something until he was about half way through the ad.
Perhaps my favorite skill was the way he delivered his "Rest of the Story" segment. This would be a story that would have a twist ending. A classic is the story of the 13-year-old boy who receives a cash gift from Franklin Roosevelt. The little boy turned out to be Fidel Castro. The way Harvey delivered "The Rest of the Story" was amazing. You would be hanging on every word. Whether you agreed with him politically, you have to agree that's great radio.
Last night I was trapped for about four and a half hours! It was incredible that I was able to survive. No, I wasn't trapped in a well or stuck under some large kitchen appliance. It was even worse. My internet and cable were down!
I was sent back to the stone age. After about 20 minutes I realized I should keep a journal of this awful experience. Here it is:
5:30pm: I turn on my television to see what's on Comedy Central. No connection. No big deal. I'm sure it will be fixed in a few minutes.
5:33pm: Still no television. I go to my computer to surf the web. No internet.
5:35pm: Call to my cable and internet provider. I hear a recorded message that they are aware of the problem and are working on it.
5:36pm: Still no t.v.
5:37pm: Decide to do some laundry since I can't surf or watch television
5:40pm: Still no internet
5:41pm: Make a few phone calls to friends and family to talk about my horrible situation
6:02pm: Still no internet or t.v.
6:03pm: Flip through the latest New Yorker and start reading article about Rahm Emanuel. Have the burning desire to look at his Wikipedia page.
6:04pm: Internet still down can't look at Wikipedia
6:06pm: Vacuum apartment
6:17pm: Damn! Still no internet or t.v.
6:20pm: Put clothes in the dryer
6:22pm: You guessed it, no internet or t.v.
6:25pm: Play with my cat, Baxter.  He asks how the White Sox did in their spring training game.
6:26pm: Forget the internet is down and try to check White Sox score for Baxter
6:27pm: Call more friends to waste time
7:07pm: It's too cliche to say I rearranged my sock drawer. Instead I reorganize t-shirts by color and then by logo.
7:15pm: Yell at television for not working
7:16pm: Yell at computer for not being able to provide me with internet
7:18pm: Call from phone solicitor who wants to hang up with me because I'm too clingy
7:35pm: Take clothes out of dryer, fold and put away
7:45pm: Start to accept that I might miss the new episode of 30 Rock
7:50pm: Attempt to play Gin Rummy with Baxter
8:01pm: Realized Baxter is a cheater at Gin Rummy
8:02pm: Think about television and internet but don't check to see if they are back
8:02pm and 30 seconds: Check to see if service has returned
8:03pm: Consider go to workout room
8:04pm: Eat Skinny Cow Ice Cream Bar instead
8:05pm: Phone rings. Wrong number but spend 20 minutes telling stranger my woes
8:25pm: Think about what I used to do before internet.
8:26pm: Attempt to go to internet to type into Google: "What people did before internet"
8:28pm: Cry
8:30pm: Play game of checkers with Baxter
8:35pm: Damn! That cat is good at checkers
8:40pm: Wonder what funny comments Tina Fey is saying to Alec Baldwin
8:45pm: Baxter and I act out some of our favorite scenes from 30 Rock
9:15pm: Brush my teeth and wash my face. I guess I'll have to try to go to sleep
9:20pm: One last check.
9:20 and 10 seconds:Â HALLELUJAH!!!! THE INTERNET AND TELEVISION ARE BACK!!!!!
9:21pm until ?: Surf stupid stuff on-line and flip through television channels way past my bedtime.
Did you hear about the Chicago Bears fan who got hit with a $27-thousand dollar phone bill after watching a Bears game on his computer? You probably know I'm a Bears fan and I'm sure all of you Packer fans are loving this story.
Here's basically what happened. Wayne Burdick was on a cruise ship in Miami about to set sail. He was still in port and decided to watch the Bears game on his laptop computer. He was able to watch it through a device that picked up the game from his television back home. It's totally legal. The problem was AT & T charged him the international rate for access.
He came home from the trip to find out he owed $27-thousand bucks! He got the bill drastically reduced but still owes $6-thousand. Eventually he got the whole thing cleared up.
The worst part, the Bears were playing the lowly Detroit Lions. At least the Bears won, but that was one potentially expensive victory.
Have you heard Bruce Springsteen's new song "The Wrestler"? It was written for the movie starring Mickey Rourke and it's great. The song doesn't appear until the closing credits and it's very powerful. However, there's one problem with the lyrics that it seems no one has noticed.
The song talks about various people, objects and animals that are considered down and out. The first lines are:
Have you ever since a one trick pony running in a field so happy and free?
If you've ever seen a one trick pony then you've seen me.
Great line. It creates an image of an animal that can't do a whole lot but is still satisfied in life.
Here's another awesome line:
Have you ever seen a scarecrow filled with nothing but dust and weed?
If you've ever seen that scarecrow then you've seen me.
Again, great writing. It even gets better:
(Then you´ve seen me) I come and stand at every door
(Then you´ve seen me) I always leave with less than I had before
(Then you´ve seen me) but I can make you smile when the blood it hits the floor
Tell me, friend, can you ask for anything more?
Tell me can you ask for anything more?
Totally great. However, there's one line that is just wrong. I hate to say it, but it's the second verse. Here it is:
Have you ever seen a one legged dog walking down the street?
If you've ever seen a one legged dog then you've seen me.
Bruce! There are no one legged dogs!!! Maybe a three legged dog, but no one legged dogs.
Anyway, the song is great...except for that one line.
President Barack Obama is back on television tonight talking about the bailout plan. All of us here at Triple M having been thinking of how the stimulus package money should be spent. Click here to see some of our brilliant ideas.
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I did it again. I stayed up way too late watching the Oscars. Once again I wonder why they have to make it over three hours? I thought Hugh Jackman was fine as host, but I personally like when they have a comedian hosting the show. Jackman is very talented, but I'd rather here a couple of jokes as opposed to an entire dance routine to open the show.
As far as speeches, nothing too unusual this year. My favorite speeches are ones that actually say something meaningful and inspiring. One of my favorite all time was Steven Soderberg in 2001:
One thing I do enjoy is when it seems like the winner had been dreaming of getting an Oscar his or her entire life. That happened twice this year. I loved Penelope Cruz's speech:
And Kate Winslet's:
Didn't catch all the movies nominated for Best Picture? Well, here's a quick 6 word summary of each of the movies. Hope this helps:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Forrest Gump starring Brad Pitt instead
Frost/Nixon: You'll feel sorry for Tricky Dick
Slumdog Millionaire: India's close-up is beautiful and ugly
Milk: Penn's come far from Spicoli character
The Reader: Nazis, murder, reading Kate Winslet naked
I've always enjoyed Peter Gabriel's work. His album "So" is one of my all-time favorites. However, Mr. Gabriel is being a bit of a baby these days. Did you hear about his complaint with the Oscars?Â
A song Gabriel created for the movie Wall-E is up for an Academy Award, but this year the organizers want the performances of each song to be only 65 seconds long. Apparently, Gabriel is upset and doesn't want to perform for literally just a minute.
As you may know, Gabriel's concerts are quite extravagant. He likes to dress up and do extra long versions of songs. Perhaps they Academy was afraid he would come out on stage wearing something like this:Â
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Yes, that's Peter Gabriel at one of his shows.
He still plans on going to the ceremony, but will let a gospel choir do his song instead of him. I'm trying to decide if is really offended or if he really just doesn't want to go through all the prep-time for a such a short performance.
Yes, it is annoying to have your work edited but in the end why not go along with it? It's not as if they're censoring important political statements Gabriel is making in the song. After all, it's a song for a kids' movie!!
I kinda hope he wins because I'd like to see if he would give an acceptance speech that is at least 70 seconds long.
So I went out to Harvest on Valentine's Day for dinner. It was fantastic. Besides my dinner date, the best part of the meal may have actually been the waiter. He was very polite and had some great catch phrases that we enjoyed.
That's one of the things I love about a nice restaurant, it's fun to watch the waiters in action. You won't hear the waiter say, "Would you like a Bloomin' Onion to get things started!"
Here were some of the things our waiter said:
"Are the first few bites delightful?"
"It gives me great pleasure to put that order in immediately"
"I'll let you reflect on your drinks before taking your order"
He also clasped his hands and spoke in very a very low tone. We loved it.
We also loved hearing a description of the food. It almost feels like story time. There's so much detail on how the item is prepared and what goes into it. We pretty much knew what we were going to order, but still made him describe a few items because it was fun to hear all the details.
I always enjoy watching a top notch professional working at his or her craft. This guy was definitely a professional.
However, I wonder if he's like that at home? Does he say something like:
"Honey, it gives me great delight to throw out the trash this evening."
And when he goes to a fast food joint, does it frustrate him that the guy behind the counter can't give a detailed description of how the burger was created. Actually, we probably don't want the details of how it was created!
As you may know, Charlie Shortino provides us with steller forecasts every morning on our show. His witty banter is always such a delight in the early morning hours.
However, Charlie has hinted that he may want to take some time off. We've been auditioning some other people for the job. Charlie has sent us a clip of his mentor.
We're thinking of hiring her. What do you think?
As many of you know, I'm a Chicago Bears fan. So you may not take my opinion on the re-retiring of Brett Favre too seriously. However, there are a few points I want to make.
I keep hearing people say they feel betrayed by Brett because he played for another team last season. Kitty compares it to a lover or husband leaving and going with someone else. I don't really like that analogy.Â
I like this one better. Imagine a chef comes to a restaurant that is not doing well. He comes in and revives the restaurant to top notch status. He puts in long hours for 16 years! He starts to get tired and is not sure if he still has it in his heart to keep cooking.   Keep in mind, when he decides to retire he'll never be able to cook again...ever.
Should the restaurant let him wavier? I say yes. Should they let him wavier to the point that it might effect the restaurant? I still say yes. Remember where the restaurant was before he showed up. Keep in mind, either way he won't be around that much longer anyway.
Still with me? Well, Ted Thompson and the Packers were annoyed waiting and pushed him out the door. Do I think Brett was probably annoying? Yes. Do I think he probably acted like a diva? Yes. However, I think he gets to because of all his years of service. Again, it will all be over in a year or two anyway.
If I was a Packer fan would I be a bit annoyed with Brett? Probably, but after 16 years of service he's earned the right to be a little annoying.Â
Finally, keep in mind the difficulty of this decision. I think people forget how tough this is for Brett. Imagine doing something for years and years and then having to stop FOREVER. That's what happens to atheletes and remember they have to stop at a young age. Quitting the thing you love at age 40 is pretty tricky.
Anyway, Packer fans give Brett a break.
As the economy continues to stumble, you can feel some more turbulance in the airline industry. The lastest? U.S. Airways is now going to charge $7 for a pillow and a blanket in coach. They're calling it a "Power Nap Sack". I tend to think of a pillow and blanket on an airplane as a piece of tissue and a single cotton ball.
However, officials from the company say it's way more than a tiny blanket and pillow. Â The kits will include a 34-by-60-inch fleece blanket, a neck pillow, eye shades, foam ear plugs and a $10-off coupon for items in the SkyMall catalog. They come in a fleece drawstring bag embroidered with the airline's logo.
That drawstring bag will sure be nice! Wow! I'll be sure to take that along and proudly display it at home.
I understand the airlines are doing whatever they can to make a little more cash, but I can already see what's coming next:
Flight attendant: "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to your U.S. Airways flight. If you would like to use the bathroom it will cost $2 a trip or you can get a unlimited pass for $15."
"In the event the cabin becomes depressurized a mask will fall from above. Just insert $5 and the oxygen will begin to flow. Your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device for just $3."
"And finally make sure your seatbelt is fastened. Can't get it to work? Did you insert $2?"
"That's for flying U.S. Airways and don't forget to throw in a couple of bucks for gas money."
Once again it's time to break down the Super Bowl ads from this year. It's great the actual game was even more exciting then the ads again this year. However, this blog is not about x's and o's. This is about $$$.
So I have to say I'm officially tired of the silly Bud Light ads. Conan O' Brien did one this year (and I love Conan) but they just don't seem as funny to me anymore. You may disagree. Here's Conan's spot:
Sadly, I'm also a little tired of the Clydesdales. I love horses and I love when commercials make animals human. I wanted this one to work, but it fell a little short. Take a look:
Okay? So what did Mr. Picky like best? My second favorite comes from Denny's:
And at number one? I think this ad is one of the best I've seen in years! I've probably watched this one 20 time already. Check it out:
A lot of us have been inspired by the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, not only because he's the first African-American to hold the office, but because it seems like he's bringing common sense back to Washington.
No, I don't think everything Obama will do will be perfect, but at least he's open to discussing all the different points of view when trying to come up with the right thing to do.Â
Hopefully this gives us all hope. Apparently, it's given some drug dealers in New York some hope. Did you hear about the dealers who named some heroin after our new President?
Here are some of the details from The Smoking Gun: Cops in upstate New York this week broke up a drug ring that allegedly sold heroin under several brand names, including "Obama." The president's surname was stamped in red ink on small glassine wrappers that were peddled by street dealers.Â
But here's the best part, apparently naming drugs after current events is nothing knew. The story goes on to say:  The branding of illicit drugs is a favorite of pushers, who have previously sold bin Laden heroin, Harry Potter Ecstasy, bricks of Teletubbies cocaine and green-tinted crack in recoginition of St. Patrick's Day.  Â
Whoa! Does someone doing heroin really feel cool doing Teletubbies cocaine or Harry Potter Ecstasy?
Have you seen those commercials for Capital One cards where they talk about personalizing your credit card with a nifty picture? In the commercials they have someone put a picture of their cat or maybe a shot of themselves on a tropical island.
Well, the folks at The Smoking Gun found out about a guy who took Nick Notle's famous mug shot and made it into a credit card. Check it out:
This is beyond classic! Capital One realized the mistake and canceled the card, but the guy still had one that he could keep as a souvenir. I was thinking about some other people that might be fun to put on a credit card.
How about everyone's favorite Governor? I think this photo would be perfect:
Now some people may have the problem of using their credit cards too much. I think this next picture may scare some people into keeping their card in their wallet and in the end saving some money.
I know I wouldn't take out my credit card for weeks, if I saw Dick Cheney looking at me. However, this picture of Obama may cause me to use my credit card too much.
I guess I'll just stick with no picture for now!
Did you hear about the 140-year-old lobster who finally obtained his freedom? The lobster was on death row at City Crab and Seafood in New York City. He was caught off Newfoundland about 10 days ago. You can read the complete story here: odd_liberated_lobster
Once again, my blog is the place to go for an exclusive interview with the lobster, which is named Lenny.
Me: Mr. Lobster it's an honor to meet you.
Lenny: Could you please speak up. I am 140-years-old!
Me: OF COURSE. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE RELEASED FROM CERTAIN DEATH.
Lenny: No need to shout, boy. I didn't really think I was going to die. I've been in worse jams then this.
Me: Really, like what?
Lenny: It was back in 1886. I was cruising around the coast and I was actually caught by President Grover Cleveland. That's right. He was hunting for lobsters. I was brought all the way to the White House in Washington D.C.
Me: What happened?
Lenny: Well, it turned out that ol' Grover and I had a mutual friend. My buddy, Harry actually worked as a clerk on the same law firm Cleveland worked for in Buffalo, New York. He had to let me go.
Me: Interesting. Any other close calls?
Lenny: Perhaps my biggest was in April of 1914. I was captured once again and was supposed to be dinner on a cruise ship called The Titanic. Have you heard of it?
Me: You mean to tell me you escaped that disaster?!
Lenny: Yes, a beautiful woman let me ride on her back. She had a boyfriend on the ship, but I think he didn't make it. I believe they made a movie about it. I believe Kathy Bates played me.
Me: Amazing story.
Lenny: Look, I'd like to talk with you all afternoon, but I've got to get back to the ocean before the clowns in this restaurant change their minds and realize how good I would taste with some hot butter.
HBO is the only place to see the opening ceremony on January 18th for the inauguration of Barack Obama. Keep in mind, this isn't the hand on the bible ceremony. The actual swearing in of Obama takes place two days later and is on all television stations.
HBO is paying $1.5 million bucks for the right to carry the opening ceremony. I'm thinking if they're paying that much they should be allowed to have some impact on the events.
Why don't the guys from Entourage shoot an episode in the White House? Maybe The Sopranos should come back too. I can already see the episode. Tony's Cadillac Escalade gets mixed up with President Barack Obama's.Â
How about Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiam at the Inaugural Ball? I can see it now: Larry makes a scene when he accidentally gets locked in the Presidental bathroom.
Maybe the characters in Big Love have a problem getting into the party because Bill Paxton's character forgot to include his two extra wives on the guest list.
Just a thought...
Today Paul Reiser was dead for a few minutes on the World Wide Web. Someone changed his Wikipedia entry to say that he died in a fishing accident. Here's the entry:
"On December 27th, 2008 Reiser was discovered dead in the Squallahassee River where he reportedly enjoyed fly fishing. No foul play was suspected."
Apparently there is no Squallahassee River and Paul is very much alive. I don't know what Paul has been up to these days. I know he made a few movies after his "Mad About You" television series ended, but haven't seen much from him lately.
I wonder who was responsible for creating the hoax? Perhaps it was his manager who promised to get him some publicity in 2008 and was running out of time.
There was a guy in Philadelphia who got so annoyed with people taking during a movie that he took a shot at them. No, he didn't shoot a glaring look at them, he shot at them. I admit I hate when people talking during movies. In fact, I can't stand it. The movie theatre is not your living room, but I haven't reached the point of trying to shoot someone.
Here's a little more of the story from the Associated Press:
James Joseph Cialella, 29, of Philadelphia, told the man's family to be quiet, then threw popcorn at the man's son, police said. The victim told police that Cialella was walking toward his family when he stood up and was shot.
Detectives called to the United Artists Riverview Stadium theater in South Philadelphia found Cialella carrying the weapon, a .380-caliber handgun, in his waistband, police said.
Cialella faces six charges that include attempted murder and aggravated assault. He remained in custody Saturday.
Lt. Frank Vanore called the incident "scary that it gets to that level of violence from being too noisy during a movie."
Vanore said the 31-year-old victim from suburban Yeadon was hospitalized in stable condition after the shooting.Â
Police could not confirm what movie was playing in the theater, but The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that it was "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
I can't imagine what that exchange must have been like. Did the guy tell them to shut up a couple of times first? It also seems like shooting someone would be a little more disruptive to the rest of the audience then a little whispering. Couldn't they have just made peace over some popcorn and Snowcaps?
Once again Jonathan's blog is the place to talk with the real newsmakers. Today we have an exclusive interview with one of the shoes thrown at President Bush. The shoe, which is named Abir, is currently locked up at a prison in Baghdad.
Me: Mr. Shoe, thank you for taking time to speak with us today.
Shoe: Please, call me Abir.
Me: Okay, Abir. What made you decide to risk your life and hurl yourself at President Bush?
Shoe: I really have been upset the last few months about the situation in Iraq and I felt like I needed to use my tongue to be heard.
Me: Is it about the war still going on in your country?
Shoe: Well that's bad too, but I'm more upset with the rebulding of the country.
Me:Â The fact that lots of Iraqis have no water or electricity?
Shoe:Â No, the fact that there has yet to be a Famous Footwear built since the war!!
Me: Excuse me.
Shoe: Look I'm not asking for a Niketown or an exclusive Bruno Magli shoe store to open. Just something decent for people here!
Me: I see. Was it scary to hurl yourself at Bush?
Shoe: No, I simply looked into my sole and knew it was the right thing. Besides I come from a long line of dissenters. My great-grandfather was at the United Nations in 1960. (pictured left) I'm proud to say he teamed up with Nikita Khrushchev and banged himself on the podium at the United Nations.
I see a lot of movies and sometimes I wonder how some of these things got made in the first place. There are a lot of stupid movies out there. Did any of you "Bangkok Dangerous" starring Nicolas Cage? It was awful. You may remember M. Night Shyamalan made an horrible movie starring Mark Wahlberg called "The Happening". It wasn't. "The Love Guru" with Mike Myers officially made him an out of touch comedian.
I agree that it's difficult to make a good movie and now Hollywood is turning back to video games for some help. There have been a few video games that have been made into movies like "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" with Angelina Jolie. There are some more in the works including World of Warcraft and BioShock. I'm really not too familiar with either game. Sadly, my video game experience ended somewhere in the late 80's with my Atari and Intellivison.
Those games were really simple, but I loved them.  My all-time favorite game was Adventure by Atari. Do any of you remember this game? You were literally a dot and you had to kill dragons and find a golden chalice. Here's an action shot of you (the dot) fighting a dragon. If you would make a kid play this today, it would probably be cruel and usual punishment because the game was so friggin' simple.
Yes, the arrow is the awesome sword! Check out the chalice on the left!!!  There would be no special effects. The movie should look just like the picture on the right. I'm thinking Keanu Reeves could play the role of the dot, but it might be too much of a stretch for him to play a dot. The dot might have too much personality.
If you ever played this game and want to play it again, you are in luck! Click here to bring yourself back to that wonderfully lame game called Adventure.
Have you heard the USC Trojans will be penalized before their football game against UCLA even starts on Saturday? Apparently, the Trojans want to wear their home jerseys even though the visiting team when they play UCLA this weekend.
Both teams wearing home jerseys is a tradition that came to an end back in 1982. If the NCAA doesn't give them an okay to do it, the penalty is a loss of a timeout in both the first and second half of the game.
It doesn't really seem like a big deal for the two teams to wear their home uniforms. UCLA is powder blue and USC is cardinal red. Big deal. I'm not sure what the NCAA is worried about.
If they're really concerned maybe they should start looking at some of the other teams jerseys. For example, Oregon needs a better look.
As long as we're ripping on uniforms, did you see what the Houston Texans were wearing on Monday night?
All red does not work! Anyway, good luck to UCLA and USC. I hope they can get their fashion issues resolved.
Today Jonathan has invited Plaxico Burress' thigh to write a guest blog. If you missed the news, Burress, the star wide receiver for the New York Giants, accidentlaly shot his own thigh the other evening at a night club. Burress' had an unregistered handgun and could be facing up to three years in prison. A sentence Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants carried out. Considering Burress' thigh was the victim in this case, Jonathan wanted the thigh to have a chance to speak out. Here is the exclusive thoughts by the thigh.Thank you, Jonathan and Triple M for giving me this opportunity to speak out about Plaxico and his rather reckless move the other night. First let me say that I've enjoyed being Plaxico's thigh all these years. When were were little we had lots of fun times together. I remember running around the streest with Plax and riding bicycles. It was great.
I have to admit our college years were pretty awesome too. I met my share of thighs, if you know what I mean. Wink. Wink.
The Super Bowl last year was incredible too! Plax and I caught the winning touchdown with just a few ticks on the clock to give the Giants the win over those annoying New England Patriots! Things were great for Plax and me. We were superstars.
Things got a little weird over the off-season and I think it might be my fault. I've always been fascinated with thigh-high stockings. I know the thigh highs are for women, but they just seem so silky and so smooth. I just wanted to tr them. I kept asking Plax to get a pair. I told him we can just wear them at home. No one will ever know.
Well, I kept bugging him about the thigh-highs and I finally convinced him to buy a pair. We went to Victoria's Secret and got a pair. They looked awesome. I kept bugging Plax to put them on. He said he wanted to go out with some friends, first. We got to the club and I kept twitching because I was excited to put on the thigh-highs. He kept hitting me and telling me to calm down.  I couldn't wait! Finally, he just got so mad he shot me.
Can you believe it!? That piece of @#$% shot me! After all I've done for him! He friggin shoots me just because I want to get a little experimental!
He should go off to jail!
Wait, I have to go too?
Okay, maybe he should just get probation.
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
It's a miracle that both Jonathan and KItty wanted to hear Barry Manilow this morning. They were not alone. Plenty of Fanilow's called in to vote yes. One caller claimed to have seen Manilow in concert 25 times!
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it is another gorgeous Monday, fit for another great show at the Crystal Corner tonight.
Through locking ourselves in the barn on Irish Lane, tossing some ideas around, as well as a few choice beverages to...
Hey everybody, we were thrown for a loop by the twist this week, but were able to make one of our "oldie but a goldie" songs fit the mold.
We have a few songs that we have played consistently over the years, and we are very happy that we will be...
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
It's a miracle that both Jonathan and KItty wanted to hear Barry Manilow this morning. They were not alone. Plenty of Fanilow's called in to vote yes. One caller claimed to have seen Manilow in concert 25 times!
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it is another gorgeous Monday, fit for another great show at the Crystal Corner tonight.
Through locking ourselves in the barn on Irish Lane, tossing some ideas around, as well as a few choice beverages to...
Hey everybody, we were thrown for a loop by the twist this week, but were able to make one of our "oldie but a goldie" songs fit the mold.
We have a few songs that we have played consistently over the years, and we are very happy that we will be...
As many of you know, I'm a Chicago Bears fan. Don't blame me. I was born and raised in Chicago so it only makes sense.   Therefore, I've been watching the whole Brett Favre saga from a somewhat neutral vantage point.
I've talked with so many Packer fans this season and heard so many different thoughts on whether or not it's okay to root for Favre throughout the season. It seems to come down to three basic positions:
1)Â Root for Favre when he's not playing the Packers
2) Root for Favre and forget the Packers
3) Forget Favre
I'm not sure which choice Packer fans should make. Favre did provide Packer fans with so many thrills over the years, but he also kept fans hanging each year as they wondered whether he was going to retire. He did bring the Packers out of no-man's land. Remember how being drafted by Green Bay was considered like a trip to Siberia? However, it did feel at times like he was more concerned about Brett as opposed to the entire team.
I think Packer fans will really know how they feel about Favre after Sunday's game against the Saints. If Favre throws for four or five touchdowns and no interceptions en route to a huge win and you don't get sick to your stomach, I guess you still don't mind him that much.
As a Bears fan, I'm still just trying to imagine what it would be  like to have a hall of fame quarterback to get annoyed with!
How I Spent My Strummer Vacation (Nov. 10, 2002)
I'm not always a big fan of famous guest appearances on the show, but this one is classic. Homer goes to fantasy band camp and gets to mingle with rock n' roll royality including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer. Perhaps the funniest scene is Tom Petty's giant car that's in the shape of a devil's head.
Today I Am a Clown (Dec. 7, 2003)
This one stars Krusty who finally decides he should have a Bar Mitzvah. Jackie Mason is back as Krusty's disappointed rabbi father who had a hard time understanding why his son got into showbiz. Krusty decides to put the ceremony on television and spruce it up a bit. It includes a cameo by Mr. T. Krusty is happy that the show is a rating success.  Probably the best line is when Krusty refers to how well the show did. He says:  It's "Everybody Loves Raymond re-run good".
The Way We Weren't (May 9, 2004)
This is another episode where Marge and Homer talk about their past. They discover that they had a brief fling when they were both 10-years-old and at overnight camp. Marge didn't know it was Homer because he pretended to be someone else. The name he makes up? Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar.
Milhouse of Sand and Fog (September 25, 2005)
Bart is trying to help Milhouse get his parents back together, but in the process almost breaks up his own folks. The best part of the episode is a reference to the television show The O.C.  The cast of the show is going to Knott's Berry Farm with a giant snoopy. For some reason Snoopy holds them up at gun point and makes all the characters take money out of an ATM. Priceless.
Girls Just Want to Have Sums (April 30,2006)
Springfield Elementary decides to divide the school by gender. Of course, Lisa wants to learn math with the boys.  The opening scene is what really made me laugh. The Simpsons go to see the musicial "Stab a Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musicial". It's a great paraody of the Lion King and includes Marge trying to avoid being noticed by the actors who are walking through the crowd. She says something along the lines of "Looking through my purse so I don't get noticed". Of course, she's picked to participate.
24 Minutes (May 20, 2007)
This one is a fantastic paraody of the Fox show 24. One of the best lines comes from Apu who can't stand the smell of some really bad old yogurt Homer tries to return to the Kwik-E-Mart. Apu says, ""If a homeless man and a dead fish had a baby, and the baby puked, and a dog ate the puke," the yogurt would smell like "the rear end of that dog."
Treehouse of Horror XIX (Nov. 2, 2008)
Treehouse episodes always have three short stories and I really liked the first and last of the three stories. The first one is a great paraody on Transformers. The second one takes a shot at the AMC show Mad Men and the third is a great paraody of "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". Milhouse plays the Charlie Brown roll and things get rather twisted.
The Devil Wears Nada (Nov. 15, 2009)
I rented  The Devil Wears Prada a few days before watching this episode which may have made it even more funny to me. Homer becomes an assistant to Carl who has become a manager for the power plant. The best scene is Marge and Ned eating strawberries together and almost kissing.
It's a bloody shower curtian and bath rug.  Sure, it might be kinda fun to have this in your bathroom for a halloween party, but what about the other 364 days of the year?
I've been trying to think of who would actually like this all year round. I think the list is pretty short.  It would include Stephen King, Alfred Hitchcock, Sissy Spacek (as Carrie), the guy who played Freddie Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street and Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates).Â
Actually, there's one more person who should be at the top of the list. It's Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith because he's been butchering the team for the last three seasons!
Well, we've got the perfect gift for this wilderness enthusiast:Â It's the biggest friggin' pocket knife you'll ever see.
This thing is insane. It has EVERYTHING. I believe along with being able to cut things it can:
Balance your checkbook
Make you a better lover
Pay your electric bill
Take your place at boring office meetings
Make dinner
Walk the dog
Please use caution with this wonderful gift. Why? Well the one thing it doesn't have:
First aid kit
Yet another gift that could actually start a fight between the person giving it and the person getting it. It's  a 
We're doing out best this holiday season to find gifts for your whole family, so we can't forget about the family pooch. I'm sure any dog would be more than thrilled to get this doggie raincoat.
I mean look how thrilled the dog in this picture looks! I can almost hear what he's thinking. It's probably something like: "Oh my goodness. My owners better not take me to the dog park this way. If that cute Collie I've been peeing near every time I come to the park sees me I will die of embarrassment. If my German Shepherd friend Rex sees me, I will never hear the end of it! Oh why don't you just get me neutered right now. I feel like you already have!!!"
Anyway, this is the 
Oprah: Oprah is Oprah and she does tell us what books to read, but how can we trust someone who unleashed Dr. Phil on the world?
Jon Stewart:Â I love him and enjoy watching The Daily Show every night, but he's a comedian and he's the first to tell you he's doing a comedy show that happens to have a little bit of news.
Tom Hanks: Love his movies, but we're talking movies! I feel like he's a decent human being and probably shares many of the same political views as me, but he's not a journalist. Although I have to admit he's great in everything he does including Bosom Buddies.
Suze Orman: She's the financial talk guru. It's not her fault, but she'll have to wait until my 401K gets back up to at least a 301K before I can consider her.
Colin Powell: A great American hero, but would have been even more trustworthy if he would have run for President of the U.S. and switched parties. Also I know it's not his fault, but I can still picture him standing in front of the United Nations with all those charts explaining why we should attack Iraq.
Tom Brokaw: Love Tom, but what has he REALLY been up to since he left the NBC Nightly News?
Michelle Obama: Wonderful first lady, but she's got her hands full right now with two little girls and that whole First Lady gig.
Jay Leno: Good comedian, hard worker and has the reputation as being one of the all-time nicest guys in show business.
However, he never takes vacation.  Even when he's not doing his show, he's doing stand-up somewhere in the U.S. How can we trust a guy who NEVER takes vacation?
General David Petraeus: This is a Catch 22 situation. He's another military guy. I trust the military, but I also know that sometimes they have to lie to us so how can I trust them?
Warren Buffett: He's hard working and started from nothing to create a vast empire. He's a great investor and not a show-off. He's truly followed the American Dream, but he's so #$%@-ing rich! Even if he's humble, it would still get annoying that he can buy and sell most small countries several times over!
So what can we do? Is there no Most Trusted Person in America to follow Walter Cronkite? I think I've made my decision. He's brutally honest and has a great sense of humor.  I present to you the Most Trust Dog in America: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Just watch him do a weather forecast in Hawaii.
Bruno
I can't say that I loved all of Michael Jackson's music. I liked a lot of it, and own some of it, but I don't regularly listen that much anymore. However, I have paid close attention to Jackson as a person throughout the years.
I've always been fascinated with his strange habits, but also didn't want to simply dismiss him as a freak. Actually, he was a freak. He became famous as a child and became bigger than life worldwide. Sure, there are plenty of world famous people, but no one as big as him.
I can't imagine what that would really be like. Sting seems to have handled it. So has Madonna. Paul McCartney does just fine too. Why was it different for Jackson? Was it because he never really had a childhood? Was it because he literally could not go in public without a complete mob scene taking place?
I remember seeing David Bowie once at a restaurant in Miami. He was with 
Iman and they were eating at a table. People were looking at them, but they were able to have a meal without the entire restaurant going crazy.  That was never a possibility for Jackson.Â
What is it like to not be able to go outside by yourself in public...ever. It might make you a little crazy. By no means am I saying that makes it okay to take advantage of children. However, I'm not really ever sure if Jackson really did horrible things to kids or if he really was just a kid trapped inside an adult and that the only people he felt comfortable around were children.
I'll also never understand all the plastic surgery. What was he running from? Why was he so desperate to change his look? We'll probably never really know the answers to any of these questions.Â
The only thing I do know is that you have to have been one talented person to be recognized around the world for good or bad like Michael Jackson was for the last 30 years.
You can see UP in 3D (which I highly recommend) at Star Cinema.
See The Proposal at Star Cinema in Fitchburg. 
You can see this movie at Star Cinema. 
Lindsay and I tend to be on the short side on the height scale so within seconds we were completely underneath all the foam. I hope that was her hand I was grabbing. Trying to enjoy a cocktail or two can also be quite a challenge when your mouth is filled with bubbles.
After about a half hour we decided we had enough and we headed to the car. A soaking wet car ride home didn't seem like the best idea. I had a couple of towels in the trunk so we stripped down to our underwear and jumped into the car. Of course, one car did slow down to see what was going on. I said to Lindsay that some guy was checking us out. Honestly, I don't think he was really paying much attention to me.
Will we become regulars at The Cardinal's Foam Party? I'd say no, but it did give me a new appr
eciation of a nice quiet bubble bath at home.
Greetings Humans!
I'm -snort- Mr. Oinkers -snort- and I'm here to talk about -snort- a new development in the world of swine. As yu know, we've gotten -snort- a rather bad rap the last few months because -snort- of that stupid H1N1 virus! It's been tough -snort- to get any good press these days.
However, there's been -snort- a new development that I wanted to share with -snort- you. A new study says pig slurry -snort- can help fight climate change! That's @#$%-ing right!!! The swine -snort- is back! You can 
For the last several years it's been a tradition for me to go to Opening Day for the Chicago White Sox. Win or lose, it signals the start of another baseball season and the end of winter. This year I had my ticket for the first game, but it was snowed out and the make up game was scheduled for the next day. Since my job is to wake up Madison every morning, it wasn't possible for me to go to the next day.
However, I got to go to my first game over Memorial Day weekend. In fact, I took Lindsay to the game. I was excited to get back to the park despite the fact that the White Sox have been struggling so far this season. I was also excited because over the winter I shelled out some cash for a brick with my name to be installed outside the stadium.
For those of you unfamiliar with White Sox history, the team won a World Series back in 2005, but that was the first championship in 88 years! World Series wins are rare in Chicago so a giant shrine was installed outside the park honoring the 2005 champs. Suckers like me could pay good money to have a brick installed around the shrine.
Here's a picture of my brick:
So when we got to US Cellular Field I was excited to see the brick and to show Lindsay how cool I was to have my very own brick. I have a feeling it is something that probably impressed me more than her. I can't imagine she'll be saying to her friends, "Did you know Jonathan has his own brick at U.S. Cellular Field?!"
She doesn't have to tell anyone yet because there is no brick...yet. Apparently the bad weather over the winter made it difficult to install the new bricks so mine wasn't in place. The picture you see is of the "copy brick" that was sent to my apartment.
I was slightly disappointed the brick wasn't there, but it was still time for baseball!! Lindsay and I had great seats behind home plate and she seemed to enjoy the game. They were playing the Pittsbugh Pirates and there were quite a few Pirates' fans sitting around us. I got a little tired of making small talk with Pirates fans about the rivalry between the Cubs and White Sox or how could voters have elected Rob Blagojevich as Governor of Illinois.
However, the game moved at a pretty decent pace and suddenly it was already the top of the ninth and the there were two outs. The White Sox were leading 3 to 2 and the fans all jumped to their feet to cheer for the final out. Then the White Sox ace reliever, Bobby Jenks gave up a home run and then a few more hits and suddenly it was 4 to 3 Pittsburgh.
They ended up losing the game! I've been a White Sox fan for about 27 years and honestly most of those years have ended in disappointed. So to steal another sports term: I guess my first visit of the year was "par for the course."
E-mail forwards are pretty annoying in general. However, every now and then there will be one that is a complete gem. My friend, Michael forward me a link to a great site called 
After we were finished with dinner, we were hanging out and all of a sudden I saw Cedric Yarbrough walking by. Who? I didn't remember his name either and I probably wouldn't know who he was if you said his name. He's one of the characters on 
Star Trek
It appears the Swine flu or the H1N1 virus may be passing, but some people are still scared. In my office, management has put Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in every room. Should I blow my nose with those things?
Well now you can rest easy, there is a test you can take to see if you have the Swine Flu.
Simply 
It's so strange how freaky a phone call or doorbell can be when you're sound asleep. I usually take a nap in the afternoon (I know, just like a little kid) and I usually turn off my phones. However, I can't turn off the front door buzzer. This afternoon the buzzer rang and you'd think it was the start of World War III. I was totally disoriented and thought I was late for work. Baxter, my cat was also freaked out.
I ran to the door and wondered if I was getting a special package from the delivery guy. Perhaps it was Publisher's Clearing House with one of those giant checks?! I quickly pushed the talk button. Here was the exchange:
Me (groggy sounding): Hello?
Voice: Terry?
Me: Who?
Voice: Oh, sorry. Wrong apartment.
They say the opposite of love is indifference not hate, but could you really be indifferent to this?
We're all looking for other ways to make a little extra cash these days, so I was very excited when I saw a story on line called: 
So the other day I was out for a run along the bike path on John Nolan Drive and I heard a car honking. I looked over and there were two guys in the car. The passenger stuck out his finger and said, "F---- You, Steve!"  The two guys smiled and then drove off.
I looked around hoping there was a guy with a t-shirt that said "I'm Steve" on the front. However, I did not see anyone else near me.  There were some ducks in Lake Monona. I hoped one of them perhaps went by the name Steve, but I noticed they didn't turn their heads when the guy shouted. I then wondered if some of the trees in the area perhaps were known as Steve Trees. No such luck.
So I don't know who those guys were or what they have against Steve, but now I'm thinking of wearing a shirt while I run that says "Not Steve".
It's really not that bad, but here's the new one:
Okay. I admit that was a cheap shot. However, I do admire that the first team to go 0 and 16 decided to change the team logo. Here it is for real compared to the old one:
I actually do think it looks a lot better. Can changing a logo really do much for a team? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers old logo:
After they changed to this:
They won the Super Bowl. Oh yeah, they also got new owners, a new stadium, a new coach and a lot of new great players. Good luck to Detroit. At least they're started to head in the right direction.
Have you caught the AMC show "Breaking Bad"? It's an amazing program in its second season. My friend, Keith introduced me to the show about a month ago.Â
It stars the dad from the Fox comedy Malcolm in the Middle in a MUCH different role. Bryan Cranston plays a high school science teacher who is dying from cancer. He has a son and his wife is pregnant with their second child.
He wants to raise enough money to keep his family comfortable after he dies. Through a strange series of events he decideds to create a Meth lab with one of his former students.
I know it sounds crazy, but the story is very real. After all, we watched the adventures of Tony Soprano for all those years. This show is created by Vince Gilligan. He's written other shows including the X-Files. Within the first few minutes of watching this show, you'll know you've come across something great.
You probably already have enough show to watch on television, but try to add this one to your list. It's on Sunday nights at 9pm on AMC.
So I have to admit it is kind of fun to see the picture, but would my life be incomplete if I didn't?
Madison has been dubbed America's most liveable city. I think it can also be dubbed as America's most convenient city. Just last week Lindsay came to visit and we were wandering around Monroe street. Somehow I missed all the clearly posted signs that reminded me my car would be towed if it was on the street between 4:30 and 6pm.
So you can probably guess what happened. I was towed. I thought I would have to go really far to find my car. I pictured this impound lot about a million miles away with mean barking dogs and a giant fence.Not the case, the towing company simply moved my car to a nearby side street and put me in a totally legal parking spot. Talk about easy access. I should have parked there in the first place.
Granted it still cost me 90 bucks, but it could have been a lot worse. As odd as this sounds, the city made my first towing experience (and hopefully my last) rather comfortable.
Have you ever wished you could go back to high school? I certainty wouldn't want to go back for a full four years. I don't think I'd even want to go for a week, but perhaps just a few hours.
Some high school football players are going to be able to do just that in a few weeks. Apparently there are two rival high schools on the East Coast that have been playing each other for 102 years. Back in 1993 the two schools: Easton (Pa.) and Phillipsburg (N.J.) played to a tie. They didn't have overtime back then.
Those two 1993 teams will play each other again on April 26th. Yes, these guys in the 30's are getting in shape and finishing the game once and for all.
So the Obamas FINALLY got the family dog. Sasha and Malia can rest easy because their dad came through with his promise of a pooch if they all made it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The new pooch is named Bo and was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy. Didn't it seem like it took the Obamas forever to get the dog? Why didn't Senator Kennedy give them the pooch a few months ago?
Now I'm wondering if Sasha and Malia will really take care of Bo. Will the Secret Service have to walk Bo in the morning? I have a feeling the President and the First Lady will not stand for the girls blowing off the job of pet care.
I'm also wondering if Bo gets a nickname? The President is refered to as Renegade by the Secret Service. Michelle is known as Renaissance, Malia as Radiance  and Sasha as Rosebud. What can they call Bo?
Here are some suggestions:
1) Lincoln Bedroom Bedspread Chewer
2) Oval Office Carpet Stainer
3) Rose Garden Digger Upper
4) West Wing Hallway Humper
Wait, did they already use that last one as a nickname when Clinton was in the White House?
Billy Bob Thornton has a band called The Boxcutters. I know. I haven't heard of them either. I'm all for people trying to create music. Idon't think it's wrong when actors cross over into the music world. Â
However, Billy Bob was a total a-hole to the guy interviewing him. Why? Because there was a slight mention that Thornton is an oscar winning actor. Come on! Billy Bob should realize he wouldn't even be interviewed by the CBC if he just some guy in a band.
It's nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton and I can't get over the fact that McCain went back there. It's now a museum and there's even a flight suit and boots on display that were supposedly McCain's. He looked at them and said it didn't look like his stuff.
It amazing to me that he wanted to go back. I have a great respect for anyone who has served in the military and obviously someone who survived as a prisoner is an amazing person.  However, I can't imagine how McCain can actually go there and not have any bad memories.Â
I've refused to go back to a store because I thought the person behind the counter was a little rude. He went back to a place that took away five years of his life.
McCain may be old, but he's still pretty tough.
I tend to be an optimist especially when it comes to baseball. Not only do I think the White Sox have a chance to win the World Series every year, but I always think every game I'm going to see in person will be played.
I've been driving to the park in downpour, but I still go. It seems like most of the time the games still happen. Sure, there will be a rain delay, but eventually the game gets played that day.
I always do my best to go to Opening Day. People always ask me what's the big deal about going to Opening Day. They always say there are so many more games and the weather will be nicer later in the year. This is true, but there's something about going to that very first home game of the year. It marks the rebirth of the greatest game out there.Â
I'm pretty faithful to Opening Day. A few years ago I sat through a six hour rain delay and finally watched them play on Opening Day. I'm not saying I'm smart, but I'm always optimist that they'll play the game. That actually turned out to be a great Opening Day because by the time the game started there were only about 3-thousand people in the stands. I ended up with great seats.
The reason I stayed was because the year before I left after a two hour rain delay and massive downpours.  However, they ended up playing that game that night. I remember thinking to myself that I would always wait out the rain delay especially on Opening Day because it seems like they always end up playing.
Not this year. The game got postponed the day BEFORE it was going to be played. Granted on Sunday evening it was snowing pretty heavily in the Chicagoland area. However, I didn't expect them to postpone the game until well after it was supposed to start on Monday.Â
Not the case. They actually decided to skip Monday and try again on Tuesday. They made the call mid-day on Sunday.
Here's the most annoying part: It was a pretty nice day on Monday. It wasn't 
perfect baseball weather but it was partly sunny and about 40 degrees. That's not so bad for Opening Day in the Midwest.
So I missing my first Opening Day in about seven years. It's not because I didn't want to go, it's because White Sox management pulled the plug a too early on deciding about Monday's game.
I'll live and I'll go to many games this summer. However, I'm still disappointed I missing the very first time the team will take the field.
I've heard before that men are able to see old friends and pick up right where they left off the last time they saw each other. I now know this is a fact.
On Thursday night, I went to a film at the Wisconsin Film Festival because a college friend of mine, Andrew Dickler was the editor of the film. I hadn't seen Andrew or talked to him about 18 years. However, when I called him on the phone it was like we had just chatted the day before.
Another one of my friends, Greg decided it would be fun to come in for the movie and visit Madison because he also hadn't been here in about 18 years. Now I have to admit, Greg and I have had more communication since we graduated from the UW. I've probably talked to him a whopping 7 times total on the phone in the last 18 years.
Another one of my college friends, Dan lives in Evansville and I didn't even know it. He went out with us as well and there was no problem talking with each other. It was like we just saw each other at the Union the day before.
We all hung out on Friday night and hit a few of the Madison bars. There was never a lag in the conversation and we had some great laughs. We talked about our success and failure in relationships and work over the past 18 years. No one was trying to brag. I was interested in their lives and they were interested in mine. There was no competition with each other.
At about 1:15 in the morning, we weren't sure if we should go to one more bar. We were standing by the Capitol near The Inn on The Park Hotel.  Here was the ending conversation:
Me: Um, I'm parked in the other direction.
Greg: Well, I guess we're done.
Andrew: Yeah, I'm going back to the hotel.
(We all shook hands and there were some brief back patting)
Me: Okay see you.
Greg: Later, man.
Andrew: Take it easy.
And that was it. No long goodbyes or "We really should get together more often" . We were done and we knew it.
I do have their cell phone numbers now and I know I could call them anytime. Perhaps we'll talk again before another 18 years passes.
Either way it's okay with me.
Tonight I'm heading down to the Orpheum and staying up past my bedtime to see the film Anvil: The story of Anvil. It's part of the Wisconsin Film Festival and sounds amazing for so many reasons.
A guy I went to college with here at the UW, Andrew Dickler  is the editor of the film, so even it was crummy I would still go. However, it's received rave reviews all around the country at many different film festivals.
The story is about a heavy metal band that has been trying to make it big for more than 30 years! Apparently, Anvil played some huge gigs with other big, hair, heavy metal bands but they could never hit it big.
What makes the story so interesting is that they never gave up. In fact, they're still trying to make it. If you can make it tonight, I urge you to come down to the Orpheum. It starts at 8:45.
You can see The Haunting in Conneticut at Star Cinema. 
There's a very disturbing out story out of Canada. Apparently some medical students are intubating patients inproperly. I'm not a doctor but I believe that's when you stick a tube down a patient's throat to help with breathing.
The problem is some of the students are learning how to do it by watching medicial shows like ER. No big surprise that the actors on ER do not intubate patients properly. They shouldn't have to because it's a television show!!!
I guess I can see how they 're copying the television show. I do the same thing with my job. I've based my entire career on the show WKRP. Here are a few things I learned from the show.
1) It's okay to wear the same outfit to work three or four days in a row
2) It's okay to sleep on the couch in the break room for a few months until you have enough money to pay the back rent you own on your apartment
3) It's not okay to throw turkeys out of a helicopter.
I'm sitting here at my computer taking part in a fantasy baseball draft chatting with the other team owners, I have my I-Tunes playing, I'm also on Facebook, I'm surfing the internet for interesting stories and I'm writing this blog.  But it still doesn't feel like enough. I think I should be talking on my cell phone and texting a few people as well.
What the @#$&?! When did we become so multitask oriented? The funny part is that we're doing most of it while sitting in one place. It seems to be getting worse, at least for me. I have to admit that when I go to the bathroom my Blackberry comes along with me. Is it really necessary for me to check messages or take a quick peek at the internet while I'm in the can?! Yes, yes it is. I'd write more, but I have to update my Facebook status to let people know I'm writing a blog.
Once again my home state of Illinois is in the spot light for something shady. This time it doesn't have to do with an elected official, but it still sucks. The Illinois High School Boys State Championships were this past weekend and one team totally got screwed!
You won't believe this story. North Lawndale College Prep played all their games this season in the same uniforms. There's one pictured on the left.
According to the rules, the stripe under the arm is too wide. No one ever pointed it out during the entire season...until the championship game when the Illinois High School Association basketball director Kurt Gibson directed the referees to assess a technical foul against the team for a uniform violation.
The penalty was that the coach of North Lawndale could not get up from his seat during the game. Some coaches do sit on the bench for most of the game, but to not be able to get up and instruction your players must have the coach crazy.  The coach even offered to have his team change into their other uniforms, but Gibson said those were too colorful.
North Lawndale ended up losing the game by one point.
I'm not sure what this teaches the kids on either team. All I know is that it's sure not a positive lesson.
neo Hall's late night talk show? At the time, some critics thought it was undignified for a man who was trying to become President of the United States to go on a common talk show.
Wow! Times have sure changed. Last night Barack Obama was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We've never had a sitting President sit in on a talk show.
I thought Barack was great and what was most impressive was his ability to appear like a regular guy. He told a few funny stories about his kids riding on Marine One and about getting the family dog.
Many people have said our last President was quite charming in person. However, it always seemed like he was guarded and wasn't sure what to say next.
The only mistake Obama made was when he was joking about his poor bowling skills and said he should be in the Special Olympics. He apologized before the interview even aired.
How important is it for a President to be good on a late night talk show? Not very, but I did enjoy the fact that Obama seemed like a real person and not a politician who seemed out of touch with all of us.
The world's deadliest spider was found yesterday shopping at a grocery story in Tulsa, Oklahoma! Can you believe that?! It was wandering around the bananas in the produce section. I'm getting chills just thinking about it! I know spiders are important to our world and I know they're cool, but they still give me the heebie-jeebies.
Apparently one of the clerks found the 
Greetings Humans,
It's Baxter, Jonathan's cat. You may have heard about the complaints Jonathan has been getting regarding that house fire from last week. A fellow feline died in the fire and some people think Jonathan made some rude comments.
I was listening to the show and I think all he said was that he wondered if fire fighters used a tiny oxygen mask while trying to revive the kitty.
There have been some complaints on a website I enjoy. 
U2 has been a super band for years and it all started in Larry Mullen's kitchen when the guys were all about 14 years old. It's amazing the band was able to not only make it, but last so long. As the story goes Larry Mullen put up a flyer at his secondary school looking for people to join his band. All four current memebers showed up as well as The Edge's brother and two other guys.
The band was originally called "Feeback" and then they switched to "The Hype". At some point fairly early on the other potential members left the band and you had these four guys. They won a St. Patrick's Day talent show in 1978 and the rest is history.
I wonder if Mullen (who is second on the left in this young picture of the band) really ever thought they would become rock stars or if he just thought it would be cool to be part of a band while in high school? And what was the key ingredient that made them successful? Is it just dumb luck? Is it their destiny? Perhaps a little of both. I also wonder how many other potential super bands have been out there and just missed making it big? Who came in second at the 1978 St. Patrick's Day talent show? What would have happened if U2 came in second?
They didn't and they've been making great music for about 25 years.
So I've been flying a lot more these days and it seems to me that all the pilots are using the overhead speaker as a training ground for open mic night at the Chuckle Hut.
I guess it's not a big deal but on one of my last flights the pilot got on the speaker and said,
"All aboard! This train is on its way too Minneapolis!" And then he played a sound effect of a train whistle.
Another pilot talked about the flight attendants and how you could watch them on their new television show on Tuesday nights.
A third pilot gave explicit details on the route we would be taking, but he pretended like we were driving in a car. He even talked about pulling over to the side to get something to eat.
Don't get me wrong. I have a great respect for pilots. Supreme Court Justices, pilots, surgeons and pharmacists are the handful of professions I totally respect. However, it seems strange to me if my surgeon was cracking jokes just before the anesthesia kicks in. Could you imagine if Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren had been making jokes as they were ruling on Brown v Board of Education?!
As you probably have guessed, I'm a radio geek. That's why I do this job. When I was a 7-year-old in Chicago listening to the radio, I knew this was the job I wanted. My hero is a guy named Larry Lujack who did morning radio. However, there' s another guy I've always respected. His name is Paul Harvey.
It's not a big surprise. He's a radio legend who was also based in Chicago. He wasn't a rock and roll disc jockey. He was a "news guy" with a rather unusual delivery. As you probably heard, he passed away over the weekend.
I never met Paul Harvey, but I'm sure I would disagree with most everything he stood for politically. However, I respected the way he did his job.
He was also a morning guy and did his show in a suit and tie every day. I don't wear a tie, but I certainly don't dress sloppy. He once said something along the lines of needing every edge when you do radio and one of them is dressing properly. I totally agree. That's why if you ever come to my studio, you'll never see me in a baseball cap or sweatshirt.
More important than fashion was the way Harvey delivered his stories. He was a master of pauses. This is one of the most difficult things to do not only in radio, but in regular conversation.  If you do it right, it can be even better than the things you are saying. Sports talk show host Jim Rome is great at it and so is Rush Limbaugh. (I don't support anything Rush says I just think he's great at radio. Sometimes too good and that could be dangerous, but that's for another blog another day.)
Harvey was also a master of advertising. He would do ads for various products and you wouldn't even realize he was selling you something until he was about half way through the ad.
Perhaps my favorite skill was the way he delivered his "Rest of the Story" segment. This would be a story that would have a twist ending. A classic is the story of the 13-year-old boy who receives a cash gift from Franklin Roosevelt. The little boy turned out to be Fidel Castro. The way Harvey delivered "The Rest of the Story" was amazing. You would be hanging on every word. Whether you agreed with him politically, you have to agree that's great radio.
Today Paul Reiser was dead for a few minutes on the World Wide Web. Someone changed his Wikipedia entry to say that he died in a fishing accident. Here's the entry:
"On December 27th, 2008 Reiser was discovered dead in the Squallahassee River where he reportedly enjoyed fly fishing. No foul play was suspected."
Apparently there is no Squallahassee River and Paul is very much alive. I don't know what Paul has been up to these days. I know he made a few movies after his "Mad About You" television series ended, but haven't seen much from him lately.
I wonder who was responsible for creating the hoax? Perhaps it was his manager who promised to get him some publicity in 2008 and was running out of time.
There was a guy in Philadelphia who got so annoyed with people taking during a movie that he took a shot at them. No, he didn't shoot a glaring look at them, he shot at them. I admit I hate when people talking during movies. In fact, I can't stand it. The movie theatre is not your living room, but I haven't reached the point of trying to shoot someone.
Here's a little more of the story from the Associated Press:
James Joseph Cialella, 29, of Philadelphia, told the man's family to be quiet, then threw popcorn at the man's son, police said. The victim told police that Cialella was walking toward his family when he stood up and was shot.
of the shoes thrown at President Bush. The shoe, which is named Abir, is currently locked up at a prison in Baghdad.
Me: Mr. Shoe, thank you for taking time to speak with us today.
Shoe: Please, call me Abir.
Me: Okay, Abir. What made you decide to risk your life and hurl yourself at President Bush?
Shoe: I really have been upset the last few months about the situation in Iraq and I felt like I needed to use my tongue to be heard.
Me: Is it about the war still going on in your country?
Shoe: Well that's bad too, but I'm more upset with the rebulding of the country.
Me:Â The fact that lots of Iraqis have no water or electricity?
Shoe:Â No, the fact that there has yet to be a Famous Footwear built since the war!!
Me: Excuse me.
Shoe: Look I'm not asking for a Niketown or an exclusive Bruno Magli shoe store to open. Just something decent for people here!
Me: I see. Was it scary to hurl yourself at Bush?
Shoe: No, I simply looked into my sole and knew it was the right thing. Besides I come from a long line of dissenters. My great-grandfather was at the United Nations in 1960. (pictured left) I'm proud to say he teamed up with Nikita Khrushchev and banged himself on the podium at the United Nations.
I agree that it's difficult to make a good movie and now Hollywood is turning back to video games for some help. There have been a few video games that have been made into movies like "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" with Angelina Jolie. There are some more in the works including World of Warcraft and BioShock. I'm really not too familiar with either game. Sadly, my video game experience ended somewhere in the late 80's with my Atari and Intellivison.
Those games were really simple, but I loved them.  My all-time favorite game was Adventure by Atari. Do any of you remember this game? You were literally a dot and you had to kill 
dragons and find a golden chalice. Here's an action shot of you (the dot) fighting a dragon. If you would make a kid play this today, it would probably be cruel and usual punishment because the game was so friggin' simple.
Yes, the arrow is the awesome sword! Check out the chalice on the left!!!  There would be no special effects. The movie should look just like the picture on the right. I'm thinking Keanu Reeves could play the role of the dot, but it might be too much of a stretch for him to play a dot. The dot might have too much personality.
If you ever played this game and want to play it again, you are in luck! 
Both teams wearing home jerseys is a tradition that came to an end back in 1982. If the NCAA doesn't give them an okay to do it, the penalty is a loss of a timeout in both the first and second half of the game.
It doesn't really seem like a big deal for the two teams to wear their home uniforms. UCLA is powder blue and USC is cardinal red. Big deal. I'm not sure what the NCAA is worried about.
If they're really concerned maybe they should start looking at some of the other teams jerseys. For example, Oregon needs a better look.
As long as we're ripping on uniforms, did you see what the Houston Texans were wearing on Monday night?
All red does not work! Anyway, good luck to UCLA and USC. I hope they can get their fashion issues resolved.
Today Jonathan has invited Plaxico Burress' thigh to write a guest blog.
If you missed the news, Burress, the star wide receiver for the New York Giants, accidentlaly shot his own thigh the other evening at a night club.
Burress' had an unregistered handgun and could be facing up to three years in prison. A sentence Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants carried out.
Considering Burress' thigh was the victim in this case, Jonathan wanted the thigh to have a chance to speak out. Here is the exclusive thoughts by the thigh.
Thank you, Jonathan and Triple M for giving me this opportunity to speak out about Plaxico and his rather reckless move the other night. First let me say that I've enjoyed being Plaxico's thigh all these years. When were were little we had lots of fun times together. I remember running around the streest with Plax and riding bicycles. It was great.
I have to admit our college years were pretty awesome too. I met my share of thighs, if you know what I mean. Wink. Wink.
The Super Bowl last year was incredible too! Plax and I caught the winning touchdown with just a few ticks on the clock to give the Giants the win over those annoying New England Patriots! Things were great for Plax and me. We were superstars.
Things got a little weird over the off-season and I think it might be my fault. I've always been fascinated with thigh-high stockings. I know the thigh highs are for women, but they just seem so silky and so smooth. I just wanted to tr them. I kept asking Plax to get a pair. I told him we can just wear them at home. No one will ever know.
Well, I kept bugging him about the thigh-highs and I finally convinced him to buy a pair. We went to Victoria's Secret and
got a pair. They looked awesome. I kept bugging Plax to put them on. He said he wanted to go out with some friends, first. We got to the club and I kept twitching because I was excited to put on the thigh-highs. He kept hitting me and telling me to calm down.  I couldn't wait! Finally, he just got so mad he shot me.
Can you believe it!? That piece of @#$% shot me! After all I've done for him! He friggin shoots me just because I want to get a little experimental!
He should go off to jail!
Wait, I have to go too?
Okay, maybe he should just get probation.
