Toss this one in the ”political lunacy” bin: To hype his candidacy for Bernie Carey`s seat on the Cook County Board, former Homewood Mayor Bob Gooley is distributing a cryptic handbill asking: ”What is the baseball score?” The answer requires the reader to decipher the following pictures: Two fir trees, a dripping liquor bottle, a cavewoman with one breast exposed, and a toilet. Get it? No? Here`s the answer: Tree to tree. Bottom of the fifth. One out. No one on. Get it? Yuck. Oink. The vote tally so far? ”Tasteless, meaningless, stupid, sexist and crass,” according to a top GOP source. ”Everyone is mortified.” Does Gooley care? According to a hot rumor, Gooley (if he`s victorious) will agree to relinquish his seat to Carey (if he isn`t). Well, at least there`s some good news. Gooley no longer passes out his old political handbill: ”I love Paris in the spring and vote for Bob Gooley.”
Park place . . .
— News that Lake Michigan has risen to a record high level reminds INC. of the late Atty. Gen. Bill Scott`s warning that the shoreline crisis would be Chicago`s disaster of the 80s? Heeeeeellllp.
— Naughty. Naughty. INC. hears park district board member Rebecca ”Give Me Five” Sive showed up Tuesday an hour and 45 minutes late for a meeting on shoreline protection for Lake Michigan and those left in the lurch almost left in a huff. ”Sive chairs the committee on government operations and without her there was no quorum,” said an INC. source. She claimed she got stalled at City Hall by the power failure. So watt?
The city maul . . .
— Ald. Burt Natarus (42d), the deciding vote on the property tax ordinance, tells INC., ”Nobody offered me anything in regard to my vote–but everybody is teasing me about being offered a judgeship. They`ve been doing it for years.” Wait. See.
— Public works chief Paul Karas tells INC. that his memo strictly limiting the issuance of free passes on the Chicago Skyway was meant to eliminate freeloaders–not to charge ambulances, snowplows and squad cars. Memo to Paul: That`s what the tollway guys were telling everyone trying to interpret your memo. INC. hears they are trying to sabotage your efforts.
— Rumor central: INC. hears Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th) may lobby for Ed Kelly`s spot as ward committeeman, and that former Streets & San czar John Donovan wants Gerald McLaughlin`s aldermanic seat in the 45th Ward.
Sour notes . . .
The Chicago Federation of Musicians and one of the country`s biggest theatrical producers are going nose to nose–and waiting to see who blinks first. Pace/Nederlander, the group that`s bringing the touring company of
”Singin` in the Rain” (and several other musicals) to the Chicago Theatre, has negotiated contracts with the stagehands and box office employees` unions, but won`t deal with the CFM because it demands that all touring productions at the Chicago hire 24 musicians. (The score for the
”Singin` ” production calls for 17.) Attorney Fred Richman says that although Nederlander did have a CFM contract at the Arie Crown Theater, the time has come to draw the line at ”unwarranted and unreasonable demands.”
According to Local 10-208 vice president Leon Ruby, Chicago`s ”pit minimums” are the same as New York`s. According to population reports, New York has several more million people (and a lot more theater) than Chicago. According to the immortal Elmer Fudd, ”Thewe`s something vewy scwoowy going on hewe.” Richman calls it ”featherbedding.”
Air waves . . .
Channel 7 must be awfully embarrassed about the misspelling of
”embarrassed” (with only one ”r”) in newspaper ads touting the station`s special report. How embarrassing; the special report is on illiteracy. . . . INC. hears a Channel 2 crew covering the flooding in the northwest suburbs borrowed a pick-up truck Monday from an area resident–and accidentally sunk it. . . . The Chevrolet dealers ”Junkyard Dogs” poster and TV ad featuring the Chicago Bears` defensive team don`t include the two with the highest profiles (and contracts with other auto manufacturers): Gary Fencik, who does advertising for Cadillac; and William Perry, who does ads for everybody, including Pontiac.
Reel news . . .
Yuck on the two-page Variety ad featuring a dead body lying next to a truck, announcing that ”Shooting Has Begun” in Chicago on ”The
Untouchables.” . . . Nobody will confirm it, but INC. hears that Zupnik Enterprises has decided to film ”Glengarry Glen Ross” in Chicago, where it all began. . . . John Hughes Productions will film a scene of ”She`s Having A Baby” Oct. 9 at the Limelight. Expect lines when doors open at 9 p.m.
INC.lings . . .
Wednesday birthdays: WFYR`s Jeff Elliott, 31; Julie Andrews, 51; Jimmy Carter, 62; Vladimir Horowitz, 82; Walter Matthau, 66. . . . New York City Ballet principals Adam Luders and Suzanne Farrell will be featured in the Chicago City Ballet`s Nov. 26-30 production of ”Cinderella” at the Auditorium Theater. . . . Congrats to Bill Bauer, new chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th circuit. But wife Mike keeps him in line; she remembers when he was a cabdriver.
