The awful truth about MasterCard

MasterCard was originally only given to white people.  That's where the phrase "playing the race card" comes from.

Book Review: Running the Blues - The Real Life Story of Jake and Elwood Blues

Running the Blues - The Real Life Story of Jake and Elwood Blues will go press in December. It is a career defining masterpiece for the author, Ron Rickson. I happened to score a pre-release copy through an arrangement with Bantam Press. Front to back, Hanging the Blues is a surprise packed, almost encyclopedic account of the meteoric rise to stardom of Jake and Elwood Blues, the real life inspiration for the hit 1980 film "The Blues Brothers", and their subsequent fall from grace.

The book covers the entire life story of two brothers growing up in an orphanage in Chicago, their musical career, and even their run-ins with the law. The story is told mostly from interviews with band members, friends, and even co-workers of the Blues Brothers. The author does an excellent job retelling one of the most amazing stories in modern music, not by re-packaging and embellishing details, but by recording the memories of those who were along for the ride. The only weakness in this extremely detailed format is that some chapters are quite boring, almost trivial, as Rickson interviews the brother’s childhood friends and exhaustively details their arrest records.

The author more than makes up for it with tons of details and photos, and even a CD of their earliest musical works with some live recordings of their performances at bars and wedding banquets, along with a recording of police radio from the night of their infamous car chase in Chicago, IL, after a drug bust backstage at one of their performances.

It also dives into the shocking parallels between the lives of Jake Blues and his onscreen counterpart, John Belushi, as both died from drug overdoses at the height of their careers, and includes a poignant interview with Elwood Blues about the death of his brother.

Also detailed was the making of the legendary film and the subsequent lawsuit with Universal Pictures, who, to this day, claim the movie was entirely a work of fiction to avoid paying royalties to Elwood and the estate of Jake Blues.

One of the most interesting, and hilarious stories recounted in the book comes in an interview with Larry Critowski, Jake Blues’ campaign manager in his abortive run for mayor of Chicago against Jane Byrne. Larry regales the reader with stories from the election, such as when Jake showed up to a televised debate with Jane Byrne visibly intoxicated and at one point launched into a profanity-laden tirade about trash service in the city, claiming that his trash had not been picked up “since Mayor Daley died” During the debate, Jake invoked racial epitaphs against the Irish 8 times, and caused the National Irish-American Association to issue the following statement: “We, and presumably all Irish Americans, are shocked and appalled at the implication that Irish Americans are inclined to alcoholism , laziness, or criminal behavior. We demand that Jake Blues immediately apologize for his statements.”

At 783 pages, the length and amount of detail in the book may only be suitable for hard core fans of blues music, or hard line fans of the motion picture, however, the quality of the photos and audio CD are enough to justify the price tag of $39.95, and the overall quality of publication makes this a suitable coffee table book for the enjoyment of guests either at home or in a place of business.


I give this book a high rating of 3 ½ belts of scotch and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in film, music, or Chicago politics.

Various Lies - 25th Anniversary Black Tie Gala

The management and staff of Various Lies will be celebrating our 25th year in circulation on Friday, October 3rd, 2008, in the International Ballroom at the Chicago Hilton.  This event is open to the public, and tickets are now on sale at a price of $220 per person.  The dress code for the evening will be formal.  Seating is limited, so act quickly to secure your seat at the table.

Please join us to celebrate this auspicious occasion.  Varous Lies started out 25 years ago as a small newspaper, and has expanded into an online powerhouse, culminating in a Pulitzer Prize last year.  Today, Various Lies boasts a readership of nearly 250,000 unique page views per day, and is widely praised for upholding journalistic ethics and integrity in an age of sensationalism and bias.

Chickens can do math

There's a new research study at some big university that shows that chickens are naturally able to do basic math. The really cool thing is they've done selective breeding on some and genetic engineering and stuff so some of their chickens can do more complex math. They think it's going to be the next big thing in the poultry industry.

Presidential picking team

My dad is part of the secret group that picks who gets to be the next president. It's decided in advance, so I know who it is going to be this time around, but I can't tell you because I don't want my dad to get in trouble.

Electronic music ears

My brother in law plays cello for a big symphony. I'm not supposed to tell anybody, but he told me that a lot of the musicians he works with have special electronic devices implanted in their ears that help them hear the music better so they can play it better. I guess it's like the industry secret.

The Running of The Nerds

Most people know about The Running of the Bulls in Spain, but every year on July 7th, in Silicon Valley, the city of Cupertino holds The Running of the Nerds.

Before the running of the nerds, a set of wooden or iron barricades is erected to direct the nerds along the route and to block off sidestreets. There may be a double row of barricades along the route to allow runners to quickly exit in case of danger. The gaps in the barricades are wide enough for a person to slip through, but narrow enough to block most nerds.

Only women over over eighteen and entering the itinerary before 7:30 AM are allowed to participate and run from the nerds. Other prohibitions are to run under the influence of alcohol, run in the opposite direction of the running or incite the nerds. (In 1998, 125 nerds were injured during a melee before the race after one of the runners screamed out her opinion as to the superiority of Captain Picard over Captain Kirk.)

Should a nerd catch one of the women, she is his for the day, in the tradition of a bachelor auction. In the past 26 years, only 3 women have been caught, and 14 nerds have been killed. Every year between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run although most injuries are contusions due to falls and are not serious.

Despite all the injuries, the city of Cupertino continues the practice. "We feel that this is an important event, it provides many of the city's more socially awkward citizens a small hope of interacting with a real, live woman, if only for a short while." said Mayor Dolly Sandoval