April 3- More Random Ramblings

All right- for all those of you who were guessing which item in my April 1st blog was the “April Fool” phony item…none of them were. April Third Fool! Just kidding…yes, there was a
Phony item- and it was…the mention of the passing of the guy who invented the “recipe” for “the Blob” for the 1958 flick. I just made up the name! In case you were wondering what that blob WAS made of- in some scenes, a slightly altered weather balloon- in others, some silicon gel. No fooling. Maybe we’ll get “the Blob” for the Sven show some day! I did show “Son of Blob” on my “Son of Svengoolie” show (how appropriate) but it is nowhere as good as the original- even if it did include cameos by Larry Hagman and Chicago’s own Del Close!
My good friend Candi has left B 96 radio-after about twelve years working there (even though management thought it was about nine years.) You’ve seen her on our show before, especially as the dancer in the pith helmet in our Mummy “Gold-Digger” song parody. We wish her well, and have no doubt she will land somewhere else- and do very well!(Maybe she can replace “Qwerty” in our mail segments- although she probably wouldn’t settle for his pay- which was – nothing…)
I read an interview with John Caponera, who played Harry Caray in the ill-fated A T and T commercials- and, while he says pretty much what I thought- he was hired as talent, has a family to support, so he does what he’s asked- he said he didn’t do his Harry like Will Ferrell, and make him seem senile. That’s not true- he used some lines that are exactly like the ones Ferrell used in his lame impression (like the ones asking a question followed by “I know I would!”) As I stated in an earlier blog, I know how commercial producers and directors will tell talent how they should be doing the character, and I’m sure they told him to do it more like Ferrell.
But- I understand that Caponera was stuck between a rock and a hard place- you don’t want to lose a lucrative commercial gig. I say it’s time to move on, and give him a break…
My other favorite story is the guy who made the Ernie Banks statue , which said “LETS PLAY TWO” without proper punctuation (“LET’S PLAY TWO”)-being quoted as saying “I’m a sculptor, not a writer!” Like whatever your job is, you should be ignorant to the use of correct grammar and punctuation?
I’m amazed at the number of business people who can’t spell, or write using proper words, punctuation, and grammar. Didn’t they pay any attention in high school? And- how many eyes did this thing go past- that NONE of them noticed there was no apostrophe? So much for proofreading- even on a big hunk of stone…
By the way-I’ll tell you tomorrow how Ernie was ALMOST on Svengoolie once…