Pop Culture meet St. Patricks Day

http://www.avclub.com/madison/articles/pop-cultures-st-patricks-day-lessons,52900/

Dave and Dave and Mike Mayo's Oscar picks!!* .. and George

Best Picture- The Nominees:
'Black Swan'

'The Fighter'

'Inception'

'The Kids Are All Right'

'The King's Speech' (Dave, Mike Mayo, George Rawlinson)


'127 Hours'

'The Social Network' (And Dave)

'Toy Story 3'

'True Grit'

'Winter's Bone'

Best Actress-The Nominees:
Annette Bening, 'The Kids Are All Right'( George Rawlinson)

Nicole Kidman, 'Rabbit Hole'

Jennifer Lawrence, 'Winter's Bone'

Natalie Portman, 'Black Swan' (Dave and Dave and Mike Mayo)

Michelle Williams, 'Blue Valentine'

Best Actor-The Nominees:
Javier Bardem, 'Biutiful'

Jeff Bridges, 'True Grit'

Jesse Eisenberg, 'The Social Network' (And Dave)

Colin Firth, 'The King's Speech' (Dave and Mike Mayo, George Rawlinson)


James Franco, '127 Hours'

Best Supporting Actress-The Nominees:
Amy Adams, 'The Fighter'

Helena Bonham Carter, 'The King's Speech'

Melissa Leo, 'The Fighter' (And Dave, George Rawlinson)

Hailee Steinfeld, 'True Grit' (Dave and Mike Mayo)

Jacki Weaver, 'Animal Kingdom'

Best Supporting Actor-The Nominees:
Christian Bale, 'The Fighter' (Dave and Dave and Mike Mayo, George Rawlinson)


John Hawkes, 'Winter's Bone'

Jeremy Renner, 'The Town'

Mark Ruffalo, 'The Kids Are All Right'

Geoffrey Rush, 'The King's Speech'

Best Director- The Nominees:
Darren Aronofsky, 'Black Swan'

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, 'True Grit'

David Fincher, 'The Social Network' (Mike Mayo and George Rawlinson)

Tom Hooper, 'The King's Speech' (Dave and Dave)


David O'Russell, 'The Fighter'

Best website with Mike Mayo !!
www.mikeonmovies.com

Join Michael Riser in being part of his upcoming video, “THE REST OF US”.

When: Sunday, Feb 27, 1:00PM to 5:00 PM (please arrive on time) Where: VFW Hall, 122 W. Palatine Road, Palatine, IL. 60067
Cost: Free event (and we’ll be giving out free stuff as thanks)
We’re looking for regular people to be actors, actresses and extras as part of a rock video for my song, "The Rest of Us". Hear it for free by clicking this link: http://www.myspace.com/442682502/music/songs/The-Rest-of-Us-76110844
The song’s been spreading and so has its message. A video has been requested by one of the major news networks for broadcast, so you'll get some TV face time from this, and hopefully have some fun too.
There will be 2 or more staging areas on this shooting location.

SCENES:

A mock political rally as well as well as shots of individuals and groups in front of a green screen shouting and protesting into the camera. The goal will be to make sure every person’s face appears individually as well as combined into part of a group in a collage of faces to be featured in the video (let us know if you’d like to join us in other scenes on other dates too).

WHAT TO WEAR:

Come dressed in your everyday clothes like you would on any regular day (we will be filming the rally scene first). But if you have a job or hobby that requires an identifiable uniform (doctor, nurse, fireman, policeman, soldier, biker, construction worker, welder, etc…), please bring the extra change of clothes to represent your identifiable profession or hobby in addition to your regular clothes so you can get in some extra scenes (since this song is a rock anthem tribute to the hard working men and women that keep this country rolling).

Forward this to your friends and bring them along so they can be part of the video too and have some fun.

Contact us with any questions at the emails and links below.

Looking forward to seeing you on the set!

Michael Riser

info@michaelriser.com

The Death of Dave Duerson

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=6135463 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/615489-cricket-world-cup-trevor-bayne-mark-jackson-and-mondays-top-sports-news/entry/48769-dave-duerson-shouldnt-duersons-suicide-prompt-changes-from-nfl

Tonight on The Show, we talk about the death of Chicago Bears, Dave Duerson. What was behind his illness? Could this happen to hometown atheletes as well as the pros?

Find out tonight on The Dave and Dave Show?

This Monday - Rob Sherman on The Dave and Dave Show

Atheist Activist Rob Sherman appears on The Dave and Dave Show to talk about the repeal of the "Moment of Silence Ban", a school board member who uses his military dress uniform on his campaign web site for political purposes and many more controversial items in the news.

Santa visits The Dave and Dave Show

This Monday at 620 PM 

Bill Jackson to appear on The Dave and Dave Show Monday December 13th at 6 PM

WFLD followed up with "Cartoon Town with Bill Jackson." Now WGN-TV had something to worry about. Jackson, a talented cartoonist, writer, and producer with a stable of puppet characters (all voiced by Jackson himself) was the first person to shake up the WGN-TV kingdom. His characters are just as memorable today as any that appeared on WGN-TV. Who can forget "Dirty Dragon" and "Mother Plumtree"? "The Lemon Joke Kid" and "The Old Professor"? Not to mention "The Thumptwangers!" Arguably the most popular character on the show wasn't a puppet at all but just a mound of molding clay! "The Blob," as he was affectionately known, would rant in unintelligible (except to Jackson) outbursts, who would then proceed to mold Blob into whatever he wanted to be that day. Today more people remember "The Blob" than any other character on the series.




Jackson cut his teeth on live television in Ft. Wayne Indiana as host of a show called Popeye & The Little Rascals Club. After two years he moved to Indianapolis where he stayed for three years. It was at this station that Jackson created the character of "Dirty Dragon" fashioned after a dear friend of his. In 1965 he came to Chicago and hosted Clown Alley (as "Freckles" the clown) on WBBM-TV where "Dirty Dragon" made his first Chicago appearance. It ran for less than two years against brutal competition from WGN-TV's Ray Rayner & Friends.



An additional problem with Clown Alley (and it's weekend counterpart Here Comes Freckles) was that WBBM-TV, in all their wisdom, scheduled Jackson's show to start five minutes after the hour (at 6:35 am) and ended it five minutes before the hour (6:55 am) . Naturally no one thought to tune in because of the odd time. Jackson referred to the show as "the best kept secret in Chicago!" Interestingly, Ted Turner would try this idea starting his programming five minutes after the hour, on his WTBS super station with much better results.



In 1968, with sponsor Maurice Lenell Cookies in tow, Cartoon Town with Bill Jackson premiered over WFLD. And it's audience struggled to find it. WFLD had only been on the air for less than two years when Cartoon Town premiered. Many homes did not have sets that received the UHF channels- so the folks that did have UHF became the most popular people on the block! After awhile the series found it's audience and eventually managed to beat out WGN's Garfield Goose & Friends.



WGN-TV, aghast at being one-upped by a lowly UHF'er, moved "Garfield" to mornings. In it's place, they scheduled reruns of The Flintstones and Batman. With competition like that, a locally produced kids show didn't have a chance. Jackson then convinced WFLD to change the format to a stage revue with life size characters and a studio audience. The title was changed to The B.J. & Dirty Dragon Show. and moved to the most coveted spot for a kids show in Chicago, 12 noon, up against the mighty Bozo! The idea looked like a winner based on the success that Jackson had with his live stage shows around the Chicago area.



However the idea bombed on television and the show soon reverted back to the original format but retained the new name. The timeslot changed one more time and away from the big B. Jackson did manage to keep two of his dancers from the live show, Nancy Wettler and Ian Harris, and used them as puppeteers in the third and final version. With the new talent and a crack production crew, Jackson considers this version of the series as his favorite. It was on this series that Jackson and his crew produced the extremely popular cliff hanger serials and the MTV-like videos of "The Thumptwangers." The ratings improved but then Field sold the station to Kaiser Broadcasting. Kaiser, with it's own agenda, quickly bounced the show from it's schedule.



After a short break and moving to New York to do a show called B.J.'s Bunch at WNBC, he commuted back and forth to Chicago to do another version of Cartoon Town set in Carefree Corners for none other than former rival WGN-TV. The show aired for one year, but Jackson felt out of place and the station really didn't know what to do with him. Unwisely, his show was scheduled in the old Romper Room timeslot, but Jackson's show was not really geared for pre-schoolers and the humor went over it's audience's heads.



Jackson managed one more hurrah when he sold Gigglesnort Hotel to WLS-TV where the show aired Sunday mornings. The show, complete with all the "Cartoon Town" characters as well as a few new ones designed especially for the series, eventually was sold into national and international syndication. In it's short three years on the air (Jackson was again victim to a change in management when new management at WLS-TV cancelled the series) Gigglesnort won two (long overdue) Emmy awards as well as a program director's award for best locally produced children's show in the nation.

Jackson then left the windy city and children's television and took a job teaching at California's Cal-Arts Institute where he stayed for 11 and half years. The 78 episodes of Gigglesnort Hotel series can still be seen in several markets including at one time in the early 1990s, in South America.

For those who just can't get enough of Bill Jackson and his characters, help is only a click away! Jackson's web site offers videos of Cartoon Town and Gigglesnort Hotel as well as photos, original comics, and paintings recently done by Jackson himself. Check it all out at: www.dirtydragon.com and tell him The Video Veteran sent you!