Bee-otch of the Day: July 2020

Thursday, July 30, 2020

7.30.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Donald Trump

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: Donald Trump
Age: 74
Occupation: crybaby
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: wanting to cause a delay

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Towards the end of Obama's run as president, I started seeing those ridiculous MAGA hats.

All I could wonder was, "make America great from WHAT?" The mid-2010s were some of the best days of my life. I got mad raises at my job and there was so much growth around me.

But now, everything is a memory.

Now, we can't go to the grocery store without a mask. Wanna go to a movie? Gotta do it online. Wanna travel? Probably not a good idea.

And if Drumpf ever got his way, we would have had to wait a little longer to go to the polls or at least mail in our ballots.

Today, he suggested that Election Day be delayed in part because he believes that mail fraud could get him elected out of office. However, 1) there's ZERO evidence that the ballots can end up in the wrong hands. Yeah, like a dog can vote. Give my mom's parrot a ballot and it will be confetti. And 2) he has no power to adjust the voting schedule, especially since it's Congress's decision and not his. And you don't want to mess with the likes of Nancy Pelosi and AOC, either.

Meanwhile, his little Tulsa rally has killed one of his favorite supporters. Former Godfather's Pizza CEO and presidential candidate Herman Cain died today from COVID-19 at the age of 74. Proof positive that once again, large rallies are a dumb idea during this pandemic.

With 4.6 million people infected with the virus and 155,000 deaths so far, Drumpf should have been caring two shits about it since day one. But, sadly, it's not meant to be. Instead, he's posting false information on Twitter about the disease and telling the word that he's COVID-free because of hydroroxycholiq-whatever.

A part of me wonders if Drumpf doesn't want to be president. Instead, he wants to be DICTATOR. He would want to rip the Constitution into shreds to imprison what's left of the middle class and below. Trust me, I knew this would happen if we ever voted Republican again.

But, get this: the latest pro-Drumpf campaign ad on TV shows Joe Biden in 1987 bitching at a reporter about being the top in his school, blah blah blah while the news media refutes it. OK, so what does that have to do with what we're dealing with now? I know, Biden ain't perfect. But, better him over Drumpf.

Look, WANTING to move the election to a later date shows how dangerous Drumpf is. Personally, I think voting by mail SHOULD be the law as opposed to standing in line to vote in a cramped spot. I'm thankful for being an absentee voter so I don't have to wait forever in line. I simply fill out the ovals and return it NOT by mail, but giving it to the local clerk. Done.

Drumpf needs to know that he had a job to do and failed miserably. Whether or not Joe Biden can fix his wrongs is anybody's guess. But at this point, a pile of cow manure can do a better job of running the country. This country needs to be fixed before it destroys us.

Only 96 more days... I hope!

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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

7.29.20 Bee-otches of the Day: The media

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: the media
Age: ageless
Occupation: the entertainers and informers of us all
Last Seen: everywhere
Bee-otched For: not doing enough flicking

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Throughout the 1960s and 70s, long before the age of MTV, we Americans were connected with the music of the times through Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

But, other countries had their own dance shows, too. For England, BBC's Top of the Pops was their link to the hottest tunes and styles of the day.

TOTP wasn't simply a clone of AB. It had a character of its own. From 1964 to 2006, over 15 million Brits would gather around their TVs Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. to see who had the hottest hits of the week. It was like radio's American Top 40, but since it was only on 30 minutes per week, a lot of songs would be omitted. Plus, since there were no videos, the artists had to come on the show to mime their hits, though there would be occasional live performances.

But a lot of times, hit-making artists couldn't make it to the show. Sometimes, they wanted too much money. Other times, it was because they were on tour in another country. Because of this, TOTP had a secret weapon: young, sexy female dancers.

The show had five groups in its history; the first were The Go-Jos, named for founder and choreographer Jo Cook. However, in 1968, the BBC replaced them with some much younger lasses called Pan's People. For the next eight years, PP helped TOTP escape the stigma of being yet another teenybopper program. Give them a record and Pan's People could dance to anything. They danced to hot records in skimpy outfits to soulful a capella hymns with zero BPMs. Pan's People was a smash with almost everybody. Dads loved them for their sexiness, girls wanted to be them and young boys, well, had to run to their bedrooms with some Kleenex and Jergen's. Some women, however, hated PP for simply being too sexy. After all, some even felt that they invented twerking.

Even though Pan's People was as British as fish and chips and Big Ben, its leader was as American as mom's apple pie and Chevrolet.

Felicity Isabella "Flick" Colby (that's her free soloing on the Judy Collins link) was the proud daughter of a college professor who hailed from a small town in upstate New York, Clinton (pop. 1,700). A classically-trained dancer as a young girl, she moved to London at age 20 in 1966 to further pursue her dream. She almost quickly found gigs, especially in this 1966 music video for a Dutch band called The Golden Earrings (and yes, they're the same guys - sans the s - who gave us classic rock radio staples "Radar Love" and "Twilight Zone"). She teamed up with a bunch of other female dancers later that year to form Pan's People.

Despite her good looks and talent, Flick admitted that she hated performing. So in 1972, she retired as an on-stage performer and stuck to choreographing. After Pan's People disbanded in 1976, she continued on choreographing other TOTP dance troupes Ruby Flipper, Legs and Co. and Zoo. However, because of the popularity of music videos, the BBC no longer thought that dance troupes were in. As a result, Flick was fired and moved back to America to be close to family. She used her earnings to build a nice house in Clinton where she and her college professor husband lived.

Sadly, Flick Colby died on May 26th, 2011 (my 30th birthday, ironically) after battling breast cancer for 24 years. She was just 65.

So, what does Flick Colby have to do with what we're talking about? Well, TOTP had a rule: once a record drops on the charts, it was no longer to be played. On a Friday, the producers would choose a record for her to put a routine together to. Flick would have several days to slap one together. However, the new charts came out on Tuesday, and if the record dropped, her dancers would nickname that day "Frisbee Day". She would go into the rehearsal room, take the record off the turntable and throw it across the room. Now, Flick and her dancers had only a few hours to get a new routine going. True, many of them worked great. Others, on the other hand....

Sadly, many of the routines Flick and her dancers made over the years may never be seen again, at least on any of the BBC's channels. For one, the BBC erased a myriad of their programming from the days of 2-inch tape. The tapes themselves were expensive and took up space. TOTP wasn't its only victim; many episodes of Doctor Who are still missing. Monty Python's Flying Circus was almost a casualty, but was saved thanks to its popularity here in America.

But yes, there's another big reason why those routines might be shelved for good: TOTP was a haven for child molesters. Two of their hosts - Jimmy Savile and Dave Lee Travis - saw their careers reduced to smithereens because of Operation Yewtree, which busted many famous British celebs for accosting minors. Glam rock giant Gary Glitter was also busted and is now in prison probably until he dies. Because of OY, the BBC has pulled many TOTP shows from being reaired.

But here in America, some radio station just might be playing "Rock and Roll Part 2" and nobody will care two shits.

Thanks to the shithole known as corporate radio, if somebody fucks up, they won't ban their music. Granted, Glitter's fall from grace didn't make huge headlines here in America. Radio stations won't play the Dix-er, I mean, The Chicks, but Confederate flag-waving assholes like Lynyrd Skynyrd are OK.

When I was young, there was Milli Vanilli. They ruled the world of music. Then, it was discovered that they were fake. Nobody wanted anything to do with them, period. If you still liked them, you were a fucking poser. Hell, I wouldn't be too surprised if Milli Vanilli's fall from grace led to the downfall of pop music in the early 90s. Pop was no longer cool while alternative was in.

Now, we have assholes like Chris Brown who beat the shit out of women and some hip-hop station will be spinning one of his tunes. Here in Grand Rapids, the recently-launched R&B station 102.5 The Ride plays R. Kelly on a regular basis despite the fact that he's in prison for child molesting (then again, station programmer Tyrone Bynum doesn't know what the fuck he's doing, period). Hell, there's a TV network called TVOne that STILL airs The Cosby Show!

Funny how I mentioned The Chicks, whom country stations banned after Natalie Maines' outburst regarding George W. Bush. On Monday, my clock radio was blaring WGRD here in Grand Rapids playing "Headstrong" by Trapt. I usually listen to the radio for about five minutes before shutting it off. Well, it was off about a minute after it started playing. I used to like Trapt until lead singer Chris Brown (not the aforementioned woman beater) started spreading shit on social media about the existence of white privilege, trashing civil rights groups and even showing their support of Drumpf. And guess what? Their latest album, "Shadow Work" only sold 600 copies its first week. And why active rock radio still plays them, plus Creed (whose lead singer threatened to kill Obama) and 3 Doors Down (who supported Drumpf) is beyond me.

Sadly, Grand Rapids no longer has any real progressive outlet for talk radio now that WPRR 1680 was officially run into the ground by Tyrone Bynum. But yet, Rush Limbaugh and his vitriol are around to shame the working class. Even more pathetic is that when Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a "slut" on his show, only a few radio stations dropped his show. Yet, when Howard Stern trashed Selina when she died, his show lost Dallas.

Look, I understand that this is America and if you don't like the song that's playing on the radio or the TV program that's on, you can change the channel. It's just too bad that people are fucking stupid and will forgive those who create pain for others. Bill Cosby raped over 50 women and a fucking channel here in America still airs his show. Sad. Yet in England, Savile raped and assaulted over 500 and some of Pan's Peoples' best routines may be shelved for good.

But as they all say, sometimes, you have to kill the horse to save its leg.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

7.28.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Donald Trump

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: Donald Trump
Age: 74
Occupation: KKK leader
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: acting like a 3-year-old

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Too many times in my life, I wonder why the wrong people get crucial jobs.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a former co-worker of mine who worked at a nail salon for 20 years before coming to work at my company. He fucked up constantly and the final straw came when he screamed at me for something that was beyond my control.

I look at people like Matt Hanlon who was put in charge of WKLQ here in Grand Rapids. He made it so The Rock @ 94dot5 no longer connected to its audience. Howard Stern was replaced with unfunny morning shows. Their PDs were replaced with losers like Darren Arriens and Michael Grey. At the end of the day, KLQ ceased to exist.

We can go on, but the sad reality is that Drumpf is doing the same to the US government.

Recently, I talked about Betsy DeVos and her plans to take away funding for any school system in America that doesn't open for the school year. Well, the company town in Tennessee named for a corporation that makes aluminum has become a science experiment that people are losing.

This past week, Alcoa Schools announced that a person has indeed tested positive for COVID-19. They are not saying if it's a student or a teacher.

While the world is trying feverishly to combat the 'rona, America is still failing miserably. We now have 4.5 million cases of the disease, plus 150,000 deaths. Crowds are still gathering for special occasions, like a concert held by Goldman Sachs CEO and part time DJ David "D-sol" Solomon and EDM duo The Chainsmokers in The Hamptons.

Sadly, it's clear that Drumpf doesn't care enough about stopping the virus vs. other countries. Yes, we should all wear masks and practice social distancing. But sometimes, it's not possible.

Honestly, I'm kinda scared about the baseball season, or what's left of it. Look at the Miami Marlins and their COVID scare. It's worse enough that the team was once owned by Wayne Huizenga, an asshole so far to the right that when he owned Blockbuster, he wouldn't allow porn to be sold unlike other video stores.

Right now, his attorney general William Barr is being grilled by the Democratic-led House for Drumpf's recent problems. He's pretty much Drumpf's puppet and it sucks to be him right now.

Even more, it sucks to be Drumpf and the fact that he pissed off a ton of black folks by not attending any memorial for Rep. John Lewis. You know, I laugh every FUCKING time he tells people that he's done more for blacks than even Obama. Yeah, like having cops kneel on black men's necks while people stand in horror. Sadly, there's 99 more days until Election Day. I wish it was sooner.

The good news is that there's more support for Joe Biden this year than Hillary Clinton for the 2016 election. Right now, Biden is leading Drumpf by over 10 points. True, Biden ain't perfect and I'm planning to go Green for this year's election. But, a vote for anybody but Drumpf is a good decision.

Let's Make America Great Again. For real.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Monday, July 27, 2020

7.27.20 Several Heroes of the Day

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

SOME SPECIAL HEROES OF THE DAY!

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This past weekend, several great celebrities passed away.

One was an in-your-face talker who also made some people quite wealthy. Another was a founder of a beloved classic rock band. We also laid to rest a civil rights pioneer and we also mourned the loss of a Hollywood legend.

On Saturday, we lost the great Regis Philbin. The beloved TV talk and game show host had an astonishing career despite not being a household name until the 1980s. It was his daytime talk show Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee that showed the world his unique talent of just simply not having a dull moment. He entertained millions more as the host of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? On his show this morning, Howard Stern admitted that Regis was one of those people who was always happy. The two lived in the same complex in New York City and often bumped into each other. Kathie Lee Gifford also shared her memories of her former co-host and friend on the NBC Nightly News this evening.

Ironically, Regis' death only comes weeks after the death of Hugh Downs, the versatile newsman who once held the Guinness record for most hours on television. A few years ago, it was Regis who broke that record.

Also this weekend, we paid respects to Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green. The guitar legend died at age 73. He was also FM's original lead singer, and composed one of the band's first breakout hits, 1969's "Oh Well". He also wrote "Black Magic Woman", a song that was later a hit for Santana. However, he left the band in 1970 and dealt with mental health and drug issues over the years. However, he overcame many of his problems and continued to tour and record until his death. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #58 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Personally, I might be in a minority in all this, but to me, FM got overrated when Green left and it was all overplayed soft rock from there on. I know, there's women out there whose spirit animal is Stevie Nicks (and the two of us share a birthday). But if I hear "Dreams" one more time....

Right now, the world is saying their goodbyes to the great Georgia Congressman and Civil Rights icon John Lewis, who died last week at age 80 from cancer. At 23, he was the youngest speaker at Rev. Martin Luther King's March on Washington in 1963. While crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, Lewis was beaten by police officers, marking the event "Bloody Sunday". The event marked a pivotal period in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1986, Lewis was elected Congressman serving Goergia's 5th District.

On Sunday, Lewis crossed the Pettus Bridge one last time in a casket carried by a horse-drawn carriage. Instead of being beaten by police, they were there to guard his casket.

While the country witnessed that event, the world lost one of the last stars from Hollywood's Golden Age. Olivia De Havilland died on Sunday in Paris at age 104. Her biggest role came in the 1939 smash "Gone With the Wind". In her career, she won two Best Actress Oscars for "To Each His Own" and "The Heiress". Her career spanned from the 1930s all the way up to 2009 when she narrated a documentary called "I Remember Better When I Paint", about Alzheimer's patients.

Although Regis, Peter, John and Olivia were not all on the same page, they left their mark on the world in a positive way. Regis made us laugh. Peter made some good tunes, John made the world better for all races and Olivia was a decent actress. They might be gone, but their impact will live on forever.

They will live on as heroes in one way, shape or form.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Thursday, July 23, 2020

7.23.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Donald Trump

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: Donald Trump
Age: 74
Occupation: The Lone Ranger's evil twin
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: not making us safe, period

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With the presidential election only being a few months away the political ads on TV are plentiful and crude.

And yes, Drumpf is beyond no exception.

In his latest commercial, an old woman sees that her home is being broken into. She calls 911 while audio from Fox Propaganda Channel (including Sean Hannity) talking about Joe Biden wanting to cut police funding is playing in the background. At the end of the commercial, the burglar breaks in with a crowbar and the woman is attacked.

The moral of the story is that you won't be safe in Drumpf's America, even though we already aren't.

When I think of ads like those, I think of the Netflix documentary "13th" where politicians like the first Bush used fears of violence to make people think that if they're not elected, our streets would be littered with black thugs. Now, that'll get the racists out to vote!

Yes, let's keep our streets safe when we just had a mass shooting in Chicago a few days ago. I would only imagine that thanks to Drumpf's education secretary Betsy DeVos forcing schools to reopen this fall that there will be a mass shooting or two or three or more. Thanks to COVID-19, we saw a big reduction of school shootings, which proves that in some way, the coronavirus was a blessing.

But thanks to morons who all think that COVID-19 is a hoax and our country's ignorance towards the pandemic, 4.1 million Americans have been infected with the virus and almost 150,000 have died from it. That means that 27% -- WELL OVER A QUARTER -- of the world's COVID-19 infections are right here! Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa round out the top five.

Not only that, NO countries in the top 10 regarding current COVID-19 cases have universal healthcare. The country with the highest amount of active cases with such as system is France, which is 11th place. America is in 10th place regarding total cases per one million people, with #1 being Qatar.

And according to Drumpf, we won't be safe under Biden.

Meanwhile, more of Drumpf's buddies are leaving the slammer. Roger Stone left on Saturday and today, it was Michael Cohen's turn. Since becoming president, Drumpf has let a lot of assholes out of jail or simply pardoned them. And yet, we have people rotting in prisons simply because they're poor or just simply a nobody. Leonard Peltier comes to mind.

Wanna make this country safe? LET'S VOTE DRUMPF OUT IN NOVEMBER! Trust me. We're tired of having a government that favors the wealthy over the poor. We're tired of having to work where we might get COVID-19. We're tired of seeing black people get beaten up because of their skin color and we're tired of having an out-of-control government that might kill us. Hell, the Repukes have proven how assholic they are because of Florida congressdouche Ted Yoho calling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a "fucking bitch". Sorry, but if you're gonna be the party of so-called "family values", have some.

Instead, let's save that slur for Drumpf himself.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

7.22.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Covidiots

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: various
Age: various
Occupation: various
Last Seen: everywhere
Bee-otched For: not masking it

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Only in America, where instead of freedom, we have freedumb.

Freedumb, btw is the freedom to be dumb.

We see it on the news daily: morons who walk into stores without a mask. To them, they think that COVID-19 is a hoax and that it can't kill them. They bitch that masks suffocate them and it causes their glasses to fog.

But, guess what? MASKS PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19!

Yesterday, Drumpf announced that he is encouraging all Americans to wear masks and avoid huge crowds. However, a reporter during his press conference pointed out that he recently didn't wear a mask during a fundraiser at one of his hotels. Whoops.

Just today, California became the most-COVID-infested state in the country, passing Florida. Of course, the Centers of Disease Control's telling people that if we all wear masks, COVID-19 could be gone in a month or two.

And still, there's assholes out there who think that it's all a hoax.

Last week, 39-year-old Kenneth Inman from Kalkaska walked into the Meijer in nearby Acme without a mask. He pulled a knife on an employee when told to put one on. As a result, he was arraigned in court and might spend the next four years in prison. Not only that, he's been banned from entering that particular Meijer store.

According to his Facebook page, Inman - who lives in a trailer on a dirt road - worked at that particular Meijer as a stocker three years ago.

Also last week in Dimondale, near Lansing, a 77-year-old man was stabbed by a 43-year-old asshole named Sean Ruis, who was not wearing a mask at a Quality Dairy gas station. Ruis was threatening customers harassing him for not wearing a mask, including the 77-year-old. Ruis ran off and was later pulled over by a Michigan State policeman. The officer shot and injured Ruis, who later died in the hospital.

You see it daily: morons who are too fucking stupid to wear a mask in public. They think that COVID-19 is a joke and the media is simply scaring us into thinking that the moment we walk into a store, we're gonna get the 'rona. That's not true, especially if you wash your hands, stay six feet apart and WEAR A MASK.

Look, if there's a health crisis out there and the government is requiring you to wear a mask, YOU HAVE TO WEAR A MASK. YOUR RIGHTS ARE NOT BEING AFFECTED BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE SIX FEET UNDER, YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS, PERIOD!

Thankfully, several vaccines are in the works and COVID-19 will hopefully be dead and gone by this time next year. OOOPS! Don't get me started on the anti-vaxxers and their beloved leader, Dr. Jenny McCarthy. I hope with this vaccine, we'll be back to doing the things we love. But until then....

MASK IT OR CASKET!

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

7.21.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Bob Goodrich

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: Bob Goodrich
Age: 79
Occupation: bankrupt dumbass
Last Seen: Grand Rapids, MI
Bee-otched For: throwing his problems from the frying pan to the fire (thanks, Darren Gibson)

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It's official: William Goodrich is spinning in his grave.

He was the founder of the now-defunct Goodrich Quality Theater chain, which has now met its fate. This weekend, the bankrupt circuit was purchased out of court.

Earlier this year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, GQT filed for bankruptcy, owing their vendors millions. Chain owner Bob Goodrich blamed the high cost of renovating his cinemas for the bankruptcy.

Like most cinemas here in America, COVID-19 shuttered GQT, ending any hope of emerging out of bankruptcy with Goodrich at the helm. He did announce the closure of one of his theaters, the Cadillac 4 in Cadillac, MI. That cinema - which GQT remodeled just a few short years ago - had planned to be sold to the nonprofit Footliters group. The Footliters planned to hold live performances plus show movies at the over-100-year-old cinema. However, GQT's new owner outbid the Footliters and it will continue with new ownership.

GQT's new owners are a partnership between two New York companies: Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management. The two companies are headed by Igal Namdar and his wife's cousin, Elliot Nassim. The company is mainly in the retail business with over 100 malls in their portfolio. However, many of Namdar's malls are struggling and according to reviews on sites like Glassdoor, the company is not really a good place to work for.

Namdar owns five malls in Michigan, including The Lakes in Muskegon. As seen in my video from last year, The Lakes is starting to get a little spotty in terms of tenants. I even talked to one of the girls running one of the closing businesses at the time, and she told me that the rent there was simply too high. I regularly watch mall videos on YouTube and many of their creators all agree that Namdar is a horrible company in terms of management.

And now, they own what's left of Goodrich Quality Theaters.

Apparently, Namdar will own the properties while an Illinois firm, VIP Cinemas will operate them. The company will now operate as "Goodrich Theater NewCo, Inc." with each location being an LLC. This way, if one location fails, it won't bring down the rest of the chain.

Meanwhile, Goodrich's radio station, WPRR 1680 here in Grand Rapids is still laying silent while one of its translators, 102.5 is now adult R&B as 102.5 The Ride. According to the station's Facebook page, they still carry Tyrone Bynum's afternoon show. However, they're now carrying several other hosts from 97.3 The Beat, the low-powered urban station. From what I've heard, there was some situations that led WJWC's hosts to leave the station to come to the new WPRR.

And one of those hosts is none other than Robert S. Womack.

For years, Robert and Tyrone were at odds with each other. Word had it that Tyrone would trash Robert constantly on his show and in person. Now that Robert S. is off WJWC and before that, WYGR 1530 (now a classic country outlet, 94.9 Jethro FM), I guess he had no choice but to bow to Tyrone if he wanted a radio show.

Of course, urban AC on 102.5 is a response to Townsquare flipping Magic 104.9 to full urban not too long ago. Legally, it must simulcast 1680, which has been off the air for over a week. When 1680 was on the air a week ago Sunday and Monday, they were airing a totally different format with a different music line-up. It had no liners or legal IDs. Even more, some of the songs were unedited and contained language that's not quite FCC-friendly.

Oh, and I heard R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" on 1680 last week. Not only does Tyrone tolerate breaking FCC rules and giving his bankrupt boss a possible Notice of Apparent Liability, he tolerates pedophilia, also.

Folks, when you own a business and you give it to people with a poor track record, this is what you get. Tyrone already ran down another radio station in GR and now, he's doing it to 1680/102.5. It was definitely smart when Goodrich sold the 95.3 translator to GVSU or else Tyrone would be fucking that up, too. Apparently, Goodrich's offices along 44th Street in Kentwood are being sold to Namdar, too. Whether or not if this will have an effect on WPRR is yet to be seen.

Granted, WPRR *might* gain some ratings since they'll have an older African American audience than Magic 104.9. But for the most part, I'll be surprised if it breaks a one share. At least the music sounds a lot better than when Tyrone was programming what sounded like low-bitrate crap from Grokster 20 years ago overnights on WPRR not long ago.

But still, you can't polish a turd.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Monday, July 20, 2020

7.20.20 Bee-otches of the Day: NBC affiliates that pre-empted the 30 Rock reunion

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: various
Age: various
Occupation: owners of NBC affiliates
Last Seen: everywhere
Bee-otched For: not giving their viewers lemons

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Once upon a time, there was a radio station engineer from Pennsylvania named Lester Biederman.

In the late 1930s, the 20-something had a dream: to own his own radio station. He did his research and discovered the biggest city in America that didn't have a radio station: Traverse City, Michigan. On January 8th, 1941, WTCM was born.

Through the 40s, Biederman started other small stations in other communities in northern Michigan. But in 1954, television came to town. WWTV - originally on Channel 13 - debuted New Years Day from Cadillac. Nine months later, Biederman signed on WPBN-TV Channel 7 from M-72, just on the outskirts of Traverse City.

When what is now 7&4 signed on, they were only on in the evening. By the early 60s, most TV stations usually were on 7 a.m. until 1 a.m. However, 7&4 signed on around noon and signed off at 12:30 a.m. during The Tonight Show. As a matter of fact, according to Les' son Ross, Jack Paar would occasionally say "Goodnight, Traverse City!" since they were the sole NBC affiliate that didn't air the whole program. Back then, Tonight lasted until 1 a.m.

What's even more embarrassing was that 7&4 did not air The Today Show until 1964. Yet, their main rival, CBS affiliate WWTV 9&10 was on the air bright and early for Captain Kangaroo. In the 1970s, 7&4 was Michigan's sole NBC outlet that didn't air The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder. For Biederman, a 2 a.m. sign-off was a little too late for northern Michigan.

Biederman sold off 7&4 in 1980 to focus more on his radio stations. Today, like most TV stations, 7&4 is on the air 24 hours per day, seven days per week. They have not gone off the air for the evening in some 30 years. They clear the entire NBC schedule, making Seth Meyers and Lily Singh a little happier.

True, under Biederman's aegis, 7&4 was far from perfect. Then again, they had their bright spots. According to old TV listings, 7&4 picked up Saturday Night Live in 1976 (for the show's first season, they showed old movies in its slot instead). Other NBC outlets were skeptical about the program, including Detroit's WWJ-TV (now WDIV).

But, comparing to other NBC stations, it was business as usual at WPBN-TV. Other NBC stations had their flaws, too. New Jersey's WMGM-TV was still broadcasting local programming in black and white well into the 1970s (and surprise, they didn't sign on until around noon, either). In the 1960s, NBC viewers in Lansing had to miss some of their favorite shows since WILX-TV 10 shared its frequency with MSU-owned WMSB until 1972. As a matter of fact, when JFK was assassinated, it was during WMSB's time on the air. WILX had to wait until WMSB signed off to air NBC's coverage of the assassination. It was common for big city stations to move some of their daytime programming to smaller independent stations to air more-profitable programming. When they were Detroit's CBS affiliate, WJBK-TV 2 farmed out many of their shows to independent WADL-38.

Last Thursday, WPBN, along with all but one NBC affiliate here in Michigan opted not to show NBC's much-ballyhooed virtual reunion of the stars of their 2006-2013 hit sitcom 30 Rock. Allegedly, the reason for the skipping was because 1) the special had no commercials and 2) some station owners complained that it was simply one giant infomercial for NBC's new Peacock streaming service.

The only NBC station showing the program was 7&4's sister station in Saginaw, WEYI-25.

Several station groups pulled the special, including 7&4 and WEYI's current owner, Sinclair. Other groups included Gray Television (WLUC-6 Marquette and the aforementioned WILX), Graham Media (WDIV-4 Detroit) and Nexstar, which owns my local NBC station, WOOD-TV 8 here in Grand Rapids.

In the 30 Rock special's slot, WOOD-TV aired two locally-produced news specials dealing with COVID-19 and the area's problems with shoreline erosion.

Not to worry for people in need of their Liz Lemon fix, the 30 Rock special is now streaming... on Peacock.

All this bullshit about NBC affiliates protesting over this new service only reminds me of the war between terrestrial and satellite radio some 15 years ago. Look at what happened to Citadel: they dropped Howard Stern on all their stations - including here in Grand Rapids - and eventually, they add Opie and Anthony on many of those same stations. We all remember the outcome: KLQ died and Citadel went belly-up.

Folks, I remember the battle between terrestrial and digital and guess who ended up being the winner? Digital! Simply put, people are tired of the same 50 songs repeated over and over and the constant censorship. Look at Northern Broadcast in northern Michigan. They purchased a popular top 40 station - 106.7 The Peak - and foolishly flipped it to boring soccer mom music. They alienated their audience and many of them would go to Pandora, Spotify and the rest. The company ended up selling five of their six radio signals with only geriatric rocker WKLT 97.5 not changing format. Of the signals sold, three are now non-commercial. Last week, NBI sold 105.5 WSRJ in Honor, near Traverse City to Good News Media, which owns non-commercial Christian stations up north.

The irony of all this is that 106.7 was sold not long ago to Trish MacDonald-Garber, who owns The Peak's former competitor, 106 KHQ. The only station left for NBI to sell is the former 92.5 WFDX in Atlanta, whose signal mostly reaches Alpena and Petoskey.

Right now, northern Michigan has many silent radio stations. And yes, the fact that people know that digital is better is a huge reason why. Not everybody up north is into country, classic rock and they're definitely not into adult contemporary.

Simply put, the NBC stations that yanked the 30 Rock special are afraid of change. Buying a new TV? Good luck finding one that ISN'T a smart TV. And guess what? The amount of free programming on internet TV is astounding. Not only is there Peacock, but there's also Viacom/CBS's Pluto TV and my personal favorite for dirt cheap, these guys.

Look, when television entered American homes in the 1950s, radio had to change. Amos 'N Andy and Fibber McGee and Molly had to begat themselves to I Love Lucy and Leave It To Beaver. Music formats saved radio. Movie theater owners knew that TV was going to kill them in the 1950s. Thankfully, wide screens, stereo sound, multiplexing and more provocative movies saved the cinema business.

TV needs to do the same. But, we all know the truth: thanks to Telecom 96, most TV stations are owned by groups. Here in Grand Rapids, we have Sinclair, Nexstar, Scripps and TEGNA. Northern Michigan is somewhat lucky since WWTV is still locally owned by the Iacobelli family after 31 years. But 7&4 is now a Sinclair property, and has to air their content and bow to their rules. Not only that, both Sinclair and the Iacobellis created umbrella companies for Sinclair to run ABC WGTU 29&8 and 9&10 to run WFQX Fox-er, I mean, Local 32.

The sad truth is that back in the olden days, one could have simply bitched at TV station management for pulling their favorite shows. Now, they can simply wait until it's online, no harm, no foul. But, it's sad that stations like WOOD-TV were airing NBC's promos for the 30 Rock special only to air something else in its slot because of corporate calling the shots. And since the FCC allowed more and more corporate ownership of radio and TV outlets, it's definitely more bad news for viewers and listeners alike.

If NBC's affiliates want to go back into the dark ages, that's their problem.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

7.15.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Chuck Woolery

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: Chuck Woolery
Age: 79
Occupation: ex-game show host
Last Seen: Texas
Bee-otched For: being morally bankrupt

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"Wheel of Fortune's on! It might be a Woolery!"

That line came from a classic episode of King of the Hill where Hank and Peggy Hill had a dilemma. Peggy's live-in niece, Luann's boyfriend, Lucky (voiced by the late Tom Petty) wants to marry her. However, he wants to get his GED before doing so. However, both Hank and Peggy dream about the consequences of the two tying the knot. So, Peggy teaches Lucky the wrong things while Hank entices Lucky into thinking that he might get to watch an ultra-rare episode of Wheel.

Now, I would imagine that most people 40 and younger never knew that the host of Love Connection, Scrabble and Lingo started his career with WOF. Well, it's true. Chuck Woolery hosted Wheel until 1981 when he quit due to a contract dispute. The reason why Woolery Wheel shows are rare is because until 1980, NBC erased tapes of their daytime programming. However, Merv Griffin kept destroying his shows well into 1985. Because of this, only a handful of Woolery and early Pat Sajak (and Vanna White) episodes exist from when it was on NBC.

And for the record, Wheel aired on NBC until 1989. Virtually all of the show's syndicated episodes are still extant and have aired on GSN. Both GSN and WOF are owned by Sony.

Granted, it's a shame that many well-known TV shows have lost episodes because of wiping: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson has only a few surviving episodes from its first ten years. All but a handful of episodes of the original 1960s run of The Match Game are gone. WOF's sister show Jeopardy! had most of its 1964-1975 run wiped. Dick Clark admitted that many early American Bandstand shows disappeared, namely Buddy Holly's last appearance in 1959 just before his untimely death. Plus, the BBC destroyed many eps of Doctor Who and Top of the Pops, meaning that early appearances of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, plus many Pan's People dance routines are gone, probably forever.

But, maybe, just maybe, we *should* be happy that only a few Woolery Wheels exist.

A few days ago, the former game show host took to Twitter, bashing all the people who are actually trying to help us with the pandemic. It read, "The most outrageous lies are the ones about Covid 19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most,that we are told to trust. I think it's all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I'm sick of it." He then tweeted, "To further clarify and add perspective, Covid-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for of those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones."

To add insult to injury, guess who loved his first tweet and retweeted it? Good 'ol Drumpf. Not long after, Woolery deleted his Twitter account.

It's no secret that Woolery is a ultra-right-winged conservative Christian. Not only that, he's pro-gun. Sadly, many other game show hosts are also righties. Bob Barker is known for his animal rights activism and support for organizations like PETA. However, in an interview, Barker once said that he was "to the right of Attila The Hun". Pat Sajak is also Republican and so are Wink Martindale and Alex Trebek. Drew Carey isn't as far to the right as many hosts, though he is a Libertarian.

Of course, game show hosts aren't like most people. While their contestants get their money from winning, hosts do have money. Sajak has $70 million in the bank while Trebek has about $5 million more. Barker has about $70 million also. Since Woolery hasn't hosted a game show in 12 years (his last gig was the Meow Mix-produced Think Like A Cat), he's only worth a paltry $15 million.

But, hey! $15 million is a helluva lot more than what most Americans have.

But let's also remember that in the past 30 years, only one Republican ever won the popular vote for POTUS and it was George W. Bush. Most Americans are to the left of the ideals of game show hosts. In other words, it's sad when most people enjoy a fun, educational game show and then they learn that the damn host is dumber than the contestants.

Charlie Daniels died last week. I sure as hell didn't mourn him because he was a Drumpf supporter. Kelly Preston died of breast cancer last weekend. I didn't mourn her, either because she was in a cult with her husband, John Travolta. Celebrities have a job and it's to entertain people. But when they start speaking a type of politics that the majority of people don't like, it does nothing but alienate them. Several years ago, Woolery attacked Jewish people on his Twitter account. To me, he gives Christianity a bad name. It also explains why he hasn't had any big hosting gigs since 2008. Funny how his last show was Think Like a Cat because they're sure as hell smarter than he is.

People who don't think normally will see their careers disappear in two and two.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

7.14.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Betsy DeVos

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

Name: Betsy DeVos
Age: 62
Occupation: nothing
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: wanting to kill your children

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Once upon a time, there was a millionaire many times over.

His company employed hundreds of people and he treated them well. One person he saw often was his mailman. One day, he noticed that he was away for a while. He thought he was simply on vacation. Some time later he returned, thinner and weaker. He revealed that he had cancer and it was taking a toll on him physically and financially. So what does the businessman do? He gives the mailman one of his personal jets to fly to the Mayo Clinic.

The businessman died and his estate chose to sell his business. Fearing that the new owners would eliminate many jobs, they decide to give their employees huge severance packages and early retirement if they wanted.

Yes, this businessman seemed to have a heart of gold, though he was just 63 when he died of a heart attack 25 years ago. But sadly, he was still an asshole.

Usually, assholes get a free pass when they give back to the community. Bill Cosby gave back, which overshadowed the fact that he was drugging and raping women. British broadcasting legend Jimmy Savile raised $50 million for various charities and was even knighted by the Queen. Yet, after he died nine years ago, it was revealed that he sexually assaulted hundreds of people, male and female, young and old. Big corporations give back to try to overshadow the fact that they've all done bad shit.

And that millionaire businessman, Edgar Prince, was one of them.

Yes, he gave the shirt off his back if one needed it. But he and his family are nothing more than right-winged assholes. Along with the Prince Corporation, which made car parts and was sold to Johnson Controls after his passing, Prince was one of the founders of the Family Research Council along with James Dobson and others. The FRC is a far-right organization that opposes LGBTQ+ rights, climate change and stem cell research. They have been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for their anti-gay stance.

The Prince family organization also supports other far-right groups like Dobson's Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America and the Promise Keepers. They also support Fremont, Michigan-based American Decency Association, headed by Bill Johnson, whom tax records show makes $60,000 per year from his non-profit. The ADA closely monitored The Howard Stern Show from 1996 until Stern's move to SiriusXM in 2006. Johnson paid people on fixed incomes to send nasty letters to Stern's advertisers calling for a boycott of their business. On the Stern Show, one of the advertisers called the program to say that they got the same letter, but written by two different people. They contacted one of the folks and he admitted that Johnson was paying him something like 12 cents per letter.

Even though Edgar Prince has been dead and gone for 25 years, his legacy tragically lives on. Elsa - now 88 - is now married to a retired Christian Reformed pastor and is known for supporting far-right causes like California's Prop 8. Son Erik was the founder of Blackwater, which was known for killing civilians in the fake wars George W. Bush started.

But now, his older sister's idiocy will do the same if she gets her way.

Current US education secretary Betsy DeVos is ruffling many feathers by telling the world that she would withhold school funding if they do not reopen this Fall, COVID-19 or not. Even though young children are the least-likely to be infected by the disease, their teachers might be a different story.

I know, some countries have reopened schools and all's well. But America's a different story. Hell, California is shutting down again thanks to the uptick in COVID cases. You see, I have an aunt who taught elementary school for 30 years. Thankfully, she's retired, but she posted a letter on Facebook asking DeVos some serious questions. They include: "If a teacher tests positive for COVID-19 are they required to quarantine for 2-3 weeks? Is their sick leave covered, paid?", "If that teacher has 5 classes a day with 30 students each, do all 150 of those students need to then stay home and quarantine for 14 days?" The letter mentions that 30% of all teachers are over 50 and that 16% of all deaths from COVID are from people 45-65.

You know, as somebody pushing 40, for years, I was bummed that I haven't had children yet. Because of COVID-19, I should be happy that I'm not being forced to put him or her into a situation where they can get stricken with the disease or infect others including their older teachers. I've had teachers in their 60s when I was a student; one of them retired and then came back to teach. I'll betcha that some teachers still teaching "for the love of it" are now looking to retire.

Folks, Betsy DeVos shouldn't even be Secretary of Education. She never attended a public school because her wealthy parents put her through a Christian Reformed private school system. She never taught a class. Hell, she never worked a fucking day in her life. She only got the job because she and her family gave Drumpf a shit ton of money in his 2016 campaign. She BOUGHT her seat in the cabinet. And with so many people leaving or getting fired from that cabinet, it's amazing that she's stayed there for so long. Yes, she and her family are just as evil as Drumpf.

One of these days, I'm going to revamp my Boycott List on my website to include a list of DeVos family-owned businesses, such as Amway (obviously), Fox Motors and the Grand Rapids Griffins, which thankfully had to end their season anyway because of COVID-19. It's even more shameful that the media here in Grand Rapids is nice to the DeVoses simply because of all the advertising they do. Once again, when you fork over cash, people will shut up and say nice, flowery things to make them happy.

And that brown-nosing will only do nothing but kill innocent people.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Monday, July 13, 2020

7.13.20 Bee-otch of the Day: the media

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

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Name: the media
Age: ageless
Occupation: the educators and informers of the general public
Last Seen: everywhere
Bee-otched For: I don't even know where to begin

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It appears that WPRR - Public Reality Radio is dead and gone.

This weekend, their translator at 102.5 in Alpine Township flipped to an R&B format called "102.5 The Ride". Meanwhile, their originating station at 1680 was on reduced power and not airing the same format. Today, the station was back on full power with virtually the same format but still not simulcast with 102.5.

Since 102.5 MUST simulcast with 1680, owner Bob Goodrich and programmer and afternoon talk host Tyrone Bynum - who was not on the air today - are in a whole heap of trouble if caught by the FCC.

Under FCC rules and regulations, an FM translator MUST be a simulcast of another station, whether it's an AM station, and FM station or an HD side channel of an FM station. If caught, Goodrich could face a serious fine by the FCC.

Several years ago in Detroit, two translator stations signed off because their originating stations were HD subchannels of WGPR 107.5. WGPR suspended HD broadcasts, causing the two stations - alternative 94.3 The Bone and smooth jazz 94.3 The Oasis - to be silenced. The owner of the two translators was renting out WGPR's HD spectrum to feed them.

WPRR was one of the lowest-rated radio stations in Grand Rapids. As a matter of fact, they didn't even crack a .1 in the ratings. Both Goodrich's station and theaters have suffered these past few years thanks to poor management. Four years ago, the station fired programmer and host Darren Gibson when he announced that he wasn't voting for Hillary Clinton and shamed the Democratic establishment. Tyrone Bynum, on the other hand, has often been criticized for how he runs and operates every station he's ever walked into. After all, the now-defunct 640 AM WMFN left Grand Rapids with very little-to-no tears being shed, especially with how Tyrone treated both Detroit Tiger fans by pre-empting Sunday games for Gospel music and, well, anybody that didn't listen to his shitty radio shows.

The death of WPRR sadly leaves leftists in traditionally conservative west Michigan without a voice, even when it was mostly silenced when Gibson and other hosts were shown the door. It was merely apparent when Tyrone took over programming of WPRR that its days of liberal talk were over. Over time, most of the local shows were axed and R&B music took over the overnight hours. Now, with the exception of Bynum's crappy-ass afternoon show, WPRR is R&B 24/7.

On paper, flipping WPRR to R&B might be an OK idea. Bear in mind that Townsquare's Magic 104.9 flipped from urban AC to full-urban not long ago. But let's remember that when Bynum ran AM 640 with the same format, he ended up not renewing his lease because it simply wasn't making money. With Goodrich's bankruptcy, Only time will tell if 102.5 will keep riding along into the future.

Of course, today's BOTD isn't just Goodrich and Bynum. Yes, I gotta put the smackdown on WOOD-TV 8, too.

Late last week, the Grand Rapids NBC station aired a so-called investigative report on an organization that was freeing those involved in last month's riots. Simply put, the station put the focus on what is really a non-story since the rioters didn't kill anybody. All they did was smash and vandalized downtown buildings as part of a revolt against the city and the police.

However, the woman who reported on the situation, Susan Samples - who reminds me of Will Ferrell's impersonation of Janet Reno on Saturday Night Live - relied on false reporting by Andy Ngo, a far-right-winged prick who is known for spreading lies about antifa. Even though WOOD-TV has long been the news leader in west Michigan, at times, they do have a right-leaning bias. After all, morning weather girl Terri The Whore-er, DeBoer held a dinner at her house in 2006 to support Dick Devos' failed run for governor. Chief Meteorologist Bill Steffen is an avowed climate change denier (though I enjoy watching his cats fight in his mancave). Political report Rick Albin has worked closely with Republicans for years.

What's sad in all this is that WOOD-TV is the better of the big four news choices in Grand Rapids. ABC WZZM 13 (TEGNA)'s lead news anchor, Juliet Dragos comes off like an annoying old skank. Fox 17 WXMI (Scripps) isn't bad on the local news front, but the fact that they carry national stories from Fox Propaganda Channel hurts them. And yes, the reason why CBS WWMT-3 sucks is because they're owned by Sinclair. Plus, they didn't cover the Grand Rapids riots.

Meanwhile, back on the radio front in GR, WFUR-FM 102.9 has THANKFULLY been sold! However, the new format on 102.9 sucks.

The new owners are Bible Broadcasting Network and the new callsign is WYHA. BBN purchased 102.9 for $2.75 million a few months ago. WFUR still broadcasts on AM 1570 and translator 92.9 FM. WFUR was often picked on for years for being a station that skewed older than other area Christian stations like WCSG and Joy 99. One long-running joke was that if you wanted to know who listened to WFUR, just turn it to the obituary page in the Grand Rapds Press.

Well, as both Joni Mitchell and Cinderella once sang, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

Turns out that BBN's programming is mostly old hymns sourced off of scratchy vinyl. I'll betcha that some of the nursing homes in the area will be proud of a station like this one. Apparently, the Kuiper family - who has owned WFUR since 1950 - has been wanting to sell the 50,000-watt FM for years. However, they had a stipulation that the new owners play Christian music. Well, they got their wish and nobody under the age of 90 seems to like this new station.

Meanwhile in Detroit, classic rocker WCSX is now the #1 station in town. It's just too bad that the man running the show, Jerry Tarrants is no longer there. He exited the station last week. No word if it was his decision or corporate's.

Tarrants was also the PD of sister active rocker WRIF. He also programmed other rockers in Michigan, such as Saginaw's Z93. Several years ago, he was responsible for the transformation WGRD here in Grand Rapids from wimpy alt-rocker to the hard active rocker it became. Sadly, since he departed WGRD, the station is just a shell of its former self.

And Tarrants' departure isn't the only tragedy in Detroit. Last week, anemically-rated sports talker WXYT added (ugh) "Huge" Bill Simonson's shitty-ass show to its weekday lineup. What's even more embarrassing is that the dickwad at MLive.com who wrote the article about the Huge Retard's Detroit debut called his show "popular". Apparently, Josh VanDyke has never read a radio ratings book before. '

Oh, and did you hear that Cumulus is laying off 3% of its staff? Not only that, they're eliminating their top of the hour newscasts, which is fed to 900 stations.

But in all fairness, not everything is all bad in the media. Up in the upper peninsula, the decades-old simulcast of Iron Mountain's 93.1 WIMK and Marquette's 94.1 WUPK has ended with 94.1 flipping to soft AC. But the best part of it all is that WIMK and 99.5 WNGE in Marquette are now active rock as K-Rock. Ironically, 93.1 and 94.1 were known as K-Rock in the 1990s through the mid-2000s. Most of the time, K-Rock was satellite-fed from Westwood One's "Adult Rock" format. Northern Star bought the stations and flipped them to mainstream rock as The Bear, originally carrying Bob and Tom in the morning. However in 2010, Sovereign Communications bought The Bear and flipped them to "93 Rock" and "94 Rock" to match their sister station in Sault Ste. Marie, Rock 101. Bob and Tom were axed and replaced with Free Beer and Hot Wings. But in recent years, Sovereign has dealt with financial issues, so they sold their western UP cluster to AMC Media not long ago. Since AMC already owns a classic rock station, 107.3 The Eagle, change definitely had to be made.

WOW! An actual radio market that makes a wise decision regarding what their listeners want? I'll be damned! Funny thing is that some "experts" cry that the active rock format died 15 years ago. Bitch all they want, but Michigan loves good 'ol hard rock and metal over, say, wimpy alternative any day. Christ, Detroit doesn't even HAVE an alternative station now that 89X is active rock!

Look. Radio is like a restaurant. If the food sucks, people won't come back. Same goes with service and respect. You treat people like the way you want to be treated. If you own a business and somebody writes a bad review of it, you simply realize that you gotta do better. You don't harass the people who write that negative review and even threaten to sue them, like the asshole who owns several silent radio stations in northern Michigan. Same goes with the people who used COVID-19 to crowdfund their stations, even though they started their campaign BEFORE COVID-19 hit (and the fact that they now air Huge on one of their stations ain't going to make me grab my wallet, either).

I guess the moral of the story is simple: GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT. DON'T GO WITH YOUR EGO. GET OFF YOUR ASS AND ASK PEOPLE! DO YOUR GODDAMNED RESEARCH! END OF STORY!

Remember, there's a popular saying going around: "Mask it or casket". Well, how about "What format would you like to hear on the radio?" ASK IT OR CASKET!

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Thursday, July 9, 2020

7.9.20 Hero of the Day: Al Jaffee

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

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A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!

Name: Al Jaffee
Age: 99
Occupation: longtime Mad Magazine cartoonist
Last Seen: New York, NY
Awarded For: giving the world nearly 80 years of laughter

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In this tough year, the world needed more laughter.

It's too bad that somebody who graced us with his wonderful humor and art decided to hang up his pen for the final time... at age 99.

For nearly 80 years, Al Jaffee was one of the true masters of making our days brighter and, well, snappier. Sixty-five of those years were with Mad Magazine, where he was its longest-serving contributor.

Abraham Jaffee was born in Savannah, GA to Lithuanian parents. However, his parents were in a feud over where to raise their four sons with Al being the oldest. Throughout his childhood, Al would sometimes live with his father, a department store manager in Savannah and sometimes with his mother in Lithuania. Finally in the 1930s, Al's father would take his sons to Queens, NY while his mother ended up dying in the Holocaust.

In the late 1930s, Al and his brother Harry (1922-1985) - also an occasional Mad cartoonist - studied at the High School of Music and Art. There, he met future Mad vets Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, John Severin and Al Feldstein. In 1942, Al's career officially began at Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics. He created the comical Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal and Inferior Man. From 1957 to 1963, he drew a pantomime strip, Tall Tales. A collection of the strips with a forward by Stephen Colbert was published in 2008.

In 1955, Jaffee started drawing and writing for Mad, but left only after three issues when Harvey Kurtzman left. He joined Kurtzman in two comics: the Hugh Hefner-owned Trump in 1957 - which only lasted two issues - and Kurtzman-owned Humbug, which folded after 11 issues. Jaffee returned to Mad in 1958 and stayed there until his retirement.

In its heyday, Mad sold two million copies per month. One huge reason was because of Jaffee's Mad Fold-in, which debuted in 1964. His first Fold-in lampooned Elizabeth Taylor and her many husbands. After his first Fold-in, publisher William M. Gaines threatened to fire him if he couldn't do one each month. According to Gaines, the Fold-ins were creating creases in the back cover, causing readers to rush to the store to get a fresh copy for their collections.

Jaffee also created Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and other various articles for the magazine. In Mad's first 550 issues, his work appeared in 500. Between 1964 and 2013, Jaffee's work did not appear in just one issue.

Of course, like other magazines, Mad has seen better days from a circulation standpoint. In 50 years, they've gone from two million issues sold per month to only 150,000 issues monthly. The magazine was rebooted in 2018 when it moved its offices from New York to Burbank, CA as part of restructuring at parent DC Comics. However, later that year, DC's owner, TimeWarner was sold to AT&T. Starting with issue #10, Mad would now be a hybrid of 75% reprinted material and 25% new content from new and legendary artists. Each magazine would be a theme issue as opposed to talking about current and recent events. Not only that, Mad is no longer sold at newsstands, but rather just comic book shops.

(And BTW, a MAJOR shout-out to Tardy's Collector's Corner here in Grand Rapids for ordering the last two issues of Mad for me! You guys rock!)

Thanks to COVID-19, I was scared that I would miss the last two issues because of stay-at-home orders (I don't subscribe because I don't trust USPS to jam and destroy a magazine to get it into my mailbox). Thankfully, DC changed distributors and was able to get them to comic sellers. Well, their latest issue is a tribute to Al, complete with his final Fold-in ever. Al even helped to design the front cover, which is a self-image of him as a doctor examining Alfred E. Neuman. Sergio Aragones even drew "A Mad Look At Al Jaffee"; one of the strips shows Sergio visiting Al, but he needs to use the restroom. While taking a dump, Sergio notices that Al's toilet paper is folded like a fold-in. The magazine was also loaded with reprints of Al's work, including a parody of the 1969 film "Bullitt" as "Bullbit" (obviously, this was 1969 and "Bullshit" wasn't, well, allowed). The parody was drawn by Mort Drucker, who died earlier this year. The magazine republished the piece as a tribute to the beloved caricaturist.

Now with Al's retirement, Mad will either reprint his old Fold-ins or new ones will be drawn by 46-year-old Johnny Sampson. Jaffee himself gave Sampson the blessing of continuing with the Fold-ins; Sampson himself drew a picture of Jaffee on his first edition with him saying, "This Sampson kid ain't half bad! He ain't half good, either!" Sampson's first Fold-in was published for the magazine's annual "20 Dumbest Things" issue late last year.

Upon his retirement, Al started a website and social media accounts (his Twitter handle was "og_aljaffee"), which have all shuttered. In January, his wife of 43 years, Joyce passed away. But, the laughter from the reprints of his work and old magazines will live on. If he makes to 100 - and God I hope he does - he'll be proof positive that having good humor is the true meaning of a long, fruitful life.

And that would be a snappy answer to a good question.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

7.8.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Donald Trump

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Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Donald Trump
Age: 74
Occupation: tweeting on the shitter
Last Seen: Washington, DC
Bee-otched For: a myriad of moronicy

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*Sigh....* Where do I even begin?

Today, Drumpf went balls out against the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention because they're warning against reopening schools in the Fall. But guess what? In a tweet today, he bitched about schools reopening in foreign countries with little-to-no problems with schools and the coronavirus.

Many countries have done a yeoman's job getting rid of the virus. But America, under the lack of leadership from Drumpf, has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases. Just today, we had 52,000 new cases of the virus. We lead the world with 3.1 million cases of COVID. Current cases of the disease are now at 1.6 million with Brazil - whose president has also been diagnosed with the disease - in second place with 527,000 cases. India, Russia and South America round out the top five.

My home state of Michigan - which had been doing a great job of fighting COVID - is back to losing the battle against the disease. Today, we had 651 new cases across the state.

And Drumpf wants kids to go back to school?

Meanwhile, after seeing several defeats from the Republican-led Supreme Court, Drumpf did get one victory today. The high court ruled that religious-based businesses are exempt from giving out free birth control as an Obamacare mandate. One of Drumpf's goals has long been to eliminate Obamacare and bring back the old system of allowing insurers to judge their customers on their pre-existing conditions.

A few days ago, Drumpf had a hissy fit over NASCAR and racer Bubba Wallace's noose scare. On Twitter, he called it a hoax and claimed that because of Wallace using his race to raise awareness for black justice, NASCAR's ratings are down. Well, guess what? NBC announced that NASCAR's ratings were UP 41% from last year! It appears that people actually want NASCAR to evolve to include more people of color, because, hey, black people love cars, too!

And let's not forget niece Mary Trump's tell-all book against her uncle, "Too Much is Never Enough". In the book, Mary claims that her estranged uncle cheated not just on his wives, but on his SATs as well. Hey, he has the money! She also labeled him as narcissistic and a bully. Well, durh!

The more Drumpf opens his yapper or tweets from the shitter, the more we want a more-dignified person in the White House. At this point, ANYBODY would be a better choice than the tweeter-in-chief. Hell, even Kanye West would be a better presid-er, never mind.

Honestly, I hope that SOON, we'll get a vaccine for COVID-19 or at least something that will keep us safe. It sucks that the Kens and Karens, plus the 20-something morons who want to rave and throw coronavirus parties are ruining it for everybody. If we had a real leader in the White House, America would be on the right track to recovery instead of being in the same boat with third world nations.

One more thing: Drumpf needs to not wear a mask. He needs to have duct tape over his yapper at all times.

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CHUCK69.COM IS ALWAYS ON!

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

7.7.20 Bee-otch of the Day: Chick-fil-A

BECOME AN AFFILIATE OF T-SHIRT HELL AND MAKE SOME MONEY!

Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday; Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Sunday morning on Chuck69.com.

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Name: Chick-fil-A
Age: 53
Occupation: shitty chicken restaurant
Last Seen: Atlanta, GA
Bee-otched For: getting owned in Traverse City

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For 45 years, the Flap Jack Shack in Traverse City has been the northern Michigan resort town's answer to IHOP and Denny's.

Opened in 1975, it was once a franchised chain with restaurants throughout northern Michigan and even Florida where co-founder James Burley owned a few locations himself. The chain had humble beginnings in downtown TC's historic Arcade Building. Eventually, their location on US-31 would serve as the chain's flagship.

However, in 2010, health problems caused chain co-founder James Bender to close that restaurant. Thankfully, only a few months later, Grand Rapids restaurateur Jeff Lobdell reopened FJS, which joined his other banners including other Traverse City area greats The Omelette Shoppe and Boone's Prime Time Pub. Lobdell, who is based in Grand Rapids also owns the Beltline Bar, Grand Coney and Bagel Beanery.

The Flap Jack Shack served as a warm, friendly place for a nice, hot breakfast for decades. Their retro, 1970s feel brings back memories of a much-more-basic time for those who grew up in the Cherry Capitol.

Recently, mixed emotions rose when it was announced that the Flap Jack Shack would be demolished to make way for a new restaurant: a Chick-fil-A. The popular chicken sandwich chain, headquartered in Georgia, had long-wanted a location in the Cherry Capitol region. Obviously, like any new development in Traverse City - pop. 15,000 - there was mixed reaction. The chain's food is quite popular, though many have long-argued about the chain's giving to anti-LGBTQ+ groups.

Lobdell's original plan post-demolition was to move Flap Jack Shack to a newer and smaller location. But now, it appears that the Shack will serve up more pancakes for years to come.

Last week, Chick-fil-A announced that they've withdrawn from building on the Flap Jack Shack site because of a land dispute with a neighboring property. If built, the Chick-fil-A would have been between an apartment complex and a Walgreen's. Not only that, it would be the first business as you enter Traverse City one US-31. I guess Traverse City-ites will have to go somewhere else for Chick-fil-A's shit sandwiches.

But, hey! Big Boy - just a few blocks from the ill-fated Chick-fil-A - now has a new chicken sandwich. Not only that, it actually looks appetizing!

True, some are PISSED that Big Boy replaced their iconic checker-panted, slick-haired boy carrying a double-deck hamburger with a little blonde-haired girl carrying a chicken sandwich. Both the girl and the sandwich is named Dolly, and if you're a huge Big Boy fan, you probably know from their comic books that Dolly is Big Boy's girlfriend.

(Fun Fact: The original Big Boy logo was designed by Ben Washam, a longtime Warner Bros. animator. He designed the logo for the company's founder, Bob Wian, whose customers included a little boy who loved his hamburgers. He nicknamed him "Big Boy", and the name stuck.)

Granted, the changeover is pure sacrilege to some. But let's remember something: in my neck of the woods in Grand Rapids, there's more former Big Boys than those in business. One is now another burger-based chain, Bagger Dave's, another is now a Mediterranean restaurant and another is currently abandoned, but was supposed to reopen as a Chinese restaurant. Today, only two Big Boys remain in the Grand Rapids metro: downtown and Grandville.

And upon further look into Big Boy's website, they simply reimaged their iconic logo. Nothing to see here, move along.

If I was in Traverse City and had to choose between Chick-fil-A and a Dolly, I'd pick the Dolly. Sorry, but I can't support a company whose values discriminate the LGBTQ+ community. Personally, I'm somewhat critical of any company that stays closed on Sundays because of religious reasons. But, it ain't hurting both Chick-fil-A (the Cathy family is worth over $12 billion) and Hobby Lobby (founder David Smith is worth $8 billion). Tragically, there's a market for racism and stupidity and those two places live and breathe it.

What's even more retarded on Chick-fil-A's part is the fact that they wanted to demolish an already-established restaurant. Yet, Traverse City is LOADED with vacant spots to build one. Look at East Bay: Wendy's, Robby's, Schelde's and Ruby Tuesday are all gone. Ferchrissakes, how long has Hooters been abandoned? For a billion-dollar company like Chick-fil-A to tear down a beloved icon in Traverse City for one of their shitty chicken joints is far, far-more unholy than Big Boy replacing their logo with a little girl.

Forever, Traverse City and other small towns have had a stigma: if you're not white, straight, Christian, wealthy or over 21, fuck you. Trust me. I grew up 30 miles from TC and the only thing for a teen to do year-round was go to the mall. My now-former stepsister - whom I'm still friends with - had it bad, too. Both her parents were conservative. Her mother was an alcoholic and she was raised in shitty trailers. Not only that, she's related to a controversial former mayor. As a teen, she came out as bisexual. One day when she was in high school, she was with a female friend, holding hands when a male classmate walked behind her and called them "dykes". She angrily went to the principal's office to report him. The principal's response? "If you want to display this behavior, this is what happens."

Sadly, this type of talk was a huge reason why she started cutting herself. She had a voice and was constantly being silenced because of her sexuality and the fact that she was just a teen. I knew a few folks in northern Michigan who were part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum who were too scared to leave the closet simply because of the bass ackwards culture northern Michigan people are known for.

Look, since the senseless murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many people killed because of race, our country has worked hard to eliminate anything that promotes our racist and vile past. The days of Aunt Jemima are numbered, and so is that of Uncle Ben and Cream of Wheat's Rastus. Statues of Confederate generals have been torn down and the last state in America to have the Confederate emblem on their state flag, voted to eliminate it. A statue of a slave owner is just as offensive to blacks as a building housing a Chick-fil-A is to the LGBTQ+ community.

Northern Michigan needs to work on being more acceptable towards different people and culture other than just being a lily-white place where people pretend that there's not a problem in the world. Many people who live up north do so because they have the misconception that it's safer. Yet, there's several towns up north that have nearly-abandoned downtowns loaded with broken-down buildings like Alba and areas without even a basic grocery store like Ellsworth. And yes, there's crime. Thankfully, the fact that Chick-fil-A won't be building a location up north soon is a win-win for everybody and it needs to stay that way.

And unlike the new Dolly sandwich, this is a bigger cluckin' deal.

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