Steve Dahl to Move Back to Mornings?

Steve Dahl, who I more or less grew up listening to (which explains a lot) is still alive and kicking in Chicago. He's been the afternoon drive jock at WCKG FM for years and I often pull down his podcasts as a nice way to keep in touch with the homeland.

He's a radio innovator who was 'podcasting' before it was even called that.

Heck, I even learned what a vasectomy was when he had one on the air when I was in grade school!

Over the years, despite changing conditions and unlike the rest of his cohort, Dahl has remained relevant. In the latest Arbitron book, he was barely edged out by the Hispanic station for the top spot among men 25-54.

He's also a columnist at the Chicago Tribune.

Well, if you believe Bob Feder's column, the Stever is ready to head over to the formerly-oldies station 104.3, which is now the Jack-FM format to cover the morning drive. Dahl would be the only human jock on the air.

There's no mention of this over at his site. Questions remain, of course, if just Buzz Kilman will go over with him, or if this shuffle would allow the Garry Meier reunion that many of us have been waiting for.

Speaking of Chairman Mao

I wanted to throw down a little Little Feat on this typical fall afternoon.

This is a band that, for the life of me, I've never been able to figure out why they never really made it...at least before Lowell George checked out.

They're doing Apolitical Blues in this clip from 1977 with the Stones' Mick Taylor and at the risk of sounding like an old fuddy-duddy, they beat the pants off most contemporary bands.

Go Buckeyes.

Tony Harris...A Newsreading Fool

Tony Harris is probably a nice guy. I bet he's a good husband, family member, provider and neighbor. He probably goes to church on Sunday, doesn't forget birthdays and eats his asparagus.

But his presence on CNN weekend does little but inspire me to spit my coffee at the Philips TV.

In the embedded clip below, you get the full range or Harrisims that should entitle him to a weekend of listening to nails being scratched on a chalkboard. We have the fake stutter, the pause implying a deep thought is being formulated (yet nothing deep comes out of this clown's mouth) and the staccato speech usually reserved for things like, "Ask not what your country can do for you..."

As much as I hate to goof on a former Clevelander, he's our newsdoofus of the week.

Taking a Leak on the Campaign Trail

An item in the Caucus this morning inspired me to copy over a description of exhibitionism from our friends at Wikipedia.

Exhibitionism, known variously as flashing, apodysophilia and Lady Godiva syndrome, is the psychological need and pattern of behavior to exhibit naked parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behavior to captivate the attention of another in an open display of bare "private parts" — i.e., parts of the human body which would otherwise be left covered under clothing in nearly all other cultural circumstances....Usually, flashing is done as a momentary "thrill" to inflate the ego of the flasher while having the "added bonus" of increasing the arousal of the recipient(s).

They cite a leaked "internal memo" they got from the McCain campaign yesterday going over the strengths and weaknesses of the Giuliani campaign. McCain is feeling more confident after a good debate performance in Florida and improving poll numbers over the last week.

The details of the memo didn't interest me as much as the Times' insistence on putting "leaked memo" in quotes throughout their posting. They said that this is a trend that's always been around, but increasing this year...when campaigns dress up what would normally be called talking points to look like a leaked memo.

Doing it this way gives members of the press the idea that they're seeing something inside and secret, and are more likely to pump them up and give them more visible coverage in the paper.

Alec Baldwin...One Funny Dude Who's Not Afraid to Straighten Your Ass Out!

I don't usually watch 30 Rock, but I suspect I might have to hop on the bandwagon.

Clips/episodes I have seen before were really much cleverer than your average show and this one, which I believe is from last night, really gave me a good chuckle!

Idiotdore

I can't believe I'm even bothering to post this crapola, but it struck me as amusing.

Some piece of Samsonite across the pond got a full-back tattoo of this Dubmbledore from the Harry Potter series. He thought, of course, that this would show what a bad ass he was.

Now, he's finding that the ass is still involved, but playing a different role.

He's upset that the revelation of the characther's sexual orientation has turned his tattoo into a permanent dunce cap.

I don't know what the sexuality announcement really added to the story.

Phantom Limb by The Shins

'Cause of the earlier post on The Shins and listening to a tape of one of their shows from this summer in Australia, I decided to post up one of their more recognizable tunes from Wincing the Night Away.

Enjoy!

You Can't Buy Publicity This Good

Well, Rudy has someone upstairs smiling upon him.

There's a story starting to get picked on this beautiful fall day that when he was going after La Cosa Nostra in the 80s, then-US Attorney Rudolph Giuliani was within one vote of being rubbed out by the Five Families in New York.

I'm sorry, but the guy was already running on a claim of having the biggest set east of the Mississippi, but this pretty much just made those puppies golden, too!

It's coming out as part of a trial, so I don't know how manipulatable all that is, but if it's not then the good Lord must really be a Boston(?) fan, too....

Review of a Shins NYC Show in Today's Paper

Alas, no new studio album to announce here, but one of my favorite comtemporary bands, The Shins, got a nice review today in the Times. Check them out....

Freedom's Just Another Word

Heh heh heh....we like to kid ourselves about the web being all Democratic and stuff, but we don't like it when it really happens (anyone look at myspace or craigslist anymore?).

The boys over at redstate.com have gotten fed up with the Ron Paul crowd and decided to ban them so they can get back to...kidding themselves.

Wow, I Was At This Show!

This is pretty neat. I was listening to a bootleg of Billy Joel in Milan 1990 this morning and was then looking for something cool to post up.

"Everybody Loves You Now" came to mind as somewhat less popular hit of his that I can listen to over and over...like most of Joel's catalog, frankly.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found a clandestine tape of his show from last spring out here in Cleveland! The audio is slightly tinny, but I have to admit that the video quality is amazingly crisp!

Enjoy...this guy really does get better with age.

Cool Interractive Google Maps Tool for CA Wildfires

Came across a nice application someone built into Google Maps to look at the various fires that are turning SoCal into an inferno.

The Los Angeles NBC affiliate also has a fascinating photo collection they are building up. I've never seen anything like this and unlike other things like hurricanes and blizzards, which seem somewhat more predictable on a micro-level, I can't imagine how scary and frustrating something like this must be.

McCain...Not Dead Yet

Teaching a class at work today, so not much time for posting, but....

I walked away from Sunday's GOP debate fairly impressed with John McCain. He was not behaving like a dead man walking in any way. He had some good lines and was also not afraid to throw a punch at Romney ("You have been lying about your own record for a year and a half, don't lie about mine, too.")

The Times has a piece this morning on his campaign manager, but not former NASL star, Rick Davis.

The McCain Applause Line

from last night's GOP debate...

Apple Slices

This was probably my favorite desert when I was a little kid and I finally remembered to ask my mother to send the recipe up...and I made it the other day. Thanks Mom.

You really should do yourself a favor and make this...courtesy of the Dyer Jaycees.

BTW, the powdered sugar frosting may not be entirely clear. I used 1C of powdered sugar, a tablespoon or two of water and a tablespoon of light corn syrup. That seemed to work fine. I might also up the dough recipe just a touch more up to 3-cup proportions. Click the pic below for easier reading.

Jurassic Five Performs Quality Control

Sometime over the spring, I got turned on to Jurassic 5 on Minnesota Public Radio's The Current.

As with a lot of things, I was a little late to the game as they were in the process of breaking up, but I really really enjoy these cats.

They give me a bit of a reason to give some hip hop a fair shake. I don't know how someone can listen to something like this and not recognize it as an art form just as legitimate as blues, jazz or classical.

Imagine That!

This item from The Caucus....

In his Web column today, Adam Nagourney writes that “the value of actually telling voters something they do not agree with is emerging as one of the dominant themes in the Republican presidential contest.”

Drudge...Still Relevant

I've been an avid Drudge reader for longer than I care to remember. His is truly the go-to site for things that are sure to catch my interest.

The Times runs a front-page splash on him this morning. The article went into the discipline of the Clinton campaign and how they are playing nice with Drudge because of his influence in the process.

As recent evidence, they cite the leak he got of her contribution report...just in time to spoil an Obama Iraq speech.

You'll recall that Drudge really came into prime time when he broke the blue dress story.

The Band Performs Ophelia in The Last Waltz

Next to The Grateful Dead Movie, The Last Waltz is probably my favorite concert movie of all time.

Director Martin Scorsese did such inventive work of digging into the behind the scenes squabbling and mixing it right in with the magic the guys worked on stage...in this case on Thanksgiving 1976.

This cut of Ophelia has a little bit of the interviewing in there so if you want to get to the tune, FF to the 2:30 mark.

Enjoy!

Quick Post on GOP Debate

While Huckabee continues to say most of the right things and Ron Paul got a few rounds of boos, John Wayne McCain probably had the line of the night.

He was talking about how he was a better spending hawk than the Junior Senator from New York, and brought up a $1M project she proposed last week in the Senate to honor the Woodstock Festival.

Paraphrasing, "I'm sure it was a major cultural and pharmaceutical event. However, I was not able to attend. I was a bit tied up at the time."

Woodstock, of course, took place during McCain's five and a half year stay at the Hanoi Hilton.

GOP Homecoming Night

The Republican Presidential hopefuls head down to the Sunshine State tonight for a "Values" Voters debate televised by Fox and moderated by Brit Hume.

Conventional wisdom says:

• Huckabee, after some strong polling and straw poll results this week could show that he really does wear big boy pants and is ready to run with the front pack.
• It's gut check time for Thompson. The Jesus freaks really want to love him (in a Biblically-appropriate way, of course) but so far he's being seen as downright indifferent to the whole process and not in possession of the "fire in the belly."
• Giuliani's straightforward, "this is who I am, take me or leave me, but at least you know where I stand" strategy, while risky, could pay off if people are scared of running a hick and their other guy, understandably, would rather be at home poking his trophy wife.
• The Christians remain rationally concerned that Romney's myth of order in the universe does not mesh so well with the myths they believe in. This gives them strong reason not to trust him to set appropriate tax policy.

I'll be flipping channels tonight between this battle and the one in Fenway as our Indians struggle after two straight losses to Boston in their bid to make it to the Series.

Heading out for the wonderful 80-degree day we're expecting here in Cleveland...

Excellent Cut of Like a Rolling Stone

Amazing Dylan...

Me and Bobby...Jindal

I don't know a hell of a lot about Bobby Jindal yet, but I really like the larger story he's playing a part in. It's almost impossible to be interpreted negatively.

Yesterday, the son of Indian immigrants was elected the first non-white governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction and this nation's first-ever governor of Indian descent.

To add a little sugar on top, Jindal is a conservative Republican, casting at least the shadow of an outlier on the myth/truth that southern GOP voters are Klansmen by another name.

We'll all be paying attention to whether this 36 year old can clean things up down there and perform his job with a little bit more competence than the dimwit who beat him in his first attempt.

In other racial barrier news this week, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is pushing Major League Baseball to retire the jersey of Pirates great Roberto Clemente....on the basis of his being both a humanitarian and the first Latin American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

That's quite a feat.

Of course, bestowing this honor could not happen without incident. Relatives of Frank and Jackie Robinson are fighting this move. They don't need a lousy spic encroaching on their perch on the top of Mt. Victim.

>> Note...I just thought the picture I chose above was funny. Neither of the individuals in that picture is actually me ;-)

Normally I Am a Strong Proponent of Interrupting Sheila Jackson Lee

...but in this case, I guess the 911 Truth crowd caused quite a ruckus.

I know that there are folks who find Bill Maher and his show very annoying. I'm not one of them. While the debate isn't quite as high-minded as some people pretend, I like the relaxed mood and the wider boundaries around expression and topics that you get with being on HBO.

So I hope these a-holes don't end up leading to a change in format for the show.

Candidate Colbert to Appear on MTP Tomorrow

I rarely miss the Russert Sunday gabfest anyway, but I'm curious to see how tomorrow morning's show goes.

In addition to a pundit roundtable (which will include noted BoSox fan Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose mood could depend on the outcome of tonight's Indians/Sox game), Russert will be grilling apparent Presidential candidate Stephen Colbert.

Mr. Smarty Pants took some steps towards a run last week, but he could also find himself in hot water if Comedy Central keeps promoting him!

Underrated and Awesome Aerosmith Song

One of my all-time favorite Aerosmith songs, and one that never seems to get its due, IMO, is "Chip Away at the Stone."

This cut is clearly from the pre-sobriety band. While I'm all for people cleaning up their act when their time comes, as this band most certainly has, you can't help but see how different they were back then as a stage presence. More tired-looking and sloppy? Sure. But there was a bit more of an authentic rocker thing going on, as well.

Either way, I have to hand it to these guys for still touring and putting out new, albeit less relevant, music at their age and after their travels.

Party on, Wayne. You are worthy.

Something That Makes Me Giggle

Old joke, but still funny....

A Republican and a Democrat are talking. The Republican says to the Democrat, "I bet you can't even say the Lord's Prayer."

"Sure, I can," the Democrat answers. "Here's $20 says you can't," the Republican responds.

"You're on," says the Democrat, who begins reciting, "Now I lay me down to sleep…"

The Republican hands over the $20 and says, "Man, I didn't think you could do it."

A Toast to the French for Breakfast

A little Frank to kickstart your day.....

Brothers From a Common Mother...Sorta

Funny item linked up on Drudge this morning....Barack and Big Time are distant cousins!

Okay, This Sounds Good

I have a little thingamajig on the side of the blog that gets new recipes from Epicurious all the time and I scan now and then. Every once in a while, I find a winner and tonight I think I have one.

This Toffee Crunch Caramel Cheesecake sounds really friggin' good.

I have a go-to plain cheesecake recipe, so I might just follow their directions for the topping, but if the weather continues to chill down out here in the rust belt, I may be dishing some of this up for the neighbors sometime soon.

Actually, this is funny...I wanted to link you over to the cookbook where I get my aforementioned go-to cheesecake recipe and remembered that I still have a commentary for it up on Amazon from way back when...

Just in Time for His Birthday!

Look what you can get online now at this major retailer!

A Little CSN

Has there ever been any prettier-sounding trio than Crosby, Stills and Nash?

I had a hard time picking what to post here when I caught myself in a mood for their music tonight, but we win whichever way we turn...and I settled on "Wasted on the Way." The film is crisp here on this tape from 1982 in LA.

Go Tribe.

Voices of Reason

Race-baiting bigot Al Sharpton was in the nation's capitol today speaking to another beacon of reason, John Conyers, and the House Judiciary Committee about the Jena Six incident.

My opinions on this pretty much line up with the National Review's take on it today...the incident is ugly on a number of fronts. The white students who started tempting trouble by hanging a noose on the tree down there in Louisiana should have been punished more harshly. Their lenient treatment by school administrators has to be interpreted as somewhere between awful insensitivity on one end of the spectrum and a racist relic of the old south on the other.

But for Sharpton and others to turn the hoodlums who beat the snot out of a white kid later as some sort of 21st century Rosa Parks is just more of the dishonesty we have come to expect from this charlatan. It's also well-within-character for the idiot Chairman from Michigan, whose primary legislative move each year is to press again for slavery reparations.

The larger problem with all of this, of course, is the Reverend Who Cried Wolf (I had to substitute nouns there, of course) syndrome. Because knuckleheads like Sharpton are always eager to superimpose Klansman hoods onto almost any cross-racial story, it's hard to have an open public discussion of actual racial wrongdoings in this country.

Star Star...Also Known as Something Else

Since I occasionally post at work, I'll just link up the potty-mouthed lyrics to this Stones classic. This is from 1978 in Fort Worth.

Was listening to the famous '75 run at the LA Forum this morning, so it was kind of running through my head during the day.

Enjoy!

I Couldn't Help But Post This

Having been raised a Catholic in Indiana, I do reflexively root for the Irish if they're on but a little schadenfreude can be a good thing now and then.

Best line is the sung, "BC has better Christians..."

Sorry, GB....