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Humanity's Thundering Brainstorms Turned Blundering Brain Farts They are priceless, multifaceted jewels of misjudgment. Masterworks of the moronic. Steroid-juiced stupidity wearing a size 9XX dunce cap embroidered with one simple word: “Duh.” They are the colossally, cringingly, often laughably bad notions that have leapt from the short-circuiting synapses of some of the world’s brightest (and dimmest) brains, now faithfully retold here as "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, The Podcast." Ba ...
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Tipping their hat to the train town that brought them together and won’t let them leave, ‘A Little Off Track’ will deliver an entertaining ride that may occasionally go off the rails but will always get you to the destination...celebrating local artists, featuring their talent, and not taking ANYTHING too seriously.
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Jarts: The Kid's Game That Really Sticks Out in Your Mind
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What Were They Thinking? What would you call an outdoor game where one player heaves a weighted, foot-long, metal-tipped dart hihg into the air, hoping to land it in the middle of a plastic hoop placed at the feet of his opponent some 20 feet away? You’d call it “lawn darts,” “Jarts,” “garden darts”—or maybe just “the most idiotically dangerous kid…
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Pete Best Swerves Off the Long and Winding Road to Superstardom
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What Was He Thinking? While his bandmates were conjuring up the mop-top pop-music elixir that soon exploded into Beatle mania, Pete Best decided travel to the beat of his own drum. Refusing to fit in with John, Paul and George, Pete traded in his "ticket to ride" to worldwide fame and fortune for a license to drive a Liverpool delivery truck. Liste…
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Fail to the Chief: 6 of the Worst Ideas in Presidential History
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More of the Best of the Worst Whiskey rings, hanging chads, criminal contra-dictions, depressing obsessions, heaping helpings of guns and butter -- American Presidents and their staffs have cooked up then served up an onerous, odorous batch of stinkin' thinkin' over the last 200-plus years. These six examples spotlight how the ideas of yesterday—fr…
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Presiding over five Boston Red Sox World Series titles in fifteen years, the team's ownership confidently believes their roster is doubtlessly strong enough to withstand the departure of star pitcher Babe Ruth, a.k.a. “The Bambino.” So they conjure up the idea, in 1920, to sell Ruth to the then-lowly New York Yankees. What happens next is an histor…
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A swarm of sweet-toothed beetles is chomping away at Australia’s sugar cane crop. So, by cracky, local farmers come up with the perfect solution: Introduce 102 toads from Hawaii to scarf up the bothersome beetle population. Problem solved, eh mates? Not quite. Our Outback sugar farmers thus begin one of the worst ecological calamities in Australian…
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An erstwhile sprinkler repairman, Bernard L. Madoff is the embodiment of the American dream, parlaying a paltry $5,000 initial investment in his own securities firm in 1960 into a nearly $1 billion dollar personal fortune by 2008. Shockingly, his American dream becomes a nightmare for thousands of investors who trust his sage advice and reputation …
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It’s his wedding night. And in a blissful, celebratory moment, Robert Kearns pops a champagne cork—right into his left eye, leaving him partially blind. Fast-forward ten years. Driving home in a rainstorm, the sight-impaired automotive engineer and part-time inventor squints through his car’s rapidly oscillating windshield wiper. Even with one bad …
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Newly reelected and embarking on a national speaking tour, President William McKinley is a busy chief executive—too busy, his staff decides, to meet with a clothier who’s offered to fit the commander in chief with a snazzy piece of outerwear. Instead, the meeting is rescheduled until after McKinley returns from a brief trip to the Pan American Expo…
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"Guiltless Snacking" Becomes the Butt of a Fat Joke
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Since the dawn of our republic, Americans have been wrestling with a great existential question: “How can I shove limitless fistfuls of fatty snack foods into my bloated face without making my arteries harder than last week’s linguine?” Finally, in 1968, Proctor & Gamble discovers the answer: Olestra. Thanks to this new chemically-contrived fat sub…
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You know the movie, you know the scene: Young Elliot lures E.T., the extraterrestrial, out of hiding with a trail of yummy candies. "E.T." screenwriter Melissa Mathison believed that only one kind of candy could pique the sweet tooth of a cute, cuddly intergalactic visitor to our planet -- the most popular candy on Earth --M&M’s. But when presented…
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Ensconced in the back seat of his open-roofed Double Phaeton limousine, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire, warily motorcades from a town hall meeting through the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia. And with good reason. Just hours earlier, the archduke narrowly escapes a bomb-thrower’s assassination attempt that s…
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New Coke's Product Launch Goes From Fizzy to Flat
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In the bubbly affluence of post–World War II America, Coke is the cola preferred by 60 percent of the market. Yet by 1983, pesky rival Pepsi has begun to outsell Coke among coveted youth demographics. Despite a generations-long reign as the world’s top-selling soft drink, “The Real Thing” -- a bastion of coolheaded product stability-- makes an unch…
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Uber music producer Farian is looking for the “next big thing” in music. Scouring the ’80s Berlin club scene, he happens upon models Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus tearing up the dance floor. To most, they’re no more than hunky, prancing boy toys. But to Farian, they’re ideal front men for a new band. One problem: Neither Rob nor Fab can sing. To c…
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Nearly a half century after George Washington dons a three-cornered hat, courageously crosses the Delaware River, and defeats the British Army redcoats, President John Quincy Adams strips down to his birthday suit, swims naked in the Potomac River, and leaves America red faced. Giving “crack of dawn” a whole new meaning, each morning, Adams sneaks …
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Just your typical day at the ballpark: First you see a pitcher smoke a fastball down the middle of the plate. Then you watch a speedy runner burn up the base paths. Finally, you see center field explode in a fireball! Okay, so it’s not exactly your average trip to the old ball game. But that’s the whole, record-breaking idea behind “Disco Demolitio…
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Episode 11 brings us musician and music teacher, Brad Shryack. Brad used to call the local rock station and request guitar god rock instrumentals that rarely got played, like Steve Vai or Joe Satriani. This only proved he had great taste in music and it turns out he was a pretty talented six string shredder himself. Brad's been in bands, played big…
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Kent Kriegshauser-If The Rolling Stones Don't Call Me
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1972, Mick Jagger on the cover of Life magazine when Kent was 13. 1973, the access the photographers had to the cars at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Stones never called, but the access was earned. Photographer Kent Kriegshauser is one of the best ever and has some great stories behind the shots. From Pittsfield & Chicago to the Beatles and the …
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Lily Blouin-It Was Jeff Daniels Final Performance
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Lily Blouin lives to perform & mentor and sail and go to New York to see Jeff Daniels and then not see Jeff Daniels! She's inspiring and brave and human and a pirate all at the same time. And if your ears stick around until the end, you'll hear her sing too. My friend, we hope you enjoy the lovely Lily Blouin on episode 9 of A Little Off Track.…
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Tim Holmes: You Should've Married A Plumber
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Tim Holmes finally came all the way down to the A Little Off Track studios to talk like a snobby actor and deflect our questions like a spoiled director, exactly what we were hoping. Anything performed from a stage without a net, ensemble or solo, drama, comedy or musical is so damned impressive and inspiring to those who don't do it everyday or ev…
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Seth’s upbringing becomes pretty clear when you hear his music. Whether it’s grandpa, his favorite girl or the famous bridge he grew up next to, his lyrics hit close to home right away. He’s a father, a fiddle player, an educator and an occasional online better, and part of a few great musical projects in the area, Frank F. Sidney's Western Bandit …
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Kyle & Auty Rohweder: I Think It's Yucky Too
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Multi talented artists Kyle & Auty Rohweder join us this time around to go, A Little Off Track. You might have swapped a story and got a buzz under the roof of Kyle's barber shop, Glory Days, on Cherry Street in Galesburg. And you might have seen Auty dance, act or been delighted by her barista & bass skills. These are just a few of the bonifides o…
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Jera cancelled on us twice so we thought, do we smell, does she hate us, what'd we do wrong?? Actually she had a family emergency and then lost her voice. The instrument that along with her trusty guitar she's been hauling around and entertaining crowds with for over 45 years. We get a nice snapshot of those times along with a few secrets & 3 great…
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Nikki Malley: Jams, Jellies, & Jazz
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With our guest Nikki Malley, we got a vibraphonist, a canning enthusiast, a Galesburg jazz legend, the proprietor of Malley Farms on Seminary Street in Galesburg & a grease trap fanatic. We're also serving up snippets from the Nikki Malley Quartet & their live performance at the Trail Side Event Center in Peoria Illinois as part of the Central Illi…
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Dance Hall Doves: Murder Ballads & Rodeo Accidents
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Cow & Erin Glasnovich are the Dance Hall Doves and our friends, so they agreed to play & sing and be jovial about the art & life they love on our little podcast. Cow has been playing in area bands for well over 20 years & Erin Glasnovich has grown up on the stage acting & singing as well. We're pretty glad their musical paths crossed cause we could…
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Dusty Scott: A Painter On A Podcast
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We made it to episode II & we couldn't have been more blessed to have artist Dusty Scott on the show. The 3 of us knew Dusty's work before we knew him and you can't help but know his artwork cause its displayed inside & out & all over west central Illinois, in over 27 states throughout the country and he has work hanging south of the border too. In…
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Well, it's show #1. We had fun like we knew we would with our friend Joe Stamm and we’re glad you came along for the ride. Our goal every show is to hang out with an artist in this room above Cherry Street, and let them do their thing, and share with all of us the art they love the most. Besides all the joyous conversation, Joe shared 3 new stellar…
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