Chicago is an October Sort of City Even in Spring

me neither. but you knew that.

I've never heard that before, but the Internet tells me that it's Algren. Nice. The Internet tells me that he also said, "Loving Chicago is like loving a woman with a broken nose."

...you may meet lovlier lovlies but never a lovely so real.

is the rest of that quote john.

it was my gmail status for a while.

here it is:

"Yet once you've come to be part of this particular patch, you'll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real"

http://www.mouserunner.net/anne_geddes/index_content/anne_geddes_preview_2.png

Hmm. I think for dinner I want baby prawns....

Ah, I remember that Gmail status! I wondered what it was from.

We had a thread title that referenced that one too ("A lovely so real").

and damn it, I knew we had done this one before

An October sort of city: Chicago part 6

xp Oh, maybe that's what I was remembering.

Shit.

I've never read Algren.

argh some douchebag put a battlestar galactica spoiler on the lost thread

whoa, i can't believe how warm it is! this is pretty great.

yeah i finally got my bike tires filled up, rode up to costellos for lunch (they don't have my favorite sandwich anymore ;_;), browsed at laurie's planet of sound, rode home, then the sun was out and shining so i just rode around my neighborhood for a little while. only problem was the wind

Holy cow. It's 78.8 according to my widget. No wonder I'm sitting here sweating. The a/c isn't on b/c the HVAC people haven't come to test it yet, sadly.

I bet it thunderstorms like a mf-er this evening, hopefully after we all get home from work.

yeah, the wind is pretty crazy. there's a 4-story pine tree across the alley from me, and it keeps bending down in the wind to about 2.5 stories, and looks like it's going to snap.

anyone tried almond milk? it's ok.

smells like almonds.

I didn't realize almonds lactated.

smells like almonds.

So does cyanide.

Aw shit, high of 46 on Sunday, 44 on Monday...

Yeah, I was eating lunch outside and trying to read the paper, but the wind kept blowing the pages all around, and my napkins. Then I saw the weather report for the next few days, wtf! Possible SNOW on Monday?! I was just about to hang up my coat in the back of the closet, too. Ugh.

living up to the thread title amirite

Exactamundo! Good timing there.

Chicago: Don't Put Away The Mukluks Just Yet

I just called my landlord to have her get the heating dude to come by tonight and change out this faulty wire that had been causing problems. I was thinking there would be no rush to do this, but now I want to make sure I will have working heat on Sunday and Monday night.

oh those weather people have no idea

True, but to go from 70 to 30 is pretty extreme. I would hope they wouldn't be too wrong about that. Actually, I do hope they're wrong about that, of course.

OK, now it's gone all dark and windy...boo!

my widet tells me 77.7º

don't worry about the tickets, jon, i'm going to sell them to amanda. and also, just got an email that there's still tickets available for the braves series this week if you want to buy a pair.

well shit, i guess i'm going to have to go to sat. AND sun. of the pfork fest. now that they've added some good bands (HEALTH, Mahjongg, Times New Viking and LES SAVY FAVVVVVV) to sunday's lineup

Yeah, Sunday for me is about Cut Copy and Les Savy Fav.

What up.

nothin'

just got back from walking toby to the stars of the lid show. am now home cooking vegetarian bacon for my snack. rock and roll, huh?

What law is it the describes the relationship between weekends and Monday workdays? An inverse relationship that says something along the lines of, "the more enjoyable and relaxing the weekend / the shittier the return to reality on Monday morning"?

prince covering radiohead's 'creep,' pretty great: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/50247-prince-creep-radiohead-cover

Hey, when I was in Minneapolis I had dinner at this place (reviewed by Dara) and it was so very good.

I'm here. Nick. I'm right here.

oh

we went to ikea yesterday, then i broke two (2) frames

At Ikea? What did you buy?

i'm guessing two frames.

i did buy two (2) frames, though i broke one (1) that we bought yesterday and one (1) that we've had for a while. so one (1) of the two (2) i bought yesterday has survived intact so far

also bought a rug, some baskets for organizing and a dish drying rack

The Strangerer was interesting, although I'm not sure I would recommend it. I like absurdism in general, but here the absurdism was so heightened that it sort of tried my patience after a while -- like when everything is nonsensical, what are the stakes? The fact that the staging was necessarily static (since it's a presidential debate) didn't help. I was impressed, however, by the character work: none of these guys looked anything like the personalities they were playing (Bush looked a little like Dave Foley), but all of them got the mannerisms and speech patterns down pretty well.

Jesse will also be interesting to know that Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? plays a small but significant role.

Ahem, "interested."

why because jesse interesting

i just googled "'grilled cheese sandwich' evanston" to try and figure out where i can get a grilled cheese sandwich in evanston

I saw the early run of The Strangerer and wondered if it would seem as timely as it did a year or two ago or if it would start to seem akin to the Reagan satires of the 1980s.

I saw a preview of Lookingglass's Around The World In 80 Days last week and really enjoyed it. If any of you have family visiting town, this would be a good one for them.

n/a, that seems like the kind of thing you might be able to find at le peep, maybe?

have any of you ever made angel food cake before? i want to make a coconut angel food cake because that sounds like the most delicious thing on earth right now, but i don't have the special pan. do i really need it?

No idea, but I will gladly do a taste test for you for FREE!

it's good to know you're always up for the heavy lifting

Amanda,

You're going to get the best result with the pan. A typical cake pan is going to be too shallow and it'll overflow. Also, you need to figure out some way to let it cool upside down, or you'll end up with a fallen angel food cake. (get it? get it? sigh.)

amanda, would that be in a bundt tin? i was just reading that they do conduct the heat differently, so it might be a little different but i'm guessing still yummy. you may have to bake it longer at a lower temp since there's less surface area?

xpost

oh, and make sure there's space between the counter and the cake when cooling upside down! if you have a bundt tin you can rest it on a glass or bottle or something.

i guess i'll just buy the pan. that means no cake TODAY but i can live with that, since i don't have coconut today either.

i do have tons of delicious strawberries, though.

avenging angel food cake --> contains arsenic?

Maybe. Although I'd go with hemlock for sheer antiquity value.

but arsenic works so WELL

plus arsenic has the added fun of making you feel like you're in an agatha christie novel...

i will wear this dress and serve it with a smirk
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h269/blueridger/ebay2007/ebay041607/th_ebay041607no033.jpg

you could wax your mustache for the same effect.

xpost.

er, well YOU couldn't. i could i guess.

surprisingly le peep does NOT have a grilled cheese sandwich. but uber burger had just what i needed, plus they have onion rings. i feel about 300 percent better than i did this morning

Would Whole Foods make you a tasty one with especially tasty cheese and tasty bread?

i wouldn't mind wearing that dress, really
i am waiting for the right time to wear my gunne sax dress. seems like there never really is a good time for that sort of attire; you just have to put it on, walk out the door and not look back.

Amanda, I think I love you.

i wanted a white bread, butter, and american cheese-style grilled cheese, not some whole foods fooferaw. and that's just what uber burger gave me. a+

where's uber burger? do they do veggie burgers?

amanda, that looks like the dress you wore for halloween! can you find any photos of the gunne sax dress, so we can give you suggestions for where to wear it.

oh, also, surely karaoke is where you wear it?

L: And I, you.

Lemme see if I can find photo...

yes, they have veggie burgers at uber burger. they also have fun sauces like curry ketchup, wasabi mayo, garlic mustard aioli, etc., and also they are fairly cheap. the only downside is the burgers are pretty sloppy so have to use lots of napkins

it's just around the northwest corner of whole foods

eh
can't find a photo :(
maybe i will wear it to karaoke, but it depends on if i can bike in it. the skirt is pretty monster huge.

you can do it...i rode my bike to a punk rock prom party where my dress was more prom than punk rock (well, it had petticoats, at least)

looks like the totally wired fest moved from the bottom lounge.

Friday May 23rd - Abbey Pub @ Grace and Elston - Doors 7.30pm - 18+ - $10
Mentally Ill
Human Eye
Aluminumknoteye
Teeners
TV Ghost
Daily Void

Saturday May 24th - AAbbey Pub @ Grace and Elston - Doors 7.30pm - 18+ - $15
Zero Boys
Holy Shit!
Clockcleaner
Canadian Rifle
Vapid
FNU Ronnies
Catburglars

Sunday May 25th - Lucky gator Loft 1278 N Milwaukee - All Ages - 7pm $8
Kill the Hippies
Test Patterns
Krunchies
Mhz
Vegetative State,
Rot Shit

NO ADVANCE TICKETS (Unless you are from out of town) - NO TICKETMASTER FEES

Out of towners contact crimina✧✧✧@hotm✧✧✧.c✧✧ - weekend passes are $30

and according to chicagoist, oberon is back at silver cloud, northside, handlebar, and twisted spoke.

Clockcleaner

Are you into these guys, Kevin? I'm pretty sure I've heard of them before but I can't place the name.

i'm totally not into them.

they're from philly, not quite hardcore but aggro hard-rock/punk maybe? i think i ran to underdog when i saw them at sub t two years ago.

Guys, its snowing in the north suburbs right now. 34 degrees and snowing. Spring, you are an evil tease.

For people who don't get along with winter, this must be like an episode of the twilight zone.

i am managing my sorrow by listening to bridget st. john "songs for the gentle man"

it's both wintery and springy at the same time, i think

i get along with winter when it's winter

not when it's almost may you douchebag weather

I wore my flannel-lined jeans today woohoo

i debated breaking out the winter jacket again but i felt like that would be like giving up and giving in so instead i'm braving the elements with my levi's jacket and a hoodie. the wind was cutting right through me this morning when i was passing under the metra tracks. knifing right through my ribs.

Alright, its changed over to 100% snow now.

I DEMAND A REFUND

How are your ribs now, Hefner?

they'd be better if i were smoking in bed.

PROM NITE PROM NITE

phrases you don't read every day: "we are choosing to ignore gravity..."

nice to have that option.

no snow in evanston, just pretty heavy rain.

hey, i'm thinking about swinging by myopic on my way home, anyone have any recent good reads? i've got samaritan on my list and that's about it.

I'm enjoying Blood Meridian. Also I want to pick up this: http://www.lookatmystripedshirt.com/

I'm enjoying Cloud Atlas right now, seems like all of you have already read that one.

hmmmmm, i could go for another mccarthy book. IT'S ON THE LIST.

haha that's where i bought samaritan too! i got freedomland at a book sale though.

i want to read this:
http://thewall.civiblog.org/rsf/gwbookcover.jpg

Kevin if you're looking for seedy nonfiction, i recommend Charles Bowden, particularly Shadow in the City and Down by the River. The latter in particular.

going on the list. i guess i should actually make a list.

from the sun times story about the semi crash at the chinatown red line stop:

According to sources, police planned to review the log book of the truck driver -- who has declined to take a urine test -- ...

truck driver refused to take a urine test? CAN'T IMAGINE WHY???

I'm enjoying Cloud Atlas right now, seems like all of you have already read that one.

Funny, I just picked up Black Swan Green at the library.

ok it's snowing here now too
BOOOO

when i got up to get a grapefruit juice from the vending machine about a half hour ago it was not snowing on the south side.

oh HAI CHICAGO this weather can suck my big wrinklies, fuck this 2x

i'm reading samaritan right now, lol at everybody reading the same books. dude can fucking write though

wanted to read lush life or clockers, went to downtown library and of course they had neither in. will probably end up requesting them once i'm getting near the end of my current batch of books

I'm reading Sam Shepard's story collection Great Dream of Heaven, which you could keep in the can and Cormac in the living room. Speaking of the can, these Cottonelle ads on the El make me uncomfortable.

kevin: the double, by saramago. or blindness, if you haven't read it.

other books i looked for at the library, none of which they had in:

under the volcano, malcolm lowry (WTF at them not having a copy of this at harold washington?!?!?)
savage detectives, roberto bolano (they had a bunch of other bolano, including his newest, but none of them looked appealing)
the indian clerk, david leavitt (ditto)

savage detectives, roberto bolano
ooh i wanna read this too

wanted to read lush life or clockers

both A+++ reads. i believe i still have both (i may have sold clockers over the summer) you are more than welcome to them.

The Nation of Islam guy's speech is my favorite part of that book.

oh man is it nasty out there! ugh.

Blech. I haven't been outside since 8:30 this morning. I would work late, but I would have to start a big project.

Today I was doing some work and had Excel, Acrobat, Firefox, and Outlook open. Suddenly the Help screen pops up on Excel and won't turn off. In fact, when I clicked the X, it reproduced. I switched to the other 3 windows and same story. Then Ctrl-Alt-Del, and THE TASK MANAGER HELP WINDOW OPENED TOO. So I turned it off and it wouldn't turn on.

The IT guy said that's what I get for eating at my desk and getting crumbs under the F1 key.

i was gonna say, sounds like a stuck key.

It bothered me more than your usual computer glitch b/c I have a recurring nightmare where I am using a work computer (usu a restaurant POS) and suddenly the system becomes unrecognizable and flurry of pop-ups appear, and I have sooo much work to do.

After police took his clothes as evidence, Wells declined the paper garments he was offered and stayed in the police lockup naked, McCaster said.

Wells, 64, was in custody for two days. During that time, he urinated on the floor of his cell instead of using the urinal, sources said.

and the toxicology report showed nothing? really? i swear i heard something on the radio this morning about how the driver "faces a $100 fine for negligent driving" but i swear to god i had to have heard that wrong. there's no way. right?

That's what I heard as well. This is a weird, weird case.

if that's true i predict that drive-bys will be replaced by drive-overs; the proof is in the penalty!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: MON 9/29/2008 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre

Did someone make reference to that truck driver upthread, b/c I was clueless as to what you were talking about until I googled your text.

it was in the news all day friday and saturday

Oh. I've been out of touch I guess. I should make my home page something with local news, maybe.

i think i need nick cave tickets. hmm.

yes me too ... i'm a little worried if i order now, i'll forget by the end of september

One of the rounds for tonight's Globe Pub Quiz, according to my weekly e-mail, is "Sweeping Beaver Etude." I figured that must be an anagram, and it is: PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE.

ooh i own that movie

i could watch it this afternoon and then go pwn pub quiz

Large Marge.

goddamn it, i had to wear a sweater today. what the fuck, THIRTY FIVE DEGREES when i woke up this morning? someone call dcfs on mom nature.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1151/877040314_a4a912d946_o.jpg

the stars at night, are big and bright...

Discovered the key to my computer's sluggishness: 504MB RAM + generally having 3 or 4 programs open minimum.

vj reatard pimps the barbaras. they stayed with me when they played chicago two years ago on their first tour, nicest bunch of kids you'll ever meet.

i feel like discovering some old band i never listened to before to become obsessed with

doesn't need to be obscure, just someone i may have dismissed in the past who is actually awesome

nick, i picked up the 2nd archies lp at permanent the other day and it's fucking awesome! seriously, maybe only two or three songs aren't absolute bubblegum gems.

i have some archies record, it is good.

btw, this book is really fun:

http://www.sugarcoatedmkultra.com/images/bubblegum.jpg

it has a peter bagge essay at the end about the spice girls that's kind of the precursor to the whole "rolling teen pop" mess on ILM right now

whoo, THAT'S GOING ON THE LIST. i didn't go to myopic yesterday because when i got off the el at damen the bus was stopped at north ave. so i took the bus home instead. today is a much nicer day to walk home.

it's actually a collection of pieces by different authors so there's a range of quality, and there are a few weird fictional pieces in the middle, but the bulk of it is quality articles about different bubblegum acts, most of which i hadn't heard of before, and good interviews with the dudes behind a lot of the labels and bands

Kevin, I am asking in all seriousness: Where do you think pop music went wrong?

i don't think pop music went wrong, i think radio went wrong.

there's still a ton of great pop music out there (the gentleman jesse 7" from last year is one of the best pop records of the last 10 years) but you have to look for it. it's not all radio's fault, they play what the majors send them.

the pandering to the lowest common denominator and switch from trying to put out great records to trying to put out records that will provide the greatest monetary return is ultimately what's wrong with it for me.

awesome pop song found here.

But it seems like a lot of the stuff you consider great contemporary pop music (I'm listening to that Gentleman Jesse song now) is the kind of guitar-led power-pop that could've been put out 30 years ago by someone like Cheap Trick. Which makes me wonder if it wasn't just the effects of commercialism gone rampant but also some kind of aesthetic shift in the pop landscape that you're reacting against.

Which makes me wonder if it wasn't just the effects of commercialism gone rampant but also some kind of aesthetic shift in the pop landscape that you're reacting against.

could be part of it.

for what it's worth, the first two cheap trick albums are great pop records in my book.

but basically i like catchy guitar songs. i don't get bogged down in the analysis of it.

i like blow jobs too but if you ask me to explain why i like them i can't come up with a better explanation other than "i like blow jobs".

In other news, I love the shit outta pork!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3092/2451496289_f2c381c295.jpg?v=0

i also own Pee Wee's Big Adventure, and it's been at jules' place for a couple of months, so I think she now has some claim to owning it as well.

Oh, I don't mean to demean Cheap Trick, certainly. Nor any of the other stuff you like.

pretty sure record companies have always been into making money

I thought about making that point, too.

there's probably less room for idiosyncracy in today's major record labels then there was 30 years or 40 years ago, but i don't think there's really a huge difference between the motives that major labels had for signing acts then and now

whenever major record labels get confused about what's going on in popular culture, interesting things tend to happen, e.g., punk, "alternative," etc. i think we're in one of those periods right now with the labels trying to figure out WTF to do vis a vis the internet. there's the potential for some weird shit to happen and weird music to get more exposure

yeah, weird shit like DRM software

nerve's 50 greatest comedy sketches.

I think Dr. Morbius started a thread on that.

I am very confused as to how nerve.com became entitled to an opinion on that subject.

I guess the other point I'd make from earlier is that regardless of which song you like better, Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody" is, on a sonic level, just plain weirder than Cheap Trick's "Surrender" -- so the argument that modern radio is pandering to the lowest common denominator seems not entirely air-tight (if we're using "lowest common denominator" as shorthand for a segment of the population that doesn't have particularly adventurous tastes).

that's why ice cream comes in chocolate and vanilla.

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/files/07-52/885504084-thatsracist.gif

Although come to think of it, the whole thing can read very much like a joke sometimes.

"My Earliest Sexual Fantasy" by Male Author Not Selling Too Many Books Lately

"Dudes In Jeans" by Token Gay Photographer

"The Night I Ate A Muff" by Woman Discovering Her Sexuality In The Interest Of Giving Male Readers A Semi

"Dear Advice Columnist: Why Am I So Empty Inside Despite Being So Astonishingly Attractive?"

"I Can't Stop Putting My Dick Into Things": fiction by How I Wish I Was Philip Roth

etc etc

oh big xposts

yawn

yeah, weird shit like DRM software

Yeah, but isn't this pretty much dead by now? I mean, even the majors are starting to ditch it.

there was something in the reader last week (this week?) about how labels are going away from cds entirely. flameshovel has a release coming out that's available only on vinyl or as a download, no cd offered. it mimics the greater trend of both vinyl and download sales going up while cd sales decline.

I don't know about DRM being dead, I was just putting it out there as a not-so-positive-yet-still-weird result of music companies trying to deal with the influence of the internet.

hi

hi!

Oh, I'm not arguing that point. I've just noticed that, for once, labels are bending to the pressure and abandoning that horrible, horrible software.

As someone with a rather large collection of CDs, I have to admit I'm kind of sad to see the format fading away. I know it's not the most efficient and certainly, for some, not the most pleasing format - but its what I grew up with and have really grown to embrace. I do collect vinyl from time to time, but just not with the same passion. It's not as portable and, to be honest, kind of a pain in the ass to get on my iPod. There is a huge part of me, the environmentally conscious part, that loves the idea of losing all that packaging and freeing up shelf space. But I will definitely miss the tactile object to hold in my hands while I listen, I suppose thats me being selfish though.

stop thief!

I just remembered that a good friend of mine will be moving from San Diego to Toronto within the next 6 months. I plan to use her as an illegal supplier of unpasteurized cheeses. This is making me quite delighted today.

ooh, black market cheese! too bad we'll be gone then...

check out the comment from mlunaire at the bottom. classic.

haha i actually loled at that

"actually"

raysmuckles.jpg

i'm glad ray found a good job, though. i was worried!

apparently the office flooded while i was on vacation. it's like the end of E.T. up in here, all white plastic sheets quarantining off the sections that got fucked up. everyone's stuff was out in the hallway, when i walked in i thought maybe we all got fired.

that sucks

know what else sucks? sarah not being here. :(
i miss her.

She gone big-time, got her skyscraper ILX friends now.

i will tell her

flameshovel has a release coming out that's available only on vinyl or as a download, no cd offered.

ben had this idea like six months ago, it's how he wanted to release 'krakatoa.' i thought it was a good idea but thought it might be too complicated for us to figure out on our own

talk to james, he'd probably tell you.

One of the things I like about Canadian pop music is that it aspires to be on the radio and MuchMusic and a part of daily life up there, cultural and not countercultural, but at the same time can still have ideosyncratic (see the professional but individual Ron Sexsmith, Blue Rodeo, Alanis, etc.).

I fear a Barenaked Ladies .jpg on the way, but I'd say that they couldn't possibly be American band, either.

thank god - we don't have to accept responsibility for them then

Sure, and I don't own any of their records, but I think there's a certain mesh up there between idiosyncracy and the possibility that a band that here would be indie up there can be on TV, the radio, etc. (Maybe that ties in with bands up there being able to make a living, getting touring subsidized by the government, etc.).

OK, my head must be in the clouds this afternoon. There's something I love about Canadian culture, but the Barenaked Ladies are not it.

There's something I love about Canadian culture,

???

http://www.witiger.com/internationalbusiness/canadianclubwhiskey.jpg

Hey guys, I seem to remember at least one person here having HM0 I||inois? Any idea how you go about finding out what the deductible is for certain tests? I am supposed to have some stuff done and I'm wondering how much I am going to get soaked for...

Told ya to wear a raincoat at the cathouse, bro.

gross

erm yeah not that I've had much success in that dept lately but.. no

although i will tell you that i saw a GREAT lifetime movie while i was sick -- its theme: "teens get syphilis"

its origin: CANADA!

(i know this because of the "sorey"s and the fact that a degrassi next generation cast member was in it...with syphilis)

-------

* * * *

-------

^^^^the city flag

I am bored, Distiller is taking fooooooorever

dude, there's something that starts on the server just after 5 every day that fucking kills mss for me.

i am also bored

oh, and i've been working on this same ms for almost 90 fucking minutes now. over 78 pages, over 40 figures, 25 of them with font errors. i know what i'm having for dinner tonight, the fucking business end of a snub nosed .38

xpost.

i am considering pho for dinner

and fuck, i missed one of the font errors so here i go again...

i've got book club (at a bar) tonight so i'm considering a BLT. and then a rehearsal. did i mention i went to sleep at 4 am and got a cab to the airport at 5?

What's the book?

black swan green (which is grrrrrreat)

I hate those, Kevin. Haaate.

they're telling me it's in the trees it's in the trees
it's not it's inside me now

haha black swan green took me back to the early 90s shitbin
now i can't get out

surprize
i am still bored

Did I mention I just started that book?

yes i think you did

It was kind of funny: I was thinking as I was reading it how if I were to write a book like that I would have to set it 10 years later, in 1992, since that's when I was 13 and I don't think I could get the details right otherwise. Then I looked at "about the author" and saw that David Mitchell was born in 1969, 10 years before me.

i just looked at the description of that book and realized something: it has the same publisher as another coming-of-age story about boys by someone i know...someone you know...someone local and also who lives in my house.

you are welcome to read that book as well, when it comes out (fall 2009 probably) :)

i wouldn't have mentioned it but 1) i am proud and 2) he finally got the contract yesterday and 3) it was germane to the conversation

Nice!

i am wearing your girlfriend's trousers today, jaymc. you can tell her that my students complimented me on them and said "teacher, you look nice! you took a shower!"

Heh.

I'm looking forward to a book that's coming out this fall from FSG, penned by a girl I was friends with in high school (I actually had a big crush on her for a while). It's in the children's fantasy genre, so it's totally Laurel lit.

I, too, am wearing your girlfriend's trousers today.

(Congrats about the book!)

http://modculture.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/keepcalm.jpg

I was just reading something about this poster, which is from London circa WWII.

thanks!

i was gonna say "pants" but knew that might be taken the WRONG WAY. i mean slax. dress pants.

ooh that is quite a poster. i could use one of those in the house.

Inspiration for the madcap films?

http://www.charactershop.co.uk/Images/carryon.gif

Same genre, filmed in the Twin Cities:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n30/movieposters1980/FoolinAround.jpg

there is an exercise about Kristin Hersh in my grammar textbook
ha

This could be a dream come true for those who ride (or would ride) LSD express buses.

xp Post it on the gay thread. Surmounter loves her.

I'm nervous. I'm planning on talking to the editor-in-chief of the project I'm working on about some tension I've been feeling in our working relationship (details too complicated to go into, but some of his behavior leaves me confused as to the parameters of my role on this project, so I want to talk with him about it). I have a whole speech rehearsed, and I've been saying it over and over in my head since I woke up, but he's not here yet.

OK, he's here now. Deep breath.

Annnnnd we're going to talk later, since he's busy. I wish I could just get it out of the way.

for me an express lane on lsd would do no good, traffic moves pretty well between balbo and 47th/57th. i would imagine the northsiders would benefit from that (surprise). an express lane on ashland would be great for buses but where would they put it? and how would you get around the train tracks at grand, the el at lake, the bridge over the eisenhower, and the pink line el?

I was under the impression that there was no new infrastructure being built but instead those streets would go down to one lane for cars.

that would work well for the already gridlocked ashland route.

celebrity sightings by my friends this past weekend: the dad from That 70s Show/dude from Robocop, and John C. Reilly. apparently JCR is a chilled-out dude who doesn't lack for donuts.

the old drummer for the gr@ve bl@nkets looks EXACTLY like jcr.

two drummers ago now i guess.

eazy looks EXACTLY like the old drummer for the gr@ve bl@nkets

The bus I was on today could have used an extra lane, we were backed up forever at Columbus and Roosevelt because today's the day they had guys out there painting the lane markers.

Also, thread title: "Chicago is a city that is never on idle"

man, i haven't had a night at home for a solid week and it's kind of driving me crazy. i think i might call in sick tomorrow to do laundry and watch movies.

the one part of the bus trip is balbo between state and michigan. there's are three taxi stands and that theatre that has buses full of school kids being dropped off on field trips every morning. it takes longer to traverse that half block than it does to get from randolph and state to balbo and state.

in other news i think today is the day i finally go ape-shit on the copier machine.

shitting on the copier = bad idea

teenage suicide don't do it

ps i posted a sample on the kristin hersh thread in ILM
it's like the only time i have ever posted on ILM when someone didn't try to argue with me

Nice. As I suspected, Surmounter was drawn like a moth to a flame.

the level of hatred i feel for the copier is beyond belief. fuck you copier, just FUCK YOU.

I didn't even think about the southern part of LSD.... But yeh, I would gladly walk the extra 5 minutes to board a 147 with its own lane.

http://blog.pricegrabber.com/shopgreen/files/2007/09/office-space.jpg

maybe on my last day of work...

I'm so glad we lease our copier. If anything goes wrong I have unlimited calls to The Guy.

amanda, why do the pants make the students think you took a shower? are they "wet look" fabric?

I'm glad I don't have to wear a tie to work. Or, like, tuck my shirt in.

Dan, do you have a dress code? Are you allowed to wear shorts?

I found this memo on our intranet:

As you are all aware, we have a practice of casual dress in our office. With the warmer weather approaching, I thought it might be useful to review some very limited dress guidelines that we’d like to maintain.

Clothes should be clean and in good repair (no torn jeans please).
Logo or slogan T-shirts are OK as long as they do not contain profanity, or any language that could be considered insulting or degrading.
Shorts – only ‘business’ style shorts, skorts or culottes may be worn. No cut-offs, running, biking, or "short-shorts."
No bare midriffs.
Shoes – must be worn at all times.
We want you to be comfortable at work, but do keep in mind that we want to maintain a non-offensive and non-distracting office appearance.

my personal dress code just included my hoodie because it's about 54 degrees in this office right now.

lol @ business shorts

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/05/03/acdc-georgeyoung470%2C0.jpg

i wonder if someone in jaymc's office was wearing cycling shorts to work before, and that's why they had to add that bit...eww!

i have no idea what my pants had to do with taking a shower, but apparently they find me unclean on a regular basis.

the last 30 minutes of my class today were spent with me being harangued about "white people"

so tired

When I interviewed here, my (burned-out) predecessor was wearing a scrubby t-shirt and basketball shorts.

I was really happy to move into the office world b/c it gave me an excuse to dress halfway decently and expand my wardrobe. Most of which wardrobe now hangs from my closet door waiting to be ironed or altered.

amanda, did you just assign them homework of reading the blog about what white people like and tell them to leave you alone?

i wore what were essentially PJs at my job in london at least once. could do it here except sitting on a train for 40 minutes wearing PJs feels way more weird than a 5 minute walk. don't know why!

What did your students have to say about white people?

honestly, i don't even want to talk about it; it was that draining. maybe i can tell you IRL or something. talking about race on the internet has not been proven to be terribly fruitful.

I'm sorry it sucked.

Hey - speaking of race-- I was just outside and there were some black people arguing from opposite ends of the block (top of their lungs, obviously) with one guy positing that it was wrong for a bitch to disrespect him. A couple Greek (I think) guys got out of their car, and when one heard the argument he said, "We need to get out of here before we get caught in crossfire," and they skeedadled into the building.

The couple proceeded to stand squarely in Jackson Blvd traffic, still arguing.

Dan, do you have a dress code? Are you allowed to wear shorts?

There is no dress code as far as I know. People wear pretty much what they want. When I was originally contacted for an interview, my old boss said "don't feel like you need to dress up, pretty much everyone hear wears jeans". For all the nitpicky repetitive crap we do I very much like working here.

At my interview my guy boss told me, "Well, that's the last time you'll be wearing that suit in this office."

wear one just to spite him.

Sometimes when I "dress up" I wonder if they think I've got an interview. Courtney and her co-workers used to discuss strategy regarding dressing up for an interview. Solution= wear a suit once a month for no reason.

Somebody say something. I'm on break here.

something

(lol)

hi dan

The office doggy is at the vet getting her ears cleaned.

My boss told me I should get a dog and bring it into the office. That might make my commute harder.

Hey, on break huh? Good stuff. Do you have to clock in and out?

jordan or dan or whoever, do you guys know of an rpg-style game for ps2 that doesn't suck and isn't too rpg-y?

i don't know what i want

i can't remember, did you play shadow of the colossus?

you, sir, need to talk to matttttttt

like i want to explore and do quests and find stuff but not have it be embarassingly dorky or have to do a bunch of boring fights

yeah i had it and sold it

shadow of the colossus was cool in theory but the controls got on my nerves, same deal with ico

i've had this gamestop gift card since december. i haven't hooked up my ps2 since the move, not even sure where it is

i think i kinda want to go out for a beer tonight. let's see how i feel in three hours when i actually get up to leave this place.

I don't clock in or out for anything.

Who in this bitch clocks in and out? Do you actually clock in and out, or just fill in time sheets?

Also, I would like to see pix of your offices.

I read an article on Slate yesterday that made me really want to play the new Grand Theft Auto, despite not having played a video game since college (and then only Bust-A-Move and Parappa the Rapper). I was also thinking the other day about how if I'd been maybe five years younger I probably would've been really into Myst when it came out -- and it made me wonder if I could still find it somewhere.

I clock in and out via a website. It sucks.

like i want to explore and do quests and find stuff but not have it be embarassingly dorky or have to do a bunch of boring fights

This is sort of my ideal game. I was a Sierra nerd in elementary school.

i log my time on the computer.

i only play super nintendo games these days, so i'm not really the right guy to ask. i'm planning to go through resident evil 4 again soon, though.

like i want to explore and do quests and find stuff but not have it be embarassingly dorky or have to do a bunch of boring fights

oh i was looking at okami. maybe i'll get that then

i clock in and out online but it's not what our pay/timesheets is based on, it's basically just to let them know who's currently working. i have a timesheet i fill out separately

this image is giving me vertigo:

http://www.streetsandsoul.com/han/hc043.jpg

The extent of clocking in/out or timecards we fill out is a form detailing what days we weren't here at the end of each month.

xp that's so awesome

We do have to fill out timesheets as well, but that's so they can keep track of how much time is being spent on each project.

BEEEEEEEEEAAACCH

i'm guessing it's winter/fall based on no one being at north avenue beach despite the fact that it's the middle of the day.

the one time i tried to watch the sunrise over the lake that's where i was. too overcast to see anything however. i should make another stab at that this year.

The part the NY Times review of GTA that got me interested said that it lets you just drive around the virtual city listening to music if you want.

eazy, i've just learned that the airport code for buenos aires is EZE, and it made me think of you.

oooh i love watching the sun rise over the lake
not hard to do because it is 1.5 blocks from my door!
also i get up at the crack of dawn during some parts of the year, so that helps. also, dogs.

you guys i feel depressed today, just about the state of affairs, etc. i think i have been reading the news too much.

new Roots on luisterpaal

When I was in N.O. I thought I didn't have to fill out a time sheet b/c I was in a supervisory role, but after 3 mos. someone asked where my time sheets were. Then I had to guess at 3 mos. worth of time. No matter what I filled out I got the same though.

Now I just come and go and get paid.

That is an awesome website. It's sucking away my time.

wtf?

The website that the pic Kevin posted, I mean. http://www.streetsandsoul.com/roundup/

i like the panoramics:

http://www.streetsandsoul.com/daypan02.jpg

those buildings look like they should all have eyes and be cracking jokes with each other

Those pictures make me miss my SLR camera. I want to take super-long telephoto shots to get that squashed perspective, a la this:

http://www.streetsandsoul.com/roundup/roundup526.jpg

this is the liquor store i go to most usually:

http://www.streetsandsoul.com/roundup/roundup095.jpg

The part the NY Times review of GTA that got me interested said that it lets you just drive around the virtual city listening to music if you want.

I know! That's what I'm talking about.

That's been a feature of the last several GTAs.

(jus' sayin')

for real. i bought vice city and san andreas and each time i got geeked out about the open-endedness of it and played it for a few weeks before getting bored. i think honestly they're TOO open-ended for me. i need direction

i listened to the roots yesterday. i liked it a lot at first but thought it sagged in the middle. 'get busy' is really good though

but maybe i'll find my ps2 and hook it up and drive around san andreas

one of the funnest things about san andreas for me was going to the bar and playing pool

I think I knew that. But what about this?

As you go through the game, your terrible deeds will stick with you. And not just in your memory—you'll hear them reflected back at you through television and radio newscasts. Yes, the game world is so detailed that it even has its own mass media. GTA IV's Liberty City is one of the most amazing virtual environments ever made, an ersatz New York City that includes everything from Central Park to Coney Island. You can spend hours listening to the in-game radio (many of the DJs are celebs—fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld holds down the mike on K109, where "Disco Never Dies!"), watching TV (there are cartoons, a Fox-like news network, and reality shows like America's Next Top Hooker), and admiring the architecture (there are homages to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, as well as lesser-known landmarks like the Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden in Astoria, Queens). Most amazingly, there's a full-fledged Internet with hundreds of Web sites (surf over to the home pages of the in-game version of Starbucks and Ikea for a few chuckles).

today good: paid off guitar center credit card
today bad: got rejected from one of the two grad schools i applied to :( :( :(

i had the same experience with vice city. driving around listening to the pointer sisters and trying to get in stupid crashes was fun for a little while, but then that got boring and the missions got frustrating.

XP

Those kinds of features have been in the other GTA games, too, just to a lesser extent. Each new one ups the ante of just how "complete" the game world is.

i am taking small comfort in hearing other people bitch about the copier today. fuck that thing.

Just one rejection away from being a Full-Time Rock Star.

xxp Anyway, that kind of stuff is great and appeals to my 12-year-old self who got bored with D&D battles and just wanted to traipse around the fantasy world, joking with other characters and singing songs and shit.

sounds like you're talking about Harvest Moon

Is that a game?

Only video game I've played in years was Katamari, about three years ago. I spent a week completely involved with it.

yeah, maddie played it a lot. you just kinda water your crops, go fishing, talk to people, try get your dude married, etc. it's pretty cutesy and japanese, though.

Yeah, my experiences with the GTAs is pretty much like Jordan describes. They're incredible for the sheer amount of different things you can do, but when it comes right down to the actual game it can get really frustrating really fast, which was why I gave up on San Andreas.

Well, it's not just that I wanted to redirect the focus of D&D toward the mundane (although that did hold a particular appeal), but I also wanted to expand the possibility of what could be done period. The game felt too circumscribed to me, especially with everything based on the roll of a die. There was no way, as there was in my favorite computer games, to just walk over to the next screen and explore the scenery, lifting up rocks and climbing trees and stuff.

i want to pound myself in the head with a hammer.

To clarify, the Slate article I quoted re GTA makes the distinction in gaming between things you are allowed to do vs. things you are compelled to do. D&D, at least in the three or four times I played it in 7th grade, seemed to only consist of things you're compelled to do. Sure, you can decide which weapon you want to use in battle, but you still have to engage in battle.

I had that experience with driving games when I was a kid: wanting to take off-ramps, drive up and off of mountains, etc.

John and I need to get high and drive around Liberty City for a few hours.

i wish i still had my xbox, because now i want to play Burnout 2. the whole point is to create crazy, over-the-top car crashes (it's not a sandbox game though, all the scenarios are laid out pretty tightly).

xp That's probably what I'd do if I had GTA4. The problem is that you can't get to the really good stuff until you unlock it by playing missions.

or use cheat codes

exactly

1 hour 19 minutes and 37 seconds. fuck that paper. i'm DEFINITELY going out for a beer tonight.

Keep a bottle stored behind the toner.

too hot.

Put a little honey in a little whiskey bottle and you've got a hot toddy.

i've spent the last two years looking for a little honey.

Morgan Spurlock's Thirty Days makes me cringe till I'm about half my normal size.

I feel like a real life homeowner now. I spent two hours last night digging a dead bush out of our front yard.

sounds like my prom night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx3iAZhi8WE Thought you guys might be interested in this. Crank Dat (CTA).

:0

xp

Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

Woo! May Day, May Day!

Now back to work defending management....

i like may

omg nick that last post was so o_0 and yet so lol.

Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains gas, food, water, and lights!

(sorry.)

Working here, it's kind of hard to get all uppity. Chains? What chains?

You can still stand in solidarity w/ other workers. A rising tide raises all ships, and all.

Or at least speak in solidarity. Or FEEL in solidarity.

Or think about standing, speaking, and feeling in solidarity.

I do all those things.

But still... they're (probably) going to pay me not to work here! What a country!

i didn't call in sick today, so i'm counting the minutes until i can sit on my couch with 30 Rock on the tv, a torta on the coffeetable, and a load of laundry in the basement.

the country gig last night was sweet. "rock your body" had a good debut. :)

Lookin'/smellin' like rain outside.

:-(

supposed to storm all weekend

RIP looptopia

looptopia sucks ass.

rough night in my (immediate) neighborhood:

The mobile purse-snatcher

A robbery occurred on the 2100 block of W. Division at 4:40 a.m. April 19, police reports say. The victims, two female, twenty-something financial workers, were waiting for a cab on Division St. when a dark four-door car pulled up alongside them, the report says. A passenger, a woman about the same age as the victims, reached out of the car and grabbed both of their purses, the report says. The driver then accelerated and both victims were dragged along the ground several car-lengths. The offenders fled in an unknown direction after the women let go of their purses. When the victims contacted their credit card companies later to inform of the theft, they found that the offenders already had used their cards at a gas station and a Target department store. The drive-by purse-snatchers also made off with $40 in cash that had been in one of the victim's purses. At the time of the report, no arrests had been made.

Hey cabbie, there's my victim, drop me off right here

A robbery occurred on the 1800 block of W. Thomas at 3:05 a.m. April 19, police reports say. The victim, a 27-year-old bartender, told police she was walking to her car after work when a man in a black-and-white bandana, holding a baseball bat, got out of a cab and started to walk toward her. The man demanded her purse, and when she refused he immediately put the bat into service, the report says. He struck the victim on the hand and hip and then grabbed her purse and ran, the report says. At the time of the report, no arrests had been made.

aw, my country band got a missed connection

Time to write a country song about it!

Top 40 country smash: "m4w forever"

don't you mean "m4w4ever"

hey jordan, you have a DS right? what games are good for that thing?

may is my favorite month
time to proudly sing cuckoo!
http://www.denmeadoperatic.hampshire.org.uk/images/maypole.jpg

don't you mean "m4w4ever"

Prince song

i haven't played it in a long time, but i liked the new mario bros. game that game out for DS. honestly i mostly played GBA games on it, and there are ton of those that i love (both GBA metroids, the castlevanias, wario ware, zelda stuff, etc.).

are you turning to video games now that the album is done?

It's May! It's May! That gorgeous holiday! When every maiden hopes that her lad will be a cad.

Maybe I should post the lyrics to "The Cuckoo's Nest" -- they're filthy!

here you go, ladies and gentlemen:

As I went walking one morning in May

I met a pretty fair maid and unto her did say

My love I am inclined, I'm telling you my mind

my inclination lies in your cuckoos nest

My darling said she, I'm innocent and young

I scarcely can believe in your false deluding tongue

Yet I see it in your eyes, it fills me with surprise

That your inclination lies in my cuckoos nest

Some like a girl who is pretty in the face

And some like a girl who is slender in the waist

Oh but give me a girl, who'll wriggle and will twist

At the bottom of the belly lies the cuckoos nest

My darling said he , if you see it in my eyes

Just think of it as honest and do not be surprised

For I love you my dear, I'll marry you I swear

If you let me put my hand on your cuckoos nest

My darling said she, you can do no such thing

My mother always told me it was committing sin

My maidenhead to lose and my sense to be abused

So have no more to do with my cuckoos nest

My darling , it's not committing sin

But common sense should tell you it is a pleasing thing

You're brought into this world to increase and do your best

To take a man to heaven in your cuckoos nest

My darling , I cannot you deny

You've surely won my heart with the roving of your eye

I can see it in your eyes, your courage is surprised

So gently slip your hand on my cuckoos nest

don't you mean "m4w4ever"

That's some Music Row gold, my friend!

"m4w4ever" b/w "The Cuckoo's Nest"

That meeting with my editor just lasted 2.5 hours. I think it ended on a good note, but it wasn't always pretty.

Did the Oxford comma prevail?

Well, the Oxford comma always prevails here.

No, it had more to do with the hierarchy implicit in a relationship between an editor and a copy supervisor, and the parameters of my role as the latter.

kinky

ever since new orleans i'm on the all day coffee diet, just to get by. so much for 1-2 cup/day. :(

Oh, hey, Jordan, my boss said that he was sorry he didn't get to go see you but he forgot that he already had tix to go see someone else (Dumstaphunk??) at the same time. He says he still loves you and hopes that things are OK btw you guys.

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford Comma?

Vampire Weekend baiting... etc...

oh, no worries. dumpstaphunk is kinda lame, though.

Honestly I couldn't really give a damn but I believe in following the style manual if there is one, and we have one that calls for it, so there you go.

hey jesse, what's the name of your restaurant again?

dumpstaphunk

dumpstaphunque

The serial comma has sort of been ingrained in me ever since I was taught it back in 2nd or 3rd grade. I'm surprised sometimes when people who aren't British or in a profession that traditionally omits it (i.e., journalism) still argue against its usage, since I would've thought they'd just be using it out of habit. (Unless there are elementary schools out there that are very anti-serial comma, who knows.) The fact that both of the publishing companies I've worked for (one of which, incidentally, put out elementary-school textbooks) have required it only strengthens my attachment to it. But I've always been swayed by some of Nabisco's posts on this thread to the point where I can no longer say that my preference has been dictated solely by my environment.

*always = also

dumpsgotfunk

The Economist seems anti-comma altogether.

you guys i just try to get people to not habitually put commas between the subject and the verb, so let's keep things in perspective.

or randomly sprinkle their sentences with preemptive commas

Are they? I don't know them. What about Galactica?

The restaurant is called Ye Olde Chum Buckett.

or use the "fashion comma" ("i thought it looked good there")

i just ate two tostadas with the following toppings:

black beans (spicy, made by me)
slices of avocado w/ lime juice
tomatillo salsa
queso fresco

they were superior to tacos because:
1) did not wilt or break under pressure
2) extra salty like a giant tortilla chip
3) fun of eating exceeded tacos by small margin

nothing beats a tostada if you're sorta burned out on tacos

Commas, Turning Up, Everywhere

WASHINGTON—In the midst of a crisis that may have reached a breaking, point Tuesday afternoon, linguists, and grammarians, everywhere say they are baffled, by the sudden and seemingly random, appearance of commas, in our nation's sentences. The epidemic of errant punctuation has spread, like wildfire, since signs of the epidemic first, appeared in a Washington Post article, on Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben, Bernanke. "This, is an unsettling trend," columnist William Sa,fire, told reporters. "We're seeing a collapse of the grammatical rules that have, held, the English language, together for, centuries." Experts warn, that if this same, phenomenon, should occur with ellipses…http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/onion/assets/terminator.gif

The restaurant is called C@tch 35.

Dumstabucket 35

I just had a hallucination of the Duke of Perth's fish and backyard, nom.

In school we were told various things about commas, but the common thread in my comma education was that there was no right or wrong way, though in some cases there was a Way That It's Done In My Class.

Jesse, I think you should put together some restaurant stories and do this and become the new David Sedaris.

That sounds like it would be fun, but I'm on my 12th year of writer's block. (Except here, on the interweb.)

i usually just put a couple rows of commas at the beginning of anything i write and tell whomever is reading to take one and put it wherever they feel necessary.

Maybe string together your stories from here and the gay thread and just put an asterisk between each one and start there.

i find tostadas unwieldy. did you use fingers or utensils?

My friend Laura is always trying to get me to go to that 2nd Story thing.

jesse, i met a dude down there (boyfriend of the waitress from the gr33n m1ll) who manages a restaurant, but i can't remember if he's at c@tch or a different place (maybe sh4wn's cr@b h0use). it's probably a different place.

Probably the more exciting new theater going on in town is the kind of "literary performance" stuff they and other groups are doing. They do a show once a month or so at Red Kiva in the west loop with live music accompaniment, so it's a good combination of storytelling and a band playing.

Maybe string together your stories from here and the gay thread and just put an asterisk between each one and start there.

I had a plan the other day that I was going to systematically go through each Chicago thread from like 2004 on and copy-and-paste every single post I've made, even if it didn't make any sense out of context, into a Word document, just so I could feel like I've been productive in my writing in the last five years.

fingers
the trick is to put something on there that makes the other stuff stick, like beans. everything stuck to the beans and there was also an even layer of things on there, so it was not food pyramid.

^^^ not something i would be proud to c/p into my life's work .doc

tostada physics. intrsting.

It could be called "lol...lol...Jenny OTM...or take off a raincoat amirite"

(resisted making prom-nite joke re Jordan's question)

i guess it's more like tostada engineering.

anyway i will go for a soft corn tortilla that i can fold up every time.

Everything from

i beat up a drunk girl and went home with a strange man. i think i'm still drunk, actually. this is not good.

-- jaymc (jaymc), Monday, December 5, 2005 9:52 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

to

you guys. hi. i think i met someone. but omg she has a bf. but she doesn't really like him! because he doesn't have a job! but i have a job!

-- jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, March 12, 2006 12:50 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

I am pretty sure he's not at Catch. (All the mgrs are women, or gay, and/or, married,.

Eric - I have given some thought to sitting in a coffee shop some Saturday and culling all my message board postings for archival purposes. They're pretty much a blog/diary, and I would hate for them all to be lost someday.

big XPs

GAAAHHHHk! I'm tired of reading your xps. just gonna post this shit.

^^^ Exactly.

you should post them all on http://jessekehr.googlepages.com/home

i will greet the day when all my message board postings are lost with open arms.

Chest hair good or bad?
I read that quickly and thought you were saying that you didn't want to look like a monkey whizzed on your legs. -- Jesse, Thursday, 19 July 2007 21:32 (8 ...

I think you're a great storyteller, Jesse, based on your longer posts.

jordan OTM

Man, I would have to start a new blog because:

1. That one achieved unimprovability really early on

2. It has my name in the title and I say some things that I would not want traced back to me too easily.

xp- Thanks Eric.

Your story of your father or grandfather and the 900 number is tragic and moving and completely hilarious, all at once.

God I know. That is pure Sedaris, right there.

Which reminds me, I love this David S parody: http://youtube.com/watch?v=w0DUdpmgmz4
Brilliant and spot-on. Absolutely spot. -. on.

Your story of your father or grandfather and the 900 number is tragic and moving and completely hilarious, all at once.

Refresh me?

It's on one of the olde Chicago threads...

...the one with the title that you might imagine woud be appropriate...

Found it.

Oh good, b/c I was just writing a summary of it.

Link?

here

Good thread.

Oh. And at one point I got an AT&T calling card and ran up a $1,000 bill on it (calling numbers with regular domestic toll charges!).

I got really legendarily stoned one day and called customer service. The asshole on the line actually mocked me and said "May I just ask how you managed to run up such an atrocious bill?" It's the sort of thing that seems to only happen when you're stoned.

-- Lovely as Cleopatra's anus may have been, compared to my lady's, hers is a (uncl, Thursday, April 20, 2006 9:23 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

This still seems surreal to me.

Ah for the days of changeable screen names.

hers is a uncle's?

Lovely as Cleopatra's anus may have been, compared to my lady's, hers is a pustulent, lesion-ravaged hole.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theonion.com%2Fcontent%2Fnode%2F33388&ei=XDcaSOvcMZTeigGQlJSfDA&usg=AFQjCNHmCj8L-PD7X7pvO-0B8pLd2AMeYA&sig2=kPLouPAY3z8t9mTz4vxKnA

Once again, these Cottonelle ads at the El stops and from one end of the El car to the other are TMI TMI TMI.

What's TMI about them? The fact that they used the words "bum" and "behind"?

The first one I saw was on a bus stop in River North that read "da bulls, da bears, da bum."

Just that they're talking about ass-wiping, ass-wiping, from one end of the car to the other.

Like this article come to life.

Hey!

Congratulations! You have been selected for a follow-up appointment at an upcoming Jeopardy! contestant search for the Chicago area, exclusively for those who successfully passed the online test. This is the next step in becoming a Jeopardy! contestant.

nice

don't forget to bring trivia.xls

Start practicing writing your name in MS Paint

My main problem with the el right now is those ads (I forget what they're for) that run across the WINDOW of the car. It's done in some kind of mesh, so you can technically still see out the window when you're inside, but it doesn't let nearly as much light in. I like looking out the train window on a sunny day, and this kind of puts a damper on that.

Haha, I just googled [el + ads + mesh] and a bunch of sites in Arabic came up.

I read an article somewhere, maybe the NYT by a writer complaining the crassness of the Be Kind to Your Behind ads and others that make overt reference (and jokes) about butts and defecation. She credited excessive openness about bodily functions to the fact that baby boomers, who are accustomed to sharing personal matters, are feeling the effects of aging in their digestive tracts .

interesting:

Personalized Results 1 - 20 of about 207 for pudgesicle

Those ads are totally revolting.

I came here to tell you guys that I heard Ginuwine "Pony" on the radio this morning. That is all.

yessssssssssssssssssss

I ate 4 eggs last night.

I want 4 more right now.

Good morning.

i had eggos this morning

not eggs

what kind of eggs?

i had an grilled cheese + avocado sandwich for dinner last night. i still have half an avocado so it's either that or tacos tonight.

i had hippie eggos this morning

I had PBandJ this morning. And coffee.

The Coke machine at the el station took my fucking dollar bill and gave me nothing in return.

Oh, you were talking to me. My eggs were hard boiled. I ate two on toast and 2 more in a slapdash egg salad. I love eggs.

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.24.97/gifs/pink-flamingos2-9717.jpg

And I love Edith Massey too.

jesse, you can't have pb&j for breakfast.

I think it's time to make some deviled eggs, thanks for reminding me. That could also be my body screaming for little protein sponges to go into my stomach, considering my skipping dinner last night and the hangover that has resulted.

Jordan, you totally can have PBJ for breakfast. It's totally breakfast food - starch, protein, sugar + milk. It's like a pastry or pancakes.

Whatever it is, it's yummy.

i love eggs too - yum

maybe i'll go get an omelette at alps east family restaurant this afternoon - MAYBE

Also, I found "diet" bread that is really good - 35 calories a slice, but decent. Most diet bread seems to lack gluten (?) and is very crumbly. This stuff has a little more elasticity. It's white bread, which is what I have been in the mood for. Haven't tried their whole wheat variety yet.

this guy at my work is drinking something called 'muscle milk'

"hill people milk"

lol

I made a post-gym smoothy the other day from rice milk, protein powder, and baby food. I added the baby food b/c I bought the baby food b/c I wanted little jars. I bought fruit b/c I figured it would make a decent smoothy addition, and I was right.

Gah. I wish I had a view. All I can see is the brick wall that juts out in front of my window. I wonder if they would install a window for me.

If I had a view, it would be of River North, including the Hancock. I lose.

I've had PB&J for breakfast (usually when I run out of cereal), but I eat it open-faced, like one piece of toast with peanut butter and another piece of toast with jam, since the idea of eating a closed sandwich for breakfast seems weird.

ha, i was going to say that it's only okay if it's open-faced (b/c i've had toast with jelly and toast with peanut butter for breakfast, sure). closed sandwiches for breakfast are only okay if they involve eggs.

Again today it occurs to me that I would probably be OK living in Seattle or San Francisco. Yesterday's weather was 100% perfect and today is good too (woo thunder!!).

You guys are crazy.

I guess you don't eat burgers for breakfast either.

lol at the guy who eats baby food and loves shitty weather calling other people crazy

pie for breakfast

HEY YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT FOR BREAKFAST, THIS IS *** AMERICA ***

http://www.foodfacts.info/blog/uploaded_images/carls-breakfast-burger.jpg

my research has determined that girls like pasta for breakfast.

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I don't EAT baby food. I ate it. It happened once. Well, twice, but I only did bought it in the first place b/c I wanted the jars.

I'm only happy when it rains.

That's not true. I just really appreciate the "shitty" weather b/c it is not-summer. And yesterday was amazing. Sunny, warm, breezy, and at night it was perfect sleeping weather, but not so cold I couldn't sleep w/ the window open. Yum.

I had pho for the first time last night at Tank Noodle and I don't get it at all, though I liked the mulled-cider smell.

I want gooseberry pie. OHOH no!! I want gooseberry cobbler!

i want mulled cider.

I love the idea of Jesse making smoothies for everyone without mentioning that the yummy secret ingredient is baby food. I would not trust this man's chili.

kevin, you can't have mulled cider in may.

There's nothing wrong with baby food. It's pureed fruit.

gah the stupid Lost thread keeps getting bumped and I haven't watched last night's ep yet

Hmm. I was just surprised that Jack and Locke did so much singing.

Bored here. Someone bring me a gooseberry cobbler.

you can't fool me xp

mulled cider? after my bad experience there, i have become a dedicated pho enthusiast, but you have to put all the basil and sprouts and that other green thing and all those sauces in there for maximum yumz. also if you are not into weird meats but eat meat, get #47. it's just v v thinly sliced beef. like microbeef.

i don't want basil and sprouts in my mulled cider.

how about hot sauce, noodles, and beefs?

Jesus H. Christ!!! I have to take our car in for repairs next week and I need a car for client meetings, so I was looking into renting a car. I picked Alamo off the top of my head and, get this, it would cost me $300.30 to rent a car from Monday evening to Thursday evening. That just boggles my mind.

that seems about right.

I got #47 last night! I shoulda jazzed it up with the Rooster. Jon, is that in the city or ORD?

ORD is what I was looking at, but thats way inconvenient to get to.

Enterprise is giving me prices about half that, but the all close at 6 PM which is difficult for me too.

Priceline and Hotwire, bro.

Are you Ready for Some music???
Slice Of Chicago Presents…
amazing live music Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Check out the sounds!

Details about how you can win a date with the drummer will follow. Please stay tuned.

^^^this changes everything for me

ugh so muggy out

http://www.stonerconnection.com/MUGHOMI.jpg

It is really muggy, but at least it's only 70º

yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn

i think i might take myself to a movie after work. do i see:

forgetting sarah marshall
harold & kumar
baby mama
iron man

i want to see all of these exactly the same amount!?

Come drink a beer outdoors tonight people. We have a small gathering going on. But it's going to be short and sweet.

G@lway Arms.

i want to see iron man.

i am going to grab a couple of slices from either santullos or that place next to the western/milwaukee el stop then go home and sleep for a couple hours. then i think i'm going to the bottle to see tyvek.

is that on clark jesse?

I would join you if not for the show I'm playing tonight.

It is on Clark. We're going right after work, but only for a short time.

guys does this sound awesome or what
http://www.lakeshoretheater.com/ShowDetail.aspx?ShowID=49

The KTF Championship – Battle of the Belt

Chicago – Starting in October, the Lakeshore Theater is thrilled to host the red-hot performance company Chicago Dance Crash on the first Friday of every month as they present their high-octane dance-improv showdown- The KTF Championship. Combining the drive of competitive dance with the energy of audience-interactive late-night theatre, and the spectacle of sports entertainment, KTF is a no-holds-barred, one-of-a-kind experience.

Chicago Dance Crash brings an eclectic arsenal of dance techniques to bear, from pop (breakdance, hip-hop, martial arts) to ballet, modern, and jazz, creating a vibe that the Chicago Sun Times aptly dubbed “confrontational classic.” In a cutting-edge production that resembles a cross between American Idol, Saturday Night Live, and RAW is WAR, rivalries will reach a fever pitch when seasoned performers challenge for the title of ‘Keeper of the Floor’ and the gold-plated KTF championship belt. While CDC members will initially comprise the contestants, future challenges may be issued to other local dance companies to come on down and show what they’re made of (Are you listening, Joffrey Ballet?). Each show will provide exclusive, one-night-only performances that will shatter the illusions separating art, entertainment, and competition.

i'll have to ask my chicago dancer friend about that

well, i'm leaving to go on this stupid business trip on sunday so i will be m.i.a. until, like, may 12th.

stupid business trip where?

palo alto, CA

which sounds nice, but i doubt if i'll have the time/transportation to go into san fran

that sounds like a place where people rollerblade a lot

yeah :(

go see IROOOOOON MAAAAAAAAAN

we might go see harold & kumar tonight ... maybe

forgetting sarah marshall was good but not as good as superbad/knocked up/40 year old virgin

i bet there were a lot of people from palo alto who were on love connection

bee bee boop bee bee boop bee bee boop
now let's see who the audience picked...

jordan check the status of your flight -- d has been stuck at the airport ALL DAY waiting for his flight to take off due to this weird weather

i have been waiting at home to see if i have to pick him up from the airport and try this whole thing again tomorrow

woohoo sleepin' my friday night away

sarah and i went on an epic walk yesterday, down lincoln to diversey and then back up on clark and west on grace. mapmyrun says it was only like six miles but it felt further than that, maybe since we didn't really stop and take any breaks. we went in some shops but didn't like sit down and rest anywhere. then when we got home we were so tired that we didn't do anything but read and watch firefly the rest of the day.

today i finally did my bike + metra commute for the first time. it was fun. riding up ravenswood next to the metra tracks is strange, feels more like the weird industrial area near our old practice space than "north chicago" or whatever.

i am feeling this new awesome color album

Yeah, Ravenswood is an interesting street and lots of fun to bike on since there usually isn't a whole lot of traffic. Have you guys been to Architectural Artifacts yet?

I was actually riding around your place yesterday, since I was delivering our rent check to our landlord, who lives at Grace and Hoyne. I didn't remember which building was yours, though.

We finished the first season of The Wire over the weekend, can't wait to start season 2. It'll be difficult to convince my fiancee to keep watching, though, with her favorite character getting killed off and all.

john, how was the lemonheads show?

No Wire spoilers, plz! We're two episodes away from the end of Season 1, and I'm kind of hoping you're not saying what I think you're saying. Unless your fiancee's favorite character was Anton "Stinkum" Artis or something.

Show was good. Full house, which was nice. Funny thing was that I've never even owned any Lemonheads albums -- I really just know like three or four songs ("It's a Shame About Ray," "Mrs. Robinson," "Into Your Arms," maybe another one) -- but the set made me instantly nostalgic for the early 90s. Something about that sound.

Sorry jaymc, I thought everyone on this thread was well past Season 1!

i don't even remember who dies at the end of season 1

Does anyone know of organizations looking for contractual/temporary grantwriters/copywriters or other temporary employment positions?

new Notwist album is on luisterpaal

Katie's going to work at Harold's Chicken Shack.

My boss asked me and the associate to work next weekend.

In weekend news: I met a horrible CTA employee on Sunday. I was waiting for the bus at the SE corner of Halsted/Lincoln/Fullerton, and the bus didn't stop. Turns out the stop had moved to the NE corner, but they hadn't taken the sign down. When I got on the bus I said, "there's a sign back there that says BUS STOP" (at this point I was calm, but winded from my sprint through traffic). The driver ignored me, so I repeated myself, and he continued to ignore me, so I said something like, "Do you hear?" then sat down in the middle of the bus.

The driver turned around and said sarcastically, "What sir? I can't hear. Did you say something, sir? Sir? What did you say?" I told him to forget about it, but he was persistent, so I repeated that there was a bus stop sign. He kept saying he couldn't hear, and then said, "If you knew how to read, you would see that there was no sign that said 'Number 8 Halsted bus'." The whole time he was not moving, just sitting at the stop. So I said, "Why don't you shut your mouth and drive," to which he chuckled.

When we got to my stop, he wouldn't open the back door. I asked him what his problem was, and he said, "I'm sorry, sir, that door doesn't work. You have a wonderful day, sir." (It did work, others were using it earlier).

I admit I got huffy, but I was provoked.

I would've gotten huffy, too.

OK, I'll admit it: I got flat-out bitchy and angry.

I called to make a complaint, but the voice mail cut me off.

Sounds like the bus driver we encountered in the Loop on Saturday. My fiancee asked him a question about which stop we needed to transfer to another line and all he would respond was "the next stop is Adams". She tried another approach, but all he would say is "the next stop is Adams".

My bus caught on fire this morning! The bus driver kindly told us we should exit the bus.

Wow. WTF. to Jon and Dan both.

I told you guys about the time I was on a bus on State St. and I pulled the cord, but the driver wouldn't stop, and we went through 2 stops until finally I got up and spoke to him, and he said, "You didn't signal for a stop." But I did! I heard the BOING three times.

Jordan's response still make me and Jenny LOL: He should have said, "You're not on the bus."

my birthday's in a couple of weeks. i want people to just come hang out at a bar and relax. would those of you who post here be averse to just going to hungry brain again? i like it there and it's reasonably convenient for everyone location-wise and it doesn't get insanely packed on the weekends it seems

kinda want to have it closer to my house but it seems like it's all irish pubs

I love the Hungry Brain. So many May birthdays.

2x

The HB can really bridge the divide between Red and Blue liners.

i walked past the hb on saturday night. i couldn't tell if it was open or not.

They open at 7, and twice now that has resulted in a touch of confusion.

i thought they opened at 8? because i remember being there at 7 and then walking to the beat kitchen to txt colette that they weren't open yet.

Yeah, it's 8.

Oh. Well, the confusion continues.

cool well i'll just set it up for the hungry brain. i'll send out an email or evite or something

http://chicagoist.com/attachments/Margaret%20Lyons/2008_5_5.pbrcoffin.jpg

^ a coffin

HB works for me as well. which weekend is it? my family is starting with the guilt-trips about going over for visits now that i'm moving away.

we're alson only halfway through season 1 of the wire. my mom accidentally gave me a kind-of spoiler when we were watching basketball this weekend. she noted that a player looked like a character in the wire. i said "don't say anything about it, we've only seen a few episodes" and she said "oh it's ok, he's in it for quite a while." not as annoying as finding out who dies, but still loses some of the suspense about that character.

ha, i just posted that to the "what is awesome" thread!

xpost

my bday is may 15. i'm thinking sat. may 17 will be the bday party night, since may 16 is the prairie spies cd release show at the empty bottle

My birthday is May 12th.

How old will you be, Nick?

Barring an extension from the court, I will likely be working on the weekend closest to my birthday. But I want to go out for dinner to La Sardine on my birthday proper. Gonna try sweetbreads, dammit.

I already have plans for the 17th. :/

Maybe I can stop by at some point, though.

What is everyone doing for Memorial Day weekend? It looks like Kr and I are not going to the famed Michigan cottage this year, but we were wondering if anyone wanted to do a day trip to the Indiana dunes or something. Wouldn't necessarily have to be on Memorial Day proper.

i will be xx

I learned early on not to look up The Wire on wikipedia, almost every episode guide and character bio gives away a spoiler or two. Ruined a couple things for me already.

77+22+20-65-30+5

Everyone's growing up.

YOU GUYS DON'T FORGET ABOUT KARAOKE AT THE HC ON THE 1OTH
THAT IS THIS COMING SATURDAY

just a reminder

i am strongly averse to creating evites, though i will respond to them when they are sent to me

f1.eps -- this the irugunal eps file that was bitmapped by editorial staff

my birthday is this saturday come to u=know=where

innaugural? xp

I learned early on not to look up The Wire on wikipedia, almost every episode guide and character bio gives away a spoiler or two. Ruined a couple things for me already.

I only read the summary of each episode, but I don't click on the characters' names.

i think we're coming to hidden cove, sarah said something about it the other day

may is fucking crazy

Nice e-vite, Nick.

i just sent an evite and now i feel kind of lame about it

xpost

nick's biiirthdaaay
fuuuuuuuuuuuuck

things in may

hidden cove karaoke
my bday
my bday get-together
prairie spies cd release show
kids in the hall show
sarah's mom and sister come and visit
my sister and her boyfriend, as well as our old friend from virginia and his new wife, come to visit for:
ff/mudhoney show
other shit i've repressed because there's too much stuff going on

I don't have much going on in May, other than, y'know, planning our wedding ceremony and all. So many little details to wrap up that I'm feeling so effing overwhelmed.

may is my favorite month, but WHOA do i have a lot of work to do before it's over

i had a dream last night that on the last day of class we all went rollerskating, but some of my students showed up totally on drugs and looked like they had been involved in some gang activity. it was scary. also i never got to rollerskate, which was a bummer.

speaking of violence, you guys should read the NYT article about treating urban violence epidemiologically (??) it's long, but interesting and there is a lot of Chicago in there. it's written by alex "there are no children here" kotlowitz.

Oh awesome, the Mudhoney show has E@sy @ction opening as well? At least one of those dudes was in Gr@vit@r, I think.

Oh no, I'm stupid, John Brannon was in Negative (fucking) Approach!

I also just got invited to a housewarming/birthday party on the 24th. I think Colette and Toby are invited, too. It's hosted by Liz and her Kenan-alike husband John.

i was gonna put the link but then it got screwed up. go to nyt and then go to sunday mag - it's the cover story.

A short play I wrote and am directing opens as part of Sketchbook at the Steppenwolf Garage next week and runs through mid-June. I may have access to comps or discounts. Gonna be good.

(Good for out-of-town guests, etc.)

i am planning on going to karaoke on saturday. i think i can do nick's birthday. my own birthday is the 25th, but no ideas about whether i'm going to do anything, and if so, what.

it doesn't have to just be my birthday. it can be a general may birthday celebration

i just want to hang out

with my wang out

so nick wants to go the turkish bath for his birthday?

hey colette, were you born closer to the 24th or the 26th? because i have THREE favorite friends who were born on that day!

it is also the birthday of diomedes diaz, iirc.

Nick, what's up w/ the wife? Last I heard she was encouraged to spend time playing online while the boss was away so as to have plenty to keep her busy once he returns. I think I speak for everyone when I say we want Sarah back!

7:07pm...i don't think i've ever met anyone with the same birthday. did they always think the memorial day parades were in honor of their birthday when they were little?

Here's a nice little profile piece on the Fire's Cucuhtemoc Blanco (Jeff chuckled a little bit when I referred to "Fire stars" the other night). This guy is probably their only legit star.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/Sports/Detail?contentId=6460155&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=6.2.1

CuAuhtemoc

aaaand that link may be dead, sorry

Yeah, it didn't work for me!

Did someone say biiiiiirrrthday?

http://tinyurl.com/5ws7dr

maybe?

I reek of garlic.

someone in my neighborhood was grilling meat in their backyard last night, i was tempted to follow my nose and invite myself over. but most of my neighbors don't speak my language ;_;

Well, you probably have in commong the Int'l Language of Flame-Seared Meat!

Yeah, I could smell grilling from outside my back door all weekend. Almost as good: I made some pasta last night and ate it on my back stairs with a cold beer while the sun was setting.

Colette:

Important revision to my lakefront-to-Evanston bike route:

Foster --> Glenview -- at Thorndale cut over to Greenview --> Follow bike route signs to Evanston (I'm not sure where they tell you to go, as I live off Greenview.)

I always get Greenview-Greenleaf-Glenview screwed up.

Saturday night we grilled strip steaks in a lime/garlic marinade (to be made into tacos). Burgers, too. The results were stupendous.

Hey where do you people take their old/outsized clothes to donate or sell? No one I know is big enough to take my cast offs.

their = your

we've been dropping off piles of useless crap at the thrift store in roscoe village and running away before they look through it

thanks amanda, i'm working my way up to being able to ride the whole way, but it's good to know there's less scary options!

we drop everything off at the brown elephant, and they seem happy to take everything (including old magazines, which makes me really happy)

ugh, i've had a headache since lunchtime yesterday. was really bad last night, took a sleeping pill and felt a bit better this morning, now feeling rubbish again. boo.

I drop stuff at the Gaia Project dumpsters that are scattered throughout the city. They're green.

Also, if I have a pair of shoes or something else that is small I will leave them in an alley and they're gone before you know it.

boo to gaia!

also people put trash in there and ruin your donatables

interesting story about gaia, reminds me of another scandanavian scammer story. i'll see if i can find it...

here it is, this shit seriously needs to be turned into a miniseries

it's about a handheld computer company loosely based in london. which makes it sound way less interesting than it is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/arts/music/05muti-web.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Now, Mr. Muti said, "I have found a situation, how can I say, that has made more sweet my dry heart."

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj91/carrieanne94/File0006.jpg

ABERHAM LINCOLN IMPORTANT.

i often lament the fact that i do not have a camera phone, because i saw something at school the other day that was pure gold.

it was a student essay about why it's important to take ESL classes, and these lines were somewhere in the middle:

"When your teacher gives you a shit and you can not read the shit, what you are going to do with that shit?"

it was not my student -- it was posted on the wall

when life gives you shit
read the shit