Mummies-Hot and Otherwise-plus Bud and Lou

Okay, tonight on Svengoolie, we’ve got one of our most-requested songs, featuring a rather fetching mummy, plus Abbott and Costello out to fetch a mummy –in (what else?)

“Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy!”

This was actually the LAST “Abbott and Costello Meet…” movie- in fact, it was the last Universal Abbott and Costello movie, period. The boys volunteer to accompany a mummy being shipped from Egypt to America-but, the cult that serves the bandaged body in question- and keeps it alive!-kidnaps the mummy (called “Klaris” instead of the usual “Kharis” as in the bulk of the Universal mummy movies)-putting Bud and Lou on the spot for the murder of the professor who had planned to ship the ancient one stateside. Along the way, they come into possession of a special medallion that will lead to a hidden tomb that holds great treasure- and are pursued by an evil woman and her nasty cronies. Eventually, they all run rampant in the tomb, with the murderous Klaris-worshipping cult, the crooked tomb robbers, multiple mummies, and the two dummies!

There are familiar faces in this flick- like Richard Deacon- the beloved Mel Cooley of “the Dick Van Dyke Show”(seen on Me-TV) –as, surprisingly, the sinister high priest of the cult. You also find Michael Ansara- 60s TV actor and former hubby of “I Dream of Jeannie” star Barbara Eden! We even get Costello’s daughter in a bit part, acting with her old man –we’ll point it out on the show!

One thing that you’ll notice about this movie is that Bud and Lou are constantly calling each other by their REAL names-rather than their character names- throughout the film! For the record- their characters are Pete and Freddy…

You’ll get plenty of Sven gags in this show, with the mummy theme stretched to its unwrapping point- and- that music video we promised- the popular parody of “Gold-Digger”-featuring our lovely friend Candi-who you can now hear weekends on KISS-FM, and see m.c.ing many Chicago Sky games- and, an adorable mummy played by our former co-worker, Sarah! We get many requests form people asking us to play it again- so, here it is- in the movie in which we first presented it. Get those vcrs/Tivos/dvrs rolling for it! Tune in tonight at 9 on WCIU, and 1 am on Me-TV.

Please remember-Sven appears in Cicero next Friday night-

6-8 pm! More details coming in the blog next week! #   #   #

June 15- Fodder for a Father’s Day Blog

To all the dads out there, a happy Father’s Day-hopefully, you won’t be the recipient of a tie you don’t need (and won’t need to be tied up- Hulk smash!) Being a father is an awesome responsibility- though I do see quite a few dads who don’t seem to be taking that seriously. We get an almost daily earful of the celebrity fathers, from Jessica Simpson’s dad to Hulk Hogan, who haven’t seemed to play their parental part as well as they should have. So, we salute the fathers who have stepped up, taken care of their offspring the right way, and know what it really means to be a dad.

We’ve encountered some dads in our Universal offerings- just recently, we saw a son of Frankenstein being advised by his father’s “ghost.” Now THAT’S dedication- still coming back to

send junior in the right direction, in spite of the slight handicap of being dead!

We saw both the Son and Daughter of Dracula, and what a dysfunctional family THAT was- Sonny Bat ...I mean Boy…

Honoring his father by continuing the vampiric traditions

that his poppa instilled in him (although doing so under the

Backward “Alucard” alias)-while Sis went in the exact opposite direction, trying to shake the blood-imbibing habits of her father, and honoring him by setting his body on fire to grant him eternal rest…which must not have worked very well, in view of all those sequels-though the flames did change his appearance from that of Bela Lugosi to John Carradine- then back to Bela in time to meet Abbott and Costello.

We never got a son of the Mummy (maybe because his princess love passed away before he could sire any mini-mummies with her.) There were never any Wolf Man cubs either- Larry Talbot was too busy whining and howling to

breed a pack. The Invisible Man? Heck, he might have had kids- how could we tell? We can’t see them (going against the old adage that children should be seen, but not heard-with Invisi-kids, it’d be the exact opposite!)And- while Dr. Frankenstein certainly sired a couple sons, one of whom had a daughter- the Frankenstein Monster and his lovely hand-crafted Bride never got to the point of making little chips off the old blockhead.

As the former Son of Svengoolie, I certainly followed in the footsteps of my TV dad- who showed me the ropes of handling

many aspects of  radio, television, and the varied facets of show business. The rest- I learned from my actual real-life dad, who has always known what it takes to be a father. Thanks, Dad!    #     #     #

June 16- Getting a Taste of Chicago…and Cicero!

 We’re a little more than ten days away from an annual Chicago tradition- as Grant Park gets overloaded with visitors,

turkey legs, and pickles on a stick-yes, it’s the Taste of Chicago!!! I wonder how the current economy, plus gas prices, will affect the turn-out…or, if it even will!

According to the latest press releases, the cost of those wacky food tickets for taste of Chicago will again be going up-with the increase including a 33 percent rise in the city service tax. Here’s the deal- last year, you got 11 tickets for 7 bucks, plus a $1.50 surcharge. THIS year, you’ll get a strip of 12 food tickets for 8 bucks- which includes a two dollar per strip charge for city services. Those services include removing trash (not the human kind that also shows up there) and making an effort to recycle. If you want to avoid that two buck service charge, you can purchase tickets at a certain grocery chain’s stores BEFORE the festival of food, fireworks, and freakazoids begins.

The problem always seems to be how many tickets it takes to get a food item. While twelve tickets sounds like a lot- if  that Kentucky-fried wombat gizzard sandwich will cost you five or six tickets- if you’d planned on taking a smorgasbord tour of the 300 items of food available, you’d better have visited the ATM before you start eating.

There is often discussion of how, when the Taste first started, the idea was to have small samples of all kinds of local cuisine served by unique Chicago restaurants available- but that went by the wayside early on. Now, such exotic local fare as McDonald’s thrives among the other restaurants selling full portions of food- not just a taste for a ticket or two.

I think I’ve mentioned in previous years that, except for my very first time there, every time I’ve been at the Taste, it’s been in a working capacity. I spent an afternoon broadcasting live with the late Bob Collins from the WGN booth. I did a couple weeks of live “Koz Zone” shows from the Fox stage- which included a guest appearance by the beloved “fighter of filth” superhero Capt. Dustpan (let’s see YOU put on a mask made out of a dustpan in 85 degree heat!) I’ve been out there for Taste preview shows, Taste fireworks shows, and even did a weather broadcast from the Taste during a news show. I also ended up being an “on-the-spot” reporter the day that a microburst hit Grant Park during one of our “Koz Zone” broadcasts, giving the anchor live reaction to the horrific weather that closed down the Taste- and nearly lifted our protective tent high off the ground!

Of course, I also made appearances at the taste at the WCIU booth- the first couple of years that our station hit the air as “the U!” Believe me, Sven being out in a sizzling Grant Park is enough to par boil a rubber chicken right on the pavement.

There won’t be a “U booth” at the Taste this year-but I’m hoping for slightly cooler weather this Friday night- when I’ll be appearing at the Cicero American Fest from 6-8 pm in-where else? Cicero! (Just east of Berwyn, of course…) The festival is located at 50^th Ave. and 25^th Street. Save yourself a trip to Grant Park amidst the sweltering throng, and have some food and fun Friday with yours truly !!!  #    #   #