WLKN Morning Show Archive 12/08

12/31/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Can't get enough of 2008? You get an extra second tonight because the Earth wobbles.
• New Year's Eve has a lot of great traditions: Parties, celebrations, fireworks and Dick Clark on TV.
• Here's homage to some of the people who left us in 2008.

12/30/08-Here's what we talked about this mor, ning:

• The oldest man in America has passed away. George Rene Francis was born in New Orleans in 1896 and lived to be 112. Among things he did during his long life was hang out with jazz great Louis Armstrong.
• The Postal Service has several new sets of stamps coming out in 2009. Among them, a celebration of classic television including Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory, Joe Friday wanting "just the facts" and Groucho Marx and his duck.
• Did Brett Favre just have an off year or is he a victim of the "Madden curse?" It seems that the last seven players to be featured on the box of the Madden football game have either had lousy years or their season ended in injury. For Favre, it was a little of both.

12/29/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• A Raiders fan from New Jersey flew to Tampa to watch his team play the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Raiders scored first, prompting the man to cheer. He was then led away in handcuffs, stripped searched, placed in a holding cell and eventually tossed out of the stadium. This would never happen at Lambeau Field.
• PETA and Sarah Palin are embroiled in a war of words. PETA is featuring a game on it's website where you, as Palin, get to throw snowballs at fur advocates. Palin says if PETA doesn't remove her name from the game, they will suffer the full wrath of her lawyers.
• Two new TV projects have caught our interest. The first is "Legally Mad", a new David E. Kelley project which will air NBC. Kelley must be thrilled to work with NBC considering how many shots he took at ABC during the final episodes of the recently concluded "Boston Legal." Meanwhile, the star of "The Shield" Michael Chiklis, is developing a new project dealing with greed on Wall Street, loosely based on the exploits of fallen financier Bernie Madoff.

12/24/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• It was 40 years ago tonight , that Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders circled the moon in Apollo 8 and sent a hopeful Christmas Eve message back to the US after one of the most turbulent years in history. Less than 8 months later, man walked on the moon for the first time. It may not seem like a big deal to you now, but back then, this was HUGE.
• Some kids in Maryland aren't getting mad, they are getting even.
• Wish me luck. I'm making a mixed berry cheesecake for Christmas. I've done cheesecake before, but never with a complicated fruit topping. With all the money I sunk into berries, this better go right. If you'd like to try it, here's the recipe.

12/23/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

Rumors of Michael Jackson's demise may be greatly exaggerated
• It was cold in Chicago yesterday. How cold was it? So cold, they couldn't make ice.
• Spend part of your New Year's eve with Sir Elton John.

12/22/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Be glad you had the common sense to stay inside Sunday. These folks didn't and paid for it.
• Jim Carey's new flick, "Yes Man" took number one at the box office over the weekend. The numbers were way down thanks to snow emergencies in the Midwest and East.
• We told you last week (below) that Marjel Roddenberry was doing the computer voice for the new Star Trek Movie. Sadly, it's her last body of work. The "first,lady of Star Trek" passed away last week at the age of 76.

12/17/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Star Trek fans worried about the new J.J. Abrams movie coming out will have at least one link to the Star Trek past. Marjel Barrett-Roddenberry, the widow of the creator of Star Trek will reprise her role as the computer voice of the U.S.S. Enterprise. She did the computer voices for all of the Star Trek series and played Nurse Chapel in Star Trek TOS and Lwaxana Troy in Star Trek TNG.
• A Michigan high school student wants to surpass her record for most boxes of Girl Scout cookies sold.
• There are some changes coming to American Idol.

12/16/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• A man who has a motorized couc, h he uses at tailgate parties prior to Cleveland Browns games will be in court today to fight traffic violations. The man says that police allowed him to drive his couch around the stadium prior to the game.
• If you are thinking about putting Christmas Gifts in the mail, the USPS estimates you better do it by Thursday.
• There may not be a first dog yet, but there is a second dog. VP-elect Joe Biden and his grandchildren picked out a German Shepard yesterday who will serve as the incoming VP's new pet. Biden is an old hand with German Shepards, having owned three of them in the past.

12/15/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• A pizza delivery man in Florida was confronted by armed robbers. Instead of giving up the cash, he flung the piping hot pepperoni pizza in their faces and ran like heck. The robbers didn't get money but did get a free dinner and perhaps a facial.
• Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich can be accused of a lot of things, but having unkempt hair isn't among them. The Governor's security detail carries a brush with them at all times so the Gov can adjust his coiffe any time he wants.
• The healthiest state in the union? Vermont. The most unhealthy? Louisiana.

12/12/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• A woman in Pennsylvania has developed a line of fragrances that smells like your college. No truth to the rumor that the UW-Madison fragrance smells like four day old Miller Lite.
• Here are some of the stranger baby names in 2008.
• The state of Indiana has told citizens that they will no longer be allowed to smile on their driver's license photos because the facial recognition software they use to fight fraud works better with a striaght face. I lived in Indiana for a few years and I can tell you there is nothing to smile about there.
• I hope some judge takes the bookand hits this dope right in the head with it.

12/11/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Actor Robert Prosky has died at the age of 77. He's best known for playing Sgt. Stan Jablonsk, i on "Hill Street Blues." That's the character that took over for Michael Conrad's character, after Conrad passed away from cancer. Jablonski would always end his morning briefings with "let's do it to them before they do it to us."
• Michael Jackson is auctioning off several items this April. One of the items is his famous glove from the "Billie Jean" video. Proceeds go to charity.
• Guess who wants to be the new Senator from New York? Fran Drescher. The Democrats could use her to do filibusters and force Republicans to vote their way just to get her to stop talking. Before you dismiss this story as crazy, who ever thought "The Terminator" would be governor of California or the host of "Death Valley Days" would become President of the United State,,s?

12/10/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Actor T.R. Knight wants,to get out of his contract on Grey's Anatomy because he's unhappy with his story line. Does this mean they'll bring back Isiah Washington? Better yet, keep T.R. and dump Katherine Heigl.
• Some musicians are upset that officials at GITMO are playing some of their songs over and over again to get inmates to talk. I guarantee after a few hours of rap music, I'd confess to anything.
• An updated school nativity play had British parents outraged. It seems that since there was no room at the inn, Joseph and Mary broke into a garage. The wise men arrived not with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but of designer clothes. No word on whether or not Jesus got an X-Box.

12/9/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Snow

12/8/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• A Milwaukee woman bought a pair of boots at a thrift store only to discover two bundles of money inside. If she can't find who belongs to the money, she is going to donate it to charity.
• "Four Christmases" was tops at the weekend box office. "Twilight" was second and "Bolt" was third.
• Tonight is the final episode of "Boston Legal." Legal is a spin off of "The Practice." What a wild five years it's been. The show has been at times goofy, poigniant, and always issue oriented since it's beginning. It's covered a wide range of social topics no one else would ever consider like ilegal immigration, prescription drugs, rights for senior citizens, rights for people with "mad cow" and the list goes on. And what a talented cast with William Shatner, James Spader, Candice Bergan, John Laroquette and the under appreicated Christian Clemonson. David E. Kelly, who also produced "L.A. Law" and "Picket Fences", but this show is probably his finest work. I know I'll miss it terribly.

12/5/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Memo to Sarah Palin: When you are thi, nking about a p, olitical future, there are some people that you shouldn't avoid or tick off. Oprah is one of them.
• A man in Florida is in jail after attacking his girlfriend with a McDonald's cheeseburger. Healthy eating advocates want him charged with use of a deadly weapon.
• After a tough day at the Oval office, Barach Obama will be leaping out of the frying pan into the fire. That's becasue his mother-in-law plans on living at the White House.

12/4/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• How popular is former Packer Brett Favre? More fans in Wisconsin watched Favre and the Jets than they did Sunday Night Football. And, his #4 Jets jersey is the NFL's number one seller.
• Here's the complete list of 2008 Grammy nominees.
• From Hollywood: Jon Hamm from "Mad Men" will guest on "30 Rock" as a love interest for Sarah Palin, eh Tina Fey. A British comic wants to make a new version of the classic movie "Arthur" and the last episode of "ER" will be on March 12.

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12/3/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• Craig T. Nelson is joining the cast of "CSI NY" for at least three episodes. I loved Craig's work as Jack Manion in the show "The District" as well as his work as Hayden Fox on "Coach"
• A $900 Parrot was stolen from a pet store in Waukesha. John Cleese is being sought by local police.
• NORAD is getting ready to track Santa. You can link directly to that site soon from WLKN.com.

12/2/08-Here's what we talked about this morning:

• On Thanksgiving day, Princess and I were listening to the news and thought that the anchor was drunk because they were mispronoucing "Bombay". It turns out it was our bad. Bombay apparently has a new name.
• A temporary employee at a New York Walmart was killed after being trampeled to death by a surging crowd of shoppers. The saddest part of the story was that no one came to his aid after he went down. This is why I'd rather fight hackers and shop on-line than fight shoppers and shop in stores.
• A former Wisconsin football player has been placed in a padded cell after making several disturbing phone calls to his former coach, Barry Alvarez.

12/1/08-Lots of snow this morning. Please drive carefully. We'll be reading the closings and delays frequently this morning.