Col. Tribune responds

Surprised I am to find comments from "Col. Tribune" regarding my last post. But maybe I shouldn't be. Surely the Trib's web folks have search bots running all the time to find references specific to its web pages, or, more likely, when someone is linking directly to something on their page that might result in a waste of bandwidth. I actually copied the picture in the previous post and saved to my local server. Perhaps they also Google for the image's tags. And as long as I'm not being libelous or reselling the image, I might be okay.

Some disclosure may be needed: I worked for a few years at the Pennysaver, a suburban shopper that was owned by the Tribune Co. at the time. Afterward, I contributed editorial to many of the Trib's special advertising sections and later did a few features for their CareerBuilder section. Samples? Why, they're right here!

I certainly have nothing against what appears to be the Trib's version of "News 2.0," with content selected by people wating time on the internet (like I am now). Just don't know if this will help keep the daily dead tree version coming to my sidewalk. 

Col. Tribune parties down!

So today the Governor of Illinois gets busted in an influence-peddling scheme.

Not the first time this has happened in our great state, I'll admit.

But when my Google news bot directs me to the main link for the story, I'm directed to a site called Chicago Breaking News, which appears to be a money-saving pooling of resources from across the debt-ridden Tribune Co. empire. Okay, nothing else unusual here...

But right at the corner of the page is a strange figure going by the name of "Colonel Tribune." I can't be too sure, but it looks like the image of the Tribune's curmudgeonly long-time owner, Colonel Robert R. McCormick. Seems the Colonel has found a new role at the paper as "the Chicago Tribune's Web ambassador. He is here to help you stay informed and in touch with the latest news."

Now, history tells us the real-life Colonel was more interested in keeping the country safe for Republicans, and for helping Chester Gould make sure each villain in Dick Tracy died a gruesome, violent death so Tracy would never have to stoop so low as to arrest and Mirandize them. And I'm pretty sure McCormick was never seen wearing a newspaper hat (a "Napoleon" hat at that), especially one with the name of the Tribune's web site instead of the newspaper itself. But I guess with new owner Sam Zell finding new ways to screw the employees by filing Chapter 11, we realize the Colonel is just another asset whose image can be exploited, just like Colonel Sanders.

Almost distracts from the fun of wondering what schmuck Blagojevich thought he sell Obama's Senate seat to.

Economic Goals Re-ducks

Just filled the gas tank on the ol' Tercel again. Less than a month from the previous fill-up this time, because I made a trip to the city to show a friend the Goose Island brewpub, and detoured home by way of Flossmoor Station. So the price of gas today was at 1.99⁹ a gallon, not quite a dollar less than the 2.76⁹ I paid 20 days ago, but very nearly half of what I paid for the previous fill-up in September.

The last time I saw two bucks a gallon was once in January 2007, and before then, not since the spring of 2005.

As long as I still have a job, that's one bright spot in today's economy.

Election part 2

McCain is giving one of the most gracious concession speeches I've heard in some time.

If only he were this eloquent on the campaign trail, instead of running against the names in Obama's rolodex.

And I'm still straining to see any minorities at the McCain rally.

America Wins!

For those delusional enough to think Sarah Palin could run in 2012: just remember the rally in Grant Park tonight for Obama outnumbers the entire population of Alaska.

Meantime, I'm dealing with the fact of the first President who's younger than I am.

One economic goal achieved

This past summer, we moved the family from Park Forest to Downers Grove. Mostly so the kids would have much better schools, but also because we wanted to be closer to where I work (and where my wife might find better part-time opportunities around the baby's schedule). At the height of the gasoline crunch, we figured that what with driving 35 miles each way, plus tolls, I would be paying out over $200 a month just to get to and from work. That's figuring gas at an even $4.00 per gallon. I'd had to pay as mush as $4.25⁹ on the first of July.

Now that we've moved, my commute is a whopping 3.3 miles each way. I figured that if I didn't make any extended side trips to other areas, I just might be able to go a whole months between filling my tank. I had been able to achieve that five years before, when my work was in the Loop and I usually had to just drive to the train station.

In August, I was still getting stuff moved, and the month ended with me driving to my parents 50th Anniversary party in Iowa. September also saw some side trips to the northern burbs. But when I filled up on Sept. 27, paying $3.89⁹ per gallon, I found myself with no business for the following month besides getting to work or running for groceries.

As the month of October wound down, I saw that I not only might reach my personal goal, but with the price of gas tumbling through the month, I might just be able to make my next fill-up at a dollar a gallon less than the last time.

33 days later, on Oct. 30, I finally succumbed to the needle's dance around the letter "E". As the old Toyota had suffered much indignity from being parked under a tree for three months, I decided to splurge on a car wash at Delta Sonic. Imagine my glee at choosing the "car wash" discount and paying only $2.76⁹ per gallon, a whole $1.12 less than last time. Imagine myself discovering that due to the sneaky arrangement of gas grade buttons on the pump, I had actually filled up with the "Mid-grade" gas, instead of my usual "Regular," which would've been $2.66⁹.

Still, I had managed to enjoy a small victory and to justify the great expense of moving out. But I had discovered that by now driving mostly short, in-city trips, the mileage on my '95 Tercel had dwindled from a self-satisfied 38 miles per gallon to barely over 25 mpg.

Still, it looks like my next fill will cost at least 50 cents a gallon less than this one. See you in November!

Ranting & Raving: Kung Fu Panda

Took the boy the the movies for the first time in months, and we went to see Kung Fu Panda.

I can admit to liking it much more than any previous animated product from Dreamworks. The Cartoon Brew blog invited comments from those who saw it (SPOILER ALERTS!), and I posted mine. Here they are, too, because why am I filling up other people's web pages while neglecting my blog for months at a time:

Yeah, I liked it quite a lot, but the odd thing is, my 7-year-old boy was much more excited about it going in than afterward. Maybe the action sequences were way too fast-moving and chaotic for him to enjoy?

I was worried about Po keeping up the fanboy culture references throughout the picture (”authentic battle scarring”?), but that settled down pretty early. Did appreciate the references to OTHER kung fu films, just cause the whole genre keeps building on previous pictures. And for once in a Dreamworks cartoon, the characters had skeletons and for the most part their mouths stayed attached to their faces. I also liked how they led the audience to believe they were going to explain how a panda had a goose for a father, but faked out with a more important plot point.

That the Furious Five had little to do but get defeated seems like an appropriate trope of kung fu movies. It also seemed like a “natural” plot development that they get to like Po when he demonstrates that he’s at least good at making noodles. and yes, there had to be five animals to represent the five popular “animal” styles of kung fu, so they’re not a slapdash collection of animals.

Oh yeah, and only one person gets kicked in the cajones, and no fart gags anywhere. That’s better than most recent Disney features.

Now for my nits: while we may like to think Dreamworks is finally getting it right, before the film we were “treated” to the trailer for “Madagascar 2.” The old Dreamworks cliches are there: acres of butt shots, overworking of a 10-year old dance hit from the first movie, incongruous pop culture refs, homophobia-based humor, character designs all based on molded Jell-o, wacky held poses instead of character movement, the latter from the “Madagascar Penguins,” the most annoying spinoff from a feature cartoon since “Gabby.”

And in the lobby of the theatre, a monitor ran a continuous loop for the trailer from “Beverly Hills Chihuahuas,” featuring the theme that will certainly be torturing adults during its year of heavy Radio Disney airplay:

“Ay Chihuahua, Ai Chihuahua!
Ay Chihuahua, Ai Chihuahua!
Ay Chihuahua, Ai Chihuahua!…” ad infinitum.

But I was glad to have seen KFP without any sign of a “Shrek 4” trailer yet.

Sorry for the delay…

We've been busy bringing one of these into our lives:

A few of my favorite Holiday sounds

Rather than another rant about the general awfulness of selection on radio stations that go "all Christmas songs" before Halloween, let's check out some links to favorite aural treats:

"Sound Opinions," NPR's rock'n'roll talk show, is scheduled for a visit from DJ Andy Cizran, who each year presents a collection of found vinyl Christmas oddities. The show airs Friday, Dec. 21, and a podcast should be posted to the site linked shortly afterward. It'll also be available on iTunes (eyes right for the link), but go to the website for a link to a full 60 min. mixtape download of "Seance with Santa."

My current favorite music show is freeform radio station WFMU's Saturday show, Fool's Paradise, a full two hours of early garage rock, schlockabilly, R&B and more Salvation Army finds by artists even I've never heard of! This link, when clicked sometime after Dec. 22, will let you stream that day's Christmas show. Roll over, Brenda Lee, they'll be rockin' around more than a Christmas Tree (the Dec. 15 show has an interview and choice rarities by the late Ike Turner).

Speaking of WFMU, their incredible "Beware of the Blog" still has, for your listening pleasure, ripped tracks from both volumes of Rhino Records' "The Rhino Brothers Present - The Worlds Worst Records," issued in 1983 or so. As a bonus, there are the four tracks of the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra's "Some Kazoos" album. Fair Use dictates these links will only be "live" for a brief while, so check 'em out now, even if they aren't holiday-themed.
Only trouble is, the .mp3's for Vol. 2 seem to not include "Paralyzed" by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Fear not, for they had already ripped both sides of the original Mercury single here!

And here's the greatest radio Christmas story since, well, Jean Shepard's "A Christmas Story." Author David Sedaris reads his "The Santaland Diaries," about his experiences as an elf at Macy's Santaland. It repeats often on NPR's "This American Life," but here's a link to the program where it first appeared. The iTunes link at right has the current week's show (I'm feeling all linky today).


And Shep's story was drawn from several radio reminiscences, so there's no single radio show to hear the "original" on, but the site above has lotsa podcasts of original radio shows.

As the Beatles said, "Happy Kringle!"

Quick Photos: The Volo Auto Museum

We visited here to help relatives with the antique fair on Sept. 29. Of course, there's only one thing I really wanted to see:

Volo Auto Museum

Crossed Out!

Surprise and disappointment this past weekend, as Barb and I got someone to watch the boy Saturday while we headed into Downtown to audition for "Merv Griffin's Crosswords." Yep, another game show, the last one developed by the Mervster.

I had spotted an ad in the Tribune's TV page inviting aspiring contestants to call or go online to get one's name in the hopper. Well, I'm a big aspirer. I entered myself, then after letting Barb know this was going on, I entered her. Luckily, we got called and managed to arrange to go to the same audition time.

In case you haven't seen it, the Chicago NBC affiliate -- WMAQ -- is housed in in a "Main Street USA" replica of the NBC Tower in New York: same peacock on top, plus presumably a Noo Yawk style deli at the side. Only problem is, it's set a few block to the east of Michigan Ave. When the local TV marketing gurus decreed that all morning news shows must be done from a sidewalk-level studio with gawkers' windows, they leased out the ground floor of the nearby Equitable Building.

Once we get there, it's a basic cattle call familiar to any game show veteran or actor. Wait in line to get a numbered tag, then wait in a plain room with uncomfortable plastic chairs (no doubt the same place Jerry Springer's audience get penned up). Finally the show coordinators get finished with the previous auditions, and they fill us in on the game action, some of the rules, and various chitchat. Oh, yes: And a few free T-shirts.

After filling in our personal and tax info, we get a quick quiz testing our crossword solving ability. The last page of our applications had single rows of crossword squares, which we tried to fill in based on clues PowerPointed on the wall in front of us.

Hey! This quiz is hard!

A few minutes later, we hand in our tests. All of us new partners in anxiety chat about the clues; "What did you put down for #12," etc.

Then one of the coordinators reads the numbers of the applicants who get to stay and be interviewed.

Barb and I are not on the list. We both failed the test.

Tails between our legs, we console ourselves with some yummy entres at Lou Malnati's. Hey, no one said we needed to feel bad.

Finally got a chance to watch the show on Monday. Hey, those puzzle are hard!

Another Class Reunion

I started this blog with a post from my 25th high school reunion back in 2002. So I went back last month for my 30th.

Schaller, Iowa is in a typical rural area where female 4-H members still aspire to be named Pork Queen at the county fair each summer. Yet each year it becomes more of a promotional thing as family farms are swallowed up by giant hog raising factories. The various county pork producers associations will still be out there at local events, but their presentation is kind of indicative of the perceived blandness of Midwestern life. They'll serve "porkburgers," faux McRib, maybe even a pork chop sandwich. But if you want to "promote" pork in, say, the South or the west, you have a whole hog getting smoked up in a barbecue. Or at least some kind of 'cue, not just another fried patty. At least some sausage, perhaps?

But I found one outfit that went about it in a much more appropriate way. During the saturday afternoon Pop Corn Days parade, the kids in our family group were treated to fire companies, churches and various other floats all throwing out candy, mostly Tootsie Rolls. But toward the end of a parade was a horse-drawn wagon from a metal fabrication shop in nearby Galva. One of things they were showing off on the wagon was a smoker. As the wagon passed our location, for some reason the riders gestured to me to come up to the wagon. As I did, they handed me a delicious slice of smoked pork loin on a piece of bread. Mmmm… parade meat!

For all the images of bucolia I'm conjuring up, the Schaller area also happens to be one of the leading areas in the development of wind energy. Seems it's along the "continental divide" between the Missouri and Mississippi River basin, and thus a high point which gets plenty of steady winds. So now over 100 turbine windmills are spread around the area. Looks an awful lot like the Martian tripods standing along the landscape.