Terence played the role as the Inspirational Guru for his followers whom he got to say “YES”. You might remember him from other authority roles as the inspirational guru in Bowfinger and Supreme Chancellor Valorum in Phantom Menace. Anyway I digress.

We left “Yes Man” got some more tickets, refreshed our beverage and popcorn just in time to catch the 1:20 showing of Valkyrie with Tom Cruise. Guess who pops up on the first 10 minutes of the movie? Terence Stamp again. This time he’s playing yet another authority figure, Ludwig Beck one of those leading the revolt over Hitler. Well it’s good to see the old guy is getting acting roles.

Now here’s the thing that freaks me out. As I’m watching all these men dressed up in German dress uniforms, my wife nudges me and says, “You know who that is?” Well I know the guy looks kinda familiar, but as usual she’s got me. She says, “The role of General Olbricht is being played by Bill Nighy,

you know Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.” Whoa she’s right. I just didn’t recognize him without all those tentacles on his head.

Wait a sec, there’s another familiar face. She nudges me and quietly tells me, “Dr. Goerdeler is being played by Kevin McNally who played Mr. Gibbs, Captain Jack Sparrow’s First Mate, also from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”

 How unusual I think. But wait a second, Colonel Heinz Brandt looks a lot like, yes its Tom Hollander the guy who played Lord Cutler Beckett also from you guessed, it Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. 

 Actually their is a fourth cast member that had a role in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, David Schofield who played Cutler Becket’s henchman Mr. Mercer is also in this movie as Erwin von Witzleben. Now the mind kicks in gear looking for more cast members from Pirates of the Caribbean. So I spend the rest of the movie wondering,” What if they’d replaced Tom Cruise with Johnny Depp and his lieutenant with Orlando Bloom?” Depp would have drunkenly swash buckled into Hitler’s concrete bunker, got the rum, blew the thing up and sailed on to victory. End of the war and a happier ending then what did happen to Cruise and the rest of the lot. It was a good movie though.

Makes me wonder though, somehow I think my wife has an IMDB.com chip implanted in her brain that makes her fast with recognizing names and connecting them to movies. Either that or I’m just a dumb guy who just doesn’t pay attention enough. Let me know your thoughts….


-Rik Out

In my 30 years of broadcasting, I’ve worked more than my share of Christmas’ airshifts.  I’ve also read my share of radio related articles.   So listen my children and you will hear this tale, that I will paraphrase from one of the best Christmas articles I’ve come across.  It’s all about working on-air during the Christmas Holiday.  It was originally published in the 12/24/97 edition of Radio World and was written by Alan R. Peterson.

It starts… “So you poor blighter, you got stuck having to work Christmas.  I don’t know if this is the first time or the 20^th time, but welcome.  This is supposed to be the happiest time of the year for all. But you feel cheated, lonely and possibly angry.  These same feelings will happen to the family and friends who were counting on you to be there with them on Christmas Day.  They will remind you for the next few months or years on how YOUR job let them down last Christmas.  This is especially true for those of you new to the business and this is your first Holiday on-the-air.”

Alan goes on to talk about having to work at a college radio station and stay on campus during Thanksgiving and Christmas. He did his airshift and then trekked hours to his to see his family and into their lukewarm arms and forced smiles.  That’s very true. 

Because you are doing this Christmas airshift, you’ll have had to postpone or reschedule the opening of presents and most likely miss the big Christmas dinner.  You’ll also be faced with another dilemma, finding a restaurant that’s open, or be forced to eat what’s left in the vending machines. Been there, done that. It ain’t fun!  Bring a roll or quarters. My amazing wife and kids have had to rush through the Christmas morning pageantry on many occasions, so dad could leave to be on the air at 10, 11 or noon.  Gaynale, Shauna and Brad, thank you for being so understanding.  You deserve a gold star.

Speaking of food… here’s a little food for thought from Uncle Rik that will make you feel a little better. With the economy as bad as it is, keep in mind how many of your fellow broadcasters are now walking the streets.  You have a job and are working in a profession that you love.  How many of your family and friends can say that? With the exception of you sister-in-law’s future ex-husband, the lawyer that no one on your side of the family likes, you’ll probably be the only on raising your hand.

Alan adds another good point: “OK, I know it’s boring having to play the same lame Christmas songs and then crack open the mic every 10-20 minutes to read some lame holiday liner.  Hardly worth the effort right?   Keep this in mind you are providing the soundtrack, the backdrop to thousands of listeners who are having the times of their lives. Everything going on over the air brings back a cascade of memories for them, their successes and their lean times.  Today they are smiling as you will too someday.” 

I’d like for you to take some comfort in the fact that your performance is being appreciated, even though you didn’t spend time show prepping the latest info on Kenny Chesney or Beyonce. Your listeners had a choice to listen to other stations, the new freshly unwrapped CDs or their brand new MP3 players, but they chose to listen to YOU this Christmas Day. 

Also remember, you are working right alongside other people who had to work today: Our men and women of the Armed Forces, emergency responders, the medical professionals, TV crews, newspaper employees, restaurant employees and even the poor convenience store clerk (who probably feels worse than you). 

Be proud of what you are doing and anytime your family gives you guff during the holidays, remind them about the free concert tickets to the sold out show you were able to score for them last July, because of your job. 

Thanks again to Alan for a fine article.  You can catch me working yet another  Christmas Day on WIL FM from 7PM to midnight (Central). www.wil92.com

God Bless you all and I hope you get New Year’s off. 

I’ve been to three other TSO shows, and the 2008 version is an absolute must see. If they have already played your city, be sure to mark your calendar for next year. If they are within 250 miles of your home, GO SEE THEM. You will not be disappointed.

First off, these are some of the finest musicians you will ever hear. Their light show in my humble opinion is unparalleled. The best you may ever see. These two elements are melded into an hour long opening story that will have your heart racing with excitement and a possibly a tear in your eye. Then they follow that with another hour or two of great music. You will be leaving the auditorium totally exhausted and in the holiday spirit.

Secondly, these are some of the finest people I’ve met in the music industry. I’ve known Paul O’Neill, one of TSO’s “Founding Fathers”, for many years and his motto is, “I want the audience to feel like they really ripped our band off”. He wants fans to walk away saying, “Wow, they played all those great songs for nearly three hours, and it only cost us ½ of what everyone else is charging”. Also Paul candidly told me that in some of the financially strapped areas of the country, TSO actually lowered the ticket prices to help families afford to see a killer holiday show. They also make it available for parents to take their children to the show by playing afternoon matinee shows in many cities.

One additional note about the generosity of TSO, they donate a portion of the money from every show to those who need it. Last night the Marine Corps Toys for Tots received a check for over $10,000.

My hat’s off to my old friend Paul O’Neill, Robert Kinkel, Jon Oliva, Tommy Farese and the other talented musicians who made this my favorite concert of 2008 and maybe all time. A big thanks to musical director Al Pitrelli, who played guitar flawlessly while seated because of a recently torn ACL. That’s proof that the show must go on!

Bravo TSO! We’ll catch you again next year.

Courtesy of All Star Radio Networks LLC.

I stumbled across a hero of mine just yesterday. Although I never met him or even knew his name, I knew his voice. Before you check out the video  I found (by clicking on the video tab above), First a little background.

I grew up in Northwest Indiana and listened religiously to WLS-AM "The Big 89." Amongst the pimple pad and automobile adds, one commercial that was hard to miss featured a reverberating duo that would say "SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY at Smokin' US 30 Drag Strip" in Merrillville Indiana ...come see Funny Car Champion Jungle Jim" Lieberman face Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and his 7 second 72 Baracuda... The commercials would always end ... at US 30 Dragstrip where the Great One's RUN. RUN. RUN.

I learned yesterday that one of those voices was a Chicagoan by the name of Jan Gabriel. Jan was the creator of that style of dual-voice, layered reverb Drag Racing commercials. Jan parlayed that style into several racing shows over the next few decades.

Though I've never met the man, Jan helped mold my passion for the sport of NHRA Drag Racing. BTW that strip was just a few miles from my home in Hobart, Indiana and would hear the fuel cars as they blazed down the quarter mile in the muggy summer night air. Ah there's a memory I'll hold on to.

Thanks Jan... wherever you are...

-Rik out

 -Rik out

THE VARIOUS JOBS AT OUR RADIO STATION . . . . .

It takes more than just my charm and talent to put together this radio show. Not a lot more, but more. Here's a look at the various jobs "behind the scenes" at our radio station. These are the people ... the little people ... who make it happen.

- Program Director .... His job is to tell all the on-air people what they are doing wrong and when they can go get a cup of coffee.

- Operations Manager .... His job is to tell the Program Director what to do. See above. He also provides the budget for coffee.

- The Consultant .... He tells the General Manager that everything the Operations Manager is doing is wrong, but he knows how to do it right. He also recommends the brand of coffee.

- The General Manager .... He plays golf with the guy who sells the coffee.

- The Production Director .... His job is to screw up the equipment so the Station Engineer has something to do when he comes in. He brings his own coffee.

- The Station Engineer .... He's the guy who fixes the broken equipment, and makes sure the power is on so we can make the coffee.

- The Sales Manager .... He drinks the coffee. So far that's all we know for sure that he does.

- The Morning Show Producer .... She takes credit for everything the Morning Show Host does. And she makes the coffee.

- The Intern .... The person who is secretly plotting to take over as Morning Show Host by poisoning the coffee.

- The Station Owner .... a faceless conglomerate whose job is to run up the price of the station before selling it to a rival company that's fronted by a South American Coffee concern.

So now you know.

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to interview Bobby Dall (Bassist of the 80s metal-hair band Poison). Knowing this was one of my wife’s favorite bands, I jumped at the opportunity. Bobby was a fun interview and I asked him to do me a favor. Since I had already made arrangements with their publicist to attend the show (BTW Thanks Laurie at HK management, love ya babe) I asked Bobby to voice a personal invite to my wife to come the show. We said our goodbyes and I started to work on my present for my bride.

The ploy was that we were going to meet friends for a Sunday night dinner. But when we got in the car and were heading to the “dinner”, I faked a phone call and said the double date was off. She was a little disappointed. So I popped the invitation from Bobby Dall into the CD player of our car and she was surprised. I presented her with the new CD/DVD called Live, Raw and Uncut (Which BTW was filmed here in St Louis last August). So we were off to the show.

When we arrived our tickets were waiting for us at Will Call. Big thanks to Janna Elias, Poison’s production person, because we ended up 15 rows back and dead center. We also had guest passes to meet with Bobby after the show.

At 7PM, the first act was former front man of Skid Row, Sebastian Back. He worked his magic for 45 minutes and did a yeoman’s effort, despite the crowd’s luke warm response to his new material. They did get moving to the old Skid Row numbers, 18 and Life and I’ll Remember You.

Next up was Dokken. Now I’ve been a Dokken fan for decades, but never saw Don and his band live. I have to admit this was the biggest disappointment of the evening. My wife and I both felt his performance was lack-luster and incredible distracted, At one point, I thought I saw him turn around and look down at his cel phone. Two of Dokken’s most noteworthy hits “Just Got Lucky” and “It’s Not Love” were omitted from the set. Oh well, everyone has an off night. God knows I have.

When Brett, CC, Bobby and Rikki took the stage at 9:15, they worked their butts off to give the Verizon crowd a very good show. They did however stick very close to the set list that was on the DVD, which lead me to think that folks who saw this show last year, saw an almost duplicate performance. Despite that, the show had plenty of great tunes for everyone. They really rocked the house and played to the audience as well.

If you’d like to see what you missed, I invite you to Pick up a copy of the DVD/CD of Live, Raw & Uncut.

-Rik out.

Wow what a disappointment.

Admittedly I have been a big ABBA fan since the 70s. I've seen the Broadway production of Mamma Mia at the Fox on several occasions and left singing and dancing each time.

I have one question for the casting director of the movie version... Why couldn't you have found actors and actresses who can actually sing and dance? Meryl Streep is an award winning actress. Pierce Brosnan plays a descent James Bond. Neither one can sing or dance worth a lick. Christine Baranski and Julie Waters who play as Streep's girl group cohorts are ok but nothing impressive. Accompanying Brosnan are Colin Firth who does an Ok job on "Our Last Summer" and Stellan Skarsgård who played Bootstrap Bill Turner in the Pirates movies. His singing would sink a ship.

The only actress that showed any real musical talent in the "MUSICAL" was Amanda Seyfried who played the 20 year-old would be bride Sophie. Kudos to her performance. I've heard better high-school Summer stock ensembles than those chosen by the casting director. What a shame, I had such high hopes for this. Oh well I hear the touring company will be back in town this Winter.

1 1/2 out of 5 stars.

First some background… The definition of a national anthem (according to Wikipedia.com) is a generally patriotic musical composition that is evoking and eulogizing the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a country's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.

During basic military training, I was taught the proper customs and courtesies that go hand and hand with our National Anthem. I get very bothered when I'm at a sporting event and people view this 90 seconds (depending on who's singing) that is so incredibly important to many of us, as an inconvenience.

Let's review what's actually required of you:

1. You stand (place you hand over your heart if you wish)

2. Face the flag,

3. Men and boys should remove their hats,

4. Sing the anthem (or be quite for the duration)

5. Sit.

It's amazing, the number of people who can't figure that out. Now to their credit, I know only a small percentage of you actually went to basic training and know these customs. But to see folks continuing their cell phone conversations, ordering beer or snacks from vendors, talking to one another, sitting, walking around or trying to pass by all the other folks standing, to get to their seats while that anthem is being played, is just wrong. C'mon it's 90 seconds folks.

I was at a hockey game last Winter and this teenage girl thought it was necessary to answer her cell during the anthem to convey to her girlfriend, that she was with her old boyfriend's cousin, who was "like really hot." I gave her the evil eye and she was like, "what's your problem dude?"

One other thing, the last notes of the song are "…and the home of the brave." You will inevitably hear someone who feels it's necessary to scream out something totally unintelligent, before we get to the end. Why? Like I said folks, it's only 90 seconds. Are we feeling that insecure about ourselves, that we have to blurt out something moronic for 40,000 fans to hear, just to make yourself feel good?

I was watching a ballgame the other day, and the TV network cuts away just as they were getting ready to do the National Anthem. All for the sake of another two-minute spot break. Well they had to do it, otherwise we wouldn't know what type of ED medicine to take or what type of insurance has the lowest rates. That's pretty sad when the advertising dollar is more important than honoring our country. 90 seconds gang.

Also, it might help if you actually knew the words to our anthem. Foreigners that are applying for US citizenship are learning the anthem to help pass their exams. What does it say when those of us who have been a US Citizens all their lives, don't know the words to their own country's anthem?

OK before I get off this soapbox (and take my blood pressure meds) … I ask you don't do it for me. Do it for your relatives, friends and neighbors that serve or have served. They'd be proud of you letting the phone go to voice mail, telling the vendor," Hang one sec", standing proudly and singing or being quite, while we HONOR one of the things they fought for. If only for 90 seconds.

Carry on.

TSgt Rik out

Here's who we'll be visiting with on Friday: Kurt Johnson---AC Delco Chevrolet, Tony Schumacher--- US Army Dragster, Tim Wilkerson--- Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala, Steve Johnson ---Snap-on Tools/ Wyotech Suzuki, Greg Anderson & Jason Line--- Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac, Larry Dixon--- US Smokeless Dragster, Brandon Bernstein--- Budweiser/Lucas Oil Dragster & Tommy Johnson Jr.---Monster Energy Drink/Lucas Oil Dodge Charger, Chip Ellis--- Schumacher Electric Suzuki, Cory McClenathan--- Fram Dragster, Jerry Toliver--- Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge Charger, Jack Beckman--- Valvoline/MTS Dodge Charger, Ron Capps ---Napa Dodge Charger, Gary Scelzi---Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger, - Ashley Force--- Castrol GTX/Auto Club Ford Mustang, Mike Neff---Old Spice Ford Mustang , Robert Hight---Auto Club Ford Mustang.

On Saturday the following drivers and guests will be joining us: Warren Johnson--- GM Performance Parts Pontiac, Dave Connolly --- Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt, Kenny Koretsky---Nitrofish/Indicom Electric Pontiac, Antron Brown---Matco Tools Dragster, “Hot” Rod Fuller--- Caterpillar Dragster, Chef Nicky Morse ---Team Jeg’s , Doug Herbert--- Snaponfranchise.com Dragster and Hillary Will Ken Black Racing Dragster.

I will be posting all the interviews to the following websites www.backinthepits.com and www.myspace.com/rockinrikanthony be sure to check it out.