John Williams - WGN

I just wrote a piece on John Williams, and wrote a bit about being in Chicago this past weekend. One thing I failed to mention in both pieces is how much I enjoy the storefront studio.

This year I had time to spot Steve Cochran and Nick Digilio. In years past I've been fortunate enough to see David Kaplin and John Williams.

As I said yesterday morning, I can't be more thrilled that John is getting this plum assignment. I considered bringing my resume to Tribune Tower Friday, but I was so busy preparing for the meetings I forgot to print one out. You know they would have put off the decision one more day if I had shown an interest in the job.

I remember when Spike took over, he had to abandon certain programming elements from his evening show. I hope John continues to have discussions with Thomas Jefferson and Bill Clinton. I hope he continues to fantasize on what really happened at the Cubs games. I especially hope he continues with his voicemail segment.

Best of all, I hope he continues to be one of the best interviewers this side of Milt Rosenberg. Whether he is talking to Alan Alda or Terry Savage, you know you are going to hear thoughtful questions and worthwhile discussion.

Funny, smart and engaging. WGN couldn't have made a wiser choice.

Alex's weekend

I'm tired. I don't know why I'm tired. I probably ate too much.

It's Tuesday, so the effects of the weekend should be gone. There was a school board convention in Chicago. I am no party animal, so mostly I went to the meetings and workshops and then back to the hotel. My school board friends took me out to eat both Friday and Saturday night. We ate at Giordanno's and the Eire Cafe. The Eire Cafe was excellent, but Giordanno's left something to be desired.

That was disappointing because I had heard so much about Giordanno's. The pizza was merely okay. The staff was merely okay. We had to wait over an hour and a half for a table. I saw parents with small children waiting. The kids looked miserable.

Still, now I can say I've been there. The meetings and the workshops were good. It was worth the trip. Still, I'm tired.

There is a Walgreen's nearby that sells Vitner's Buttered Popcorn. It's not great, but I bought two bags and ate them over the weekend. Maybe that's catching up with me. Or maybe it was the huge dinner at the Erie Cafe. Four of us had the ribeye. It was huge.

So, I am swearing off eating anything today. Got to make room for Thanksgiving. The best part is that I will have my family around Thursday. I missed them so much this weekend. Everywhere I looked I was thinking about their reactions.

It's good to get away, but it's good to be back. Glad the next trip is a year away.

John Williams - WGN Morning Host

Each morning, after my shower, I get online. I look at several sites, including the Chicago Tribune. Today, I saw the announcement that John Williams will be taking over for Spike O'Dell. I couldn't be happier.

John Williams is a thinking man with an edge. He is highly intelligent and can quit this gig and write for Time magazine if he wants. He also has a great sense of humor that comes out in a variety of great segments.

My favorite is voicemail, although I haven't been able to hear it for ages. He has a number where listeners can call and leave a message for John, usually pertaining to things he has been talking about through the week. Think of it as a comment section on a blog. Then he and the producer piece the different voicemails together with some great music and it makes for some of the funniest moments on the air today.

Anyway, my congratulations and good luck John Williams. You won't need it because you already have everything you need to be Chicago's brightest star!

Graduation Day

The task I get to perform tomorrow has an ironic twist. For me, it is a preparation for what will come in years too soon. Tomorrow night, I will hand out diplomas to our area high school students.

It is a task bestowed upon a cohort and me because none of the other school board members were interested. That sounds harsh, but being one of the newest board members, some of them wanted a year off. Last Friday I went to graduation practice. I now know how to shake their hands and deliver the package. It will be fun.

I know some of the kids. Some I remember from before they started school. Others I only met this year. Few of them know much about me. That’s expected. I could not name any of the school board members when I grew up, nor could I tell you who handed me my paper.

What makes this experience ironic is that I went to college years ago and received an associate degree, I had mailed to me. It is even more interesting that when I completed my bachelor’s degree more recently and had that mailed as well. You think I would be more interested in being handed a diploma than handing it out!

So why do I consider this practice for years to come? I have two children who will eventually graduate. One will reach that mark much sooner than the other. There is a chance I will be voted off the board before I get the opportunity for delivering the paper to either one, but somehow I think I’ll get the chance.

One thing I already know is that no one in the gym tomorrow will notice me or remember that I was even there. That is just fine with me. I am proud of our school and our young people. It is there night to shine. I’ll be thinking of nights to come and warm myself in the glow.

Thank you for reading. We’ll talk again soon.

Open Letter to Samuel David Cheney

Welcome to the world, Samuel! It is a bright and beautiful world we live in and I am glad you are here to join us!

You are a very lucky boy. Your mother, Mary, seems very nice. I have never met her or her partner, Heather, but I have heard your mother interviewed. It sounds to me like you are going to be in a home surrounded by love.

When it comes down to it, love is all that is important.

Now, there are those who are going to criticize your mother and her partner. Ignore them. They are people who do not understand about love. They only understand about the importance of their own personal opinions. Ignore them and they will go away.

There are also people who criticize your grandfather. I admit that I have criticized his choices and decisions from time to time. Ignore us, too. Your grandfather is a good hearted person. I may not agree with some of his ideas, but he is still your grandfather. That is good enough.

Not that you have asked for it, but I do not have a toy or money to offer as a gift, so I will offer this advice instead: Listen. Listen to people. Listen to what they say. Watch what they do. Make very few comments and make the choices that will benefit the most people.

A writer named William Shakespeare once said, “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” These are good words to live by.

I wish you well, young Samuel David. Good luck and do good work. We know, with the good people looking out for you, you will have a good life.

Don Imus and mediamatter.org

Don Imus has been a regular topic since he uttered a sophomoric description of the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team. It was horrible and stupid and, as I have written here before, he should have been fired.

My wife offered me the April 23, 2007 issue of Newsweek magazine. Keep in mind that Newsweek is a “strategic partner” to NBC, who was one of Imus’ employers.

The article “The Power That Was”, written by Weston Kosova, was mostly a recap of what happened recently regarding Imus’ idiotic attempt at humor and the wrath that poured down upon him afterward.

Kosova makes one point that I did not realize until I read the article. On Wednesday, April 4, 2007, the day of the incident, millions of people listened on the radio and watched on MSNBC. Nobody flinched at the remark.

Okay, maybe somebody flinched, but nothing was said. It was just the I-Man doing his schtick. Imus makes fun of people. It is what he gets paid to do.

It was not until later that things boiled over. An employee of Media Matters, Ryan Chiachiere, watched the show on tape and brought the comment (among others) to his employers. His employers then began make the statement available at their website, but more importantly, added the clip on YouTube.

It was then that the controversy sparked and caught fire. Hours after the program had ended; people had the comment pointed out to them and became incensed.

Think about this for a moment. People who normally do not watch or listen to Don Imus became aware of the comment and became upset. Within a week, Don Imus was out of work.

Even I, who did not watch or listen to Imus regularly, became caught up in the discussion, and I have always stated that I enjoyed Imus when I could listen.

If I run a stop sign, and there are no cars or pedestrians in the area, but a local television crew accidental, but clearly, tape my car running through the intersection, can I get a ticket a week later? I clearly violated the law. Would it be right if the news crew ran a story on the late news that Alexander Dimm ran a stop sign and then the police ticketed me because they heard about the story on the news?

Somehow understanding that the Imus controversy did not spring up from the initial statement bothers me. The fact that his firing was generated, not by regular listeners, but by people who look to the internet for issues they can champion colors the whole affair.

At the core, should Imus have been fired for his statement? Of course. As it states in the Newsweek article, Imus normally saves those kinds of remarks for newsmen, writers and politicians. Still, he should not be making these kinds of remarks about anyone.

Should Media Matters have spread the word once Chiachiere made them aware? Of course. Media Matters is a great organization who works hard to point out the misinformation being spread in the world of news today. Everyday they point out errors by people you would expect and people you would not. If you have not seen it, I urge you to visit their website at http://mediamatters.org/.

Imus was not considered by Media Matters to be a frequent offender. People do not get upset about offensive statements by Howard Stern and/or Glenn Beck because these people, and others like them, are consistent. Everyday they utter things that are offensive and stupid.

Imus did not take a step “over the line”. He took a step “over his own line”. He made a statement he would not normally make. He offended a group of people he would not normally offend. He did it and he paid the price.

There are many others getting paid today who frequently step over the “Imus line” but not over their own line. They are still working, and will likely continue to work. That is the saddest statement about this affair.

Imus, who understood the workings of Washington, did not hold with a political party, and was willing to puncture a republican as easily as a democrat, no longer has a voice. Many others who spew misinformation and venom like it is the weather report will continue to go merrily on their way. They do because their statements are not out of character for them.

If you are unhappy with comments made by any news reporter or political commentator, speak up. Be specific. Tell them what you heard and how you felt. Do not make it a personality issue. Write down what was said and when. Then let those in charge know.

I have already written that I feel Glenn Beck should be removed from his nightly program at CNN Headline News. If you agree and want an opportunity to be heard, contact CNN at this link, http://www.cnn.com/feedback/. You may be surprised what can happen.

Thank you for reading. We’ll talk again soon.

The Return of Roger Ebert

Back in the 1970s, WTTW, the public broadcasting channel in Chicago experimented with a program they called “Coming to a Theatre Near You”. The project involved two men who wrote movie reviews for the local newspapers.

The program received local praise and the network decided to take in national. They renamed the show “Sneak Previews”. The set was the seating section of a movie theatre. On one side sat Gene Siskel, who played the snooty, white collar, classy, opinionated critic. On the other side sat Roger Ebert, who played the everyman. He was maybe a little more blue collar, but appreciated film from more of the “regular joe” perspective.

Both men knew movies. Once they did a show debating whether Woody Allen or Mel Brooks were funnier. You can guess which critic took up which case. Each had an angle that was special, but if there was a bad movie out there, both knew it. If there was a great movie out there, both knew it. The biggest arguments were about the movies “in the middle”. Listening to the two men debate was fun.

Through the 80’s and 90’s, the show went commercial and elements changed. Occasionally the two men were asked to do prime time network specials. They were frequent guests of Johnny Carson and David Letterman. Both were excellent spokespeople for the city of Chicago.

Then we lost Gene Siskel. He seemed too young at the time and he is sadly missed.

Roger Ebert seemed to transform through the years. He became less blue collar and more like a college professor. Each year he hosts a film festival weekend in his hometown Champaign, Illinois. The ninth annual event began last night. He often has big names appear on stage with him to discuss their work and film in general.

Ebert has been fighting cancer in recent years. Last night in Champaign, he made a public return after a long absence. There were no speeches and there won’t be for awhile. Still it is good to see him up and around and able to appear before a crowd.

Roger Ebert has become a part of the family through the years. Most of Illinois, if not the world, hopes he can get past this and continue to teach us about great film for years to come.

Is Glenn Beck a Liberal?

If Don Imus is considered racist, sexist and a misogynist, how do you define Glenn Beck?

Remember when “conservative” meant being careful. Looking at a definition of the word conservative, it states:

1. Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit.
3. Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate.

Think about this. It uses words like “cautious” and “restrained”. Yet I notice that many of those who describe themselves as conservative are anything but “cautions” and “restrained”.

Would someone described as “conservative” call anyone a “fat witch”? Glenn Beck does. March 21, 2007.

Would someone go on the radio and refer to a neighboring nation as a “dirtbag country”? Glenn Beck did. April 27, 2006.

On February 28, 2007, Glenn Beck was interviewing an American Idol contestant who had been scandalized by racy photos that had become public. Beck’s “conservative” response? “I’ve got some time and a camera. Why don’t you stop by?”

Is this an example of "traditional values"? Dr. Dobson, are you listening?

Are these types of barbs considered witty? None of this would be funny or thought-provoking if it were uttered by Larry the Cable Guy. Don Imus is a first cousin to Bob Hope compared to the “funny, conservative” humor of Glenn Beck.

How is this for a funny observation: On the August 24, 2006 broadcast of his program on CNN, Beck complained about hotels that put Braille markings next to the doors of the rooms. “Just to piss them [blind people] off, I'm going to put in Braille on the coffee pot ... 'Pot is hot.' "

I wrote recently that I believed a broadcaster I sometimes enjoyed, Don Imus, should have been fired for his recent remarks regarding the students and athletes of Rutgers. I stand by that statement.

The truth remains that if Imus deserves to be sent home, so do many other broadcasters. Glenn Beck is someone who liberally offends and openly hates people. That does not make Beck a liberal. In fact, he is far from being either a good conservative or a good liberal. He is far from being good at anything.

I hope CNN wakes up before he embarrasses their organization any more than he already has.

Open Letter to Don Imus

Dear Don:

Hope this letter finds you feeling well. I know the past week has been hard on you. It has been hard on all of us.

I wrote a couple of posts about you last week. I tried to be as kind as possible, but I still had to admit that I would fire you under the same circumstances. What you and Bernard said was inexcusable. I was disappointed in the two week suspension, because it was such a slap on the wrist. When they finally spoke up to say you had been dismissed, it renewed my faith in organizations such as MSNBC and CBS. Now if CNN can follow suit.

I know, I know. You do not work for CNN. I just mean there are people in that organization who say things as bad as, if not worse than, your little joke about the Rutgers basketball team. This letter is not about them. It is about you.

You are a free agent now. So what are you going to do?

Doing commercials is not out of the question. I am not certain who would hire a racist, sexist, misogynist to represent their company. You never know. There may be someone out there ready to capitalize on your recent celebrity.

There may even be another radio station willing to give you a try. They will probably make you and Bernard promise not to talk bad about women, but will also be willing to promote someone who has been all over the news and internet recently.

Satellite radio is probably not the way to go. Howard Stern still accuses you of copying him. He probably thinks this whole scuttle over Rutgers is your way of copying him. As bad as things are you do not want to do anything that would compare you to Stern.

How is this for an idea? You are in your sixties. You have opinions. Why not write a newspaper column? That way, your name is out there. You can be your witty self. If you cross any borders there are editors who will keep you in check. It is a perfect fit!

Who would place your column? Lots of papers will take a column with your name. Just follow this path: Write a book (either you or a ghost). Tell your side of the story and how bad you feel. Also write about the kids in New Mexico and anything else that strikes your fancy.

Then you will do the book tour. You will do some public speaking and book signings. People will begin to warm up to your crusty image again. Do a fund-raiser or two as well. Just be certain not to use any of the slurs in public, okay? If you learned anything from this it is that there are things you and Charles and Bernard can say at the bar that you cannot say in public. Keep that in mind when you roam around the country.

Then start the weekly column. It will grab a lot of attention at first. People may complain, but who cares, right?

A column is ten times easier than a four hour radio show. You will still be making money. It is a great fit.

Give it some thought. In the meantime, relax a bit. Enjoy the summer. Maybe jot down some ideas for the book. Let me know if you need someone to bounce some thoughts.

Anyway, I miss the show already. Good luck to you. Talk to you soon.

Jenny O'Hara on House M.D.

Doctor shows, whether comedies or dramas, are fun because they allow guest appearances from people you may not see much otherwise. “House M.D.”, over the past three years of existence, has had a variety of patients, from Michelle Trachtenberg to Howard Hessman to L.L. Cool J. Recently they had an excellent appearance by Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews band.

This past Tuesday, the show featured Jenny O’Hara as the victim who had the mysterious malady. I recognized her immediately because she did a lot of work as a character actress since the mid-seventies. As a teenager, she appeared on the soap opera “As the World Turns”. During the seventies and eighties she made appearances on shows like “The Rockford Files”, “Charlie’s Angels”, “Barney Miller” and “CHiPs”. Often she played vulnerable, insipid women. Her characters often lacked confidence in themselves.

At the start of the series “Facts of Life”, O’Hara was given a similar role as a teacher chasing after another male teacher at the school. It was a “Our Miss Brooks” kind of role which she did well, but the show cut the part after four episodes.

Most recently, she has played a recurring role on the “King of Queens” as Janet Heffernan. Unfortunately, I admit I rarely watch the Kevin James show so I do not know how the character relates to the plot, other than she is a family member.

Watching her on “House, M.D.”, I was amazed at O’Hara’s performance. She was still her trademark vulnerable character, but she was able to exhibit so much with just a handful of lines. She was able to show bravery in the face of fear. Her character, Fran, was afraid of growing older and letting life pass her by, so she decided to do things she would never have done as a younger woman. When telling her story, she was able to exhibit that bravery mixed with embarrassment and anger with herself.

O’Hara has grown much as an actress through the years. The part on the hospital drama was complicated and she was able to communicate to the audience exactly what the character was feeling each step of the way.

The television landscape is littered with programs, like "House, M.D.", that are so-called “dramadies”. I hope someone can offer Jenny O’Hara a part of an aunt or supervisor on one of these shows and allow audiences to see her on a regular basis. She can only make such a show better.

Thank you for reading. We will talk again soon.

Kurt Vonnegut

The master has slipped away.

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Kurt Vonnegut was an exceptional novelist. He had a view of life that has gone missing in much of today’s modern literature. To say he wrote science fiction is to say that Ernest Hemmingway was a reporter. Vonnegut wrote about life.

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He appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart within the past year. Stewart was great with what was obviously an older, slightly befuddled man. He was not the great wit and intellectual that we will remember, but he did have his moments. Stewart made him look good.

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Recently Mr. Vonnegut took a fall. The reports are that his death was due to the injuries. Maybe that is befitting of a man whose characters rarely just passed on quietly.

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Vonnegut has been welcome on my bookshelf since I discovered “Slapstick” in the mid-seventies. He retired from writing only to publish twice more. It is possible we may hear about one more unfinished manuscript. Somehow I hope so.

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Thank you, Mr. Vonnegut for Kilgore Trout and your messages of the painfulness and pointlessness of war. Thank you for introducing us to twisted people and their twisted lives and reminding us that we are a little twisted ourselves.

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God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut. May you rest in the peace you sought.

Don Imus

Don Imus did something wrong. You could put that sentence in any month during any year over the past forty years and you would likely be correct. Don Imus continually does things and says things that people do not like.

Imus started out in 1968 in Sacramento, California doing on-air pranks. It became so popular, he moved to Cleveland (no joke). From there he moved to WNBC in New York where be became a national star. He began to do stand-up comedy and created a character named Rev. Dr. Billy Sol Hargis, which was a satirical slap at the bible thumpers everywhere.

During the seventies he developed a cocaine problem which got him fired from WNBC. Between drinking and drugs, he was nearly washed up, but his talent kept him going. He returned to New York radio and even developed a syndicated television series which was similar to early David Letterman shows.

During the late eighties, Imus slowly phased out satirical humor for more political talk and humor. His program has been simulcast on MSNBC since 1996. Strangely enough, it was in 1996 that he gave his most famous speech. He spoke before the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner in Washington D.C. Bill and Hillary Clinton were in attendance.

Imus took the opportunity to skewer Hillary, who was deeply involved in the Whitewater scandal. Most speakers offer gentle, non-topical humor at these events. Imus went for the Clintons. The audience roared, but the Clintons sat silent.

Imus has been accused through the years of racism, misogyny and homophobia. Whether any of it is true is anyone’s guess. Remember that Imus got his start doing radio pranks. He knows what makes some people laugh and what gets everyone’s attention.

Imus has done some good things. During the nineties, he created the Imus Ranch in New Mexico. The ranch is a charitable organization for children with cancer, as well as siblings of SIDS victims. More recently, he attended the dedication of the Center for the Intrepid, a privately-built rehab center for wounded veterans. Imus helped the Center raise ten million and personally contributed over $300,000 himself.

Last week, Imus did something bad. He and his team used language that was racially charged. It was wrong. They were ignorant statements by people who do not understand the hard feelings such words create. These are not words I use in casual conversation, let alone on radio and cable television.

I like Don Imus. He is funny. He wants to see this world be a better place. He is a “cantankerous old fool” as a former employee once called him. He does not hold his feelings back, even when they are not in line with the rest of the country.

Should Imus resign or be fired? If I were to make a similar comment on the radio, if I had a radio show, I would be fired. Imus should be held to the same level. There is candor and there is hurtful. Once again, Imus has been hurtful and he must atone.

If he does quit or gets fired, two things will happen. Either he will retire to the Imus Ranch and continue with his wife to raise his son and do good work for the children of this world, or he will return on another station and be even bigger and stronger than before.

The second possibility has been his pattern in the past. After bad behavior, he returns to even greater results. The question is not should he quit. Of course, he should quit. The real question for Imus is whether he is ready to quit.

Only Imus knows that.

Calvert "Larry 'Bud' Melman" DeForest

Lately I have been memorializing people who have made an impression on me through the years. People like Bowie Kuhn and Paul Denault are people I was aware of when I was a teenager growing up and held in high respect.

Then there is Calvert DeForest, also to be remembered as Larry “Bud” Melman. DeForest came along later, appearing on television for the first time on NBC’s David Letterman show in 1982. For over twenty years, DeForest was a running gag for Letterman. He was an older looking man with a funny voice. Just seeing his cherubic face made you laugh.

I have been thinking about DeForest off and on in recent years. In the late nineties, he was turning up in a lot of places. He was doing commercials and appearing in a movie or two. It was sometime in the late nineties where I saw he was making a personal appearance in Champaign, IL. It was not a speaking engagement, or a book signing. I no longer remember where he was to be, but they were simply promoting that he would be there, likely to visit and sign some autographs.

DeForest was pop culture. He will be a question for “Trivial Pursuit” games (Q: What was the name of the character popularized by Calvert DeForest?). He never won awards. He even lost his job for his art. He had been a file clerk at a drug rehab facility and was told he could no longer appear on television and work for them as well. Television won out. Maybe that’s why he was touring the country doing personal appearances.

Somewhere along the line, DeForest disappeared. We all knew he was older and could have become ill. His last appearance on Letterman’s show was on his 81st birthday in 2002. I worried that since DeForest was not a big star, we would miss hearing any news.

My worry was for naught. DeForest passed away Monday at the age of 85. Reports say he had suffered a long illness, but nowhere does it say from what he suffered. DeForest is at peace now, and we are lesser world without him. Still, if I close my eyes and listen, I can still hear him laugh.

Jeff Goldblum as "Raines"

This past Thursday night, NBC premiered a new series starting Jeff Goldblum, entitled “Raines”. Michael Raines is a police detective with an overactive imagination. According to the story line, Raines sees dead people.

Now it is not like the boy in the movie, “The Sixth Sense”. These people do not talk to Raines and tell him how they were killed and where to find the evidence. They are not really ghosts. They are just figments of the character’s mind. They are imaginary friends who go away once the crime is solved.

One that does not go away is his former partner, played by Malik Yoba. The two men were shot, but Raines survived. Now he has little talks with the former partner who insults him but encourages him without saying much of anything.

This is a weak premise for a quirky detective show that networks have been looking for since the success of "Monk". “Raines” may find its way to the USA Network once NBC is done trying it out (Universal owns both NBC and USA). The sad thing is that we may have already seen the best the show has to offer.

Goldblum is likely the only actor in Hollywood who could play this character and pull it off without embarrassing himself or anyone else. Goldblum has been playing quirky characters throughout his career, starting in the seventies with small parts in popular movies like “Death Wish”, “Nashville” and “Annie Hall”, to starring parts in films like “The Fly” and “Jurassic Park”.

Backing up to 1980, Goldblum made a big splash in his first television series, “Tenspeed and Brown Shoe”. This was a short-lived detective show that was also quirky. He played a former attorney who loved solving mysteries. Ben Vereen was an ex-con who latches onto the intelligent, but absent-minded Goldblum. Together, they go into partnership.

The show got off to a fast start for ABC, but the network gave up on it quickly. After getting good notices in a couple of TV films, and getting some strong supporting roles (“The Right Stuff”, etc.) in major films, his career slowly took off.

Now 54, but not looking it, the Pennsylvania native is hoping “Raines” will be a nice starring vehicle to showcase his talents. Although the pilot episode was fun, I am not certain it will work on a weekly basis. Network television will be better if it can find a home for this tremendous talent. They better not wait another twenty-five years to find it.

Open Letter to Donald Trump

Dear Mr. Trump:

Please don’t. Don’t even joke about it.

I see where Wolf Blitzer asked you about running for President of the United States. You gave a good answer. You said you were not interested in running. Then you said, “It would certainly be fun. It would certainly be interesting."

Please don’t joke. You are a smart man, but you have no better chance than Ross Perot did in 1992. Actually, you have no better chance than Steve Urkel did in 1992.

Think about what you have said in public. Just recently you said, “If I looked like Rosie, I'd struggle with depression, too" about actress, comic and talk show host Rosie O’Donnell. Then you said, “Not everybody has to be politically correct. I think that's why this so-called feud took on a life of its own, because it wasn't politically correct. In a way it's wonderful that she doesn't like me and I don't like her. There's nothing wrong with that."

You may have to be more diplomatic to be President, Mr. Trump. You have just lost the female vote across the United States. Maybe some male votes too.

About George W. Bush, you said in your interview with Blitzer this past Thursday that he was probably the worst president in the history of the United States. You said Donald Rumsfeld, the former secretary of defense, was a disaster. Now you are losing the conservative right. Remember that a lot of people voted for Bush. No one likes to be told their vote was wrong-headed.

Don’t forget you sang the theme to the sixties comedy “Green Acres” on the Emmys. Do you think those running against you will show that a few hundred times?

Now, I agree with you about Bush and Rumsfeld, and although I disagree with you about Rosie I do have respect for you. I know the show is not going well, but running for President is not going to help things.

Stick with what you know. Run the casinos. Build the hotels.

Leave politics alone. As much fun as it may be, it is not worth it.

Bowie Kuhn

"The door would be opened wide to the buying of success by the more affluent clubs, public suspicion would be aroused, traditional and sound methods of player development and acquisition would be undermined and our efforts to preserve competitive balance would be greatly impaired." - Bowie Kuhn, on voiding the sale of Rudi, Fingers and Blue for $3.5 million by the World Champion Oakland A's, June 1976

"I believe in the Rip Van Winkle Theory: that a man from 1910 must be able to wake up after being asleep for seventy years, walk into a ballpark and understand baseball perfectly." - Bowie Kuhn, Commissioner of Baseball (1969-1984)

“If I hear Bowie Kuhn say just once more he's doing something for the betterment of baseball, I'm going to throw-up.” Sparky Anderson


Like him or not like him, Bowie Kuhn had an impact on baseball at a time when baseball was changing. He dealt with the unionizing of baseball players. He dealt with the creation of free agency. He dealt with the money earned by big television contracts being handed to baseball players. He dealt with the increasing drug use problem.

Some of the issues Kuhn tried to resolve are still issues over twenty years later. Still, I believe that if a baseball fan from 1910 woke up and came to the ball park, he may be amazed by the surroundings, but he would know what was happening when the umpire shouts “Play ball”!

Kuhn was one of the strongest baseball commissioners baseball has seen or will ever see again. Like Sparky Anderson or Charlie Finley, you may not have always agreed with him, but you knew where he stood. For that, he always had my esteem.

To the family of Mr. Bowie Kuhn, our deepest respects.

Slept Late

There are very few things in this world I despise, but one thing is when I sleep late.

It is my own fault. I forgot to set the alarm. I stayed up too late last night. It makes me goofy and in too much of a hurry. Sometimes I fail to write anything.

This is not one of those days. I may be late, but I am still going to write something.

So what should I write about? Maybe I will offer my best Larry King impression.

* Fred Thompson sounds like he is seriously considering running for the U.S. Presidency. Seems like his part on “Law and Order” is getting to him.
* Is there nothing that can keep Anna Nicole Smith out of the headlines? Now lawyers are fussing about her baby. Please, let the woman rest.
* Officials at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign have retired Chief Illiniwek and all the logos. Everything that goes with the Chief is now done. I have always been on the fence on this one, but I am glad the issue is considered over. Now to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!
* I saw the headline yesterday: American Idol is losing viewers.
* Scooter Libby was convicted of lying under perjury and obstructing justice. We still do not know the motivation. Once we can determine motivation, the house of cards that is the Bush Administration could come tumbling down.
* If Bush pardons Libby, we will never know his motivation.
* O.J. Simpson’s “almost” book is going to be auctioned. If you have been following this carefully, we may remember that Simpson did not write one word of the book. He was being paid to attach his name and go on the road to promote the book. Why would anyone care?
Why care if he did write it? Nothing changes.
* Detroit JazzStage has another great podcast available. I hope to write about it before Monday and post it to “A Dimm View of Podcasts”.
* Baseball season cannot come fast enough.

My time is up. Better get to work.

In Memory of Paul Denault

Growing up in the seventies and eighties, I had some strange tastes in music. I started out listening to the Temptations and Don McLean, but eventually gravitated from listening to WLS-AM in Chicago to WGN-AM.

WGN was not the all-talk station it is today, but it did its fair amount of talk. Wally Phillips, Roy Leonard and Bob Collins were entertaining, with occasional music. All my heroes of that time are either retired or have passed away.

We have lost another of my heroes in the personage of Paul Denault, known on radio as Paul Rogers. Many people reading this will not know the name, but some may remember the voice. For years, Paul was heard nationally saying things like “You’re in good hands…with Allstate,” and “G. Heileman Brewing Company, LaCrosse, Wisconsin.”

Denault had a voice I envied. I spent ten years in radio and was frequently complimented on my voice. Still, my voice was never of the timbre and quality of a Denault. For me, it was the old saw that it wasn’t “the size, but what you do with it.” Denault had both the size and the knowledge to forge a wonderful career as a voice artist.

Late at night, I would go to sleep listening to “Great Music from Chicago” on WGN. It was a program of easy listening music. There would be jazz in the form of Oscar Peterson and Count Basie, with singers Perry Como and Barbara Streisand in the mix.

I remember when he had a friendly, long running feud with announcer Bob Collins, whose musical tastes ran more toward Loudon Wainwright III’s “Dead Skunk”. You could tell Denault didn’t take himself too seriously. He was not a pompous windbag who only appreciated a finer form of entertainment. He was a working man, honing his craft and working well with others.

I have missed listening to Denault for years now. He left WGN when they banned music back in the late eighties or early nineties for an all-talk format. I understand he worked at another Chicago station for awhile after leaving WGN, but they did not reach us this far south.

I never achieved my goal of growing up to be Paul Rogers. I tried during my time at a small market station that played a similar format. The sad truth is that the retirement of Denault marked the end of a certain era that people like Garrison Keillor wink at when doing “Prairie Home Companion”. It was an era where you let the music be important and you simply served as a conduit for presenting “great music” to the listener.

My sympathies to the family of Denault. He brought many treasures to my life and to the lives of many others. He will forever be remembered.