Chicago MMXIII: Walk Don't Run

http://www.chicagomag.com/whet/downtown.jpg

Happy new year, friends.

E v e r y t h i n g
known in music

Happy new year. Who took this picture? It's great.

Photo source: http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/July-2011/A-Flickr-Trove-of-Old-Chicago-Photos/

Happy New Year peeps.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-12-31/news/chi-officer-hurt-in-crash-on-northwest-side-20121231_1_police-vehicle-traffic-crash-police-officer

near our place

http://imgur.com//Zi5SI

whoa

i am thinking about dancedancing tonight if anyone wants to join
recent playlists look promising

Yikes!

I have a suspicion I'm going to be working v. late tonight.

We watched Queen of Versailles last night. Spoilers, more or less, I guess:

Y'all were right that the wife is fairly sympathetic. I was less sympathetic to the husband, or to their plight in general (sorry that high-pressure selling bullshit, subprime timeshares mortgages didn't work out for you, you big jerk). ALSO I nearly broke out in hives after they fired most of their domestic employees and the house deteriorated into piles of dirty dishes, discarded toys, and dog shit. Also did that one woman live in a kid's playhouse??!!?! WTF. Also heartbroken for the woman who came to the USA to raise someone else's children while leaving her own child behind to grow up without her.

Oh, also angry at the entire family for letting their lizard die.

Other reasons I am unsympathetic to David Seigel: his claim to have secured GWB's presidential victory and his shitty treatment of his kids from his first marriage.

oh he was definitely a jerk and they pretty much gave up on making him sympathetic during the excruciating scene where she tries to make him a family dinner for his birthday

where should we go for a family vacation this year?
* seattle & portland
* montreal

New Orleans

Both good options.

seattle/portland was the original plan but my sister and her husband have been persuasive in pushing montreal as an alternative

I've heard lots of good things about Montreal (haven't been there as an adult), would put Toronto on the list as it's also very good and easier to get to. Cheap direct flights on Porter Airlines.

Yeah, I priced flights to MTL recently on a whim, and they were a little more expensive than I remembered from having gone there in 2006.

^^^ I priced flights at the beginning of last year when the Fire's first game of the season was @ Montreal and yeah, sticker shock for sure compared to a lot of other places.

could theoretically drive, it's about as long a drive as driving to asheville, plus going a direction i've never driven before

and go through toronto

Driving in Canada is fun, the speed limit is 100 and everyone still goes faster.

xp to Nick - The family dinner scene was excruciating.

I went to Montreal on a high school band trip. There was a lot of underage drinking involved, so if that's important for you, I would say Montreal.

I've never been to Seattle but I would really like to go. I have been to Portland and I had a good time, but it's been a long time and I can't remember anything specific about.

Seattle was fun, but I really didn't explore it like I should have.

i have never been to pacific NW or canada at all

This is a screenplay apparently making the rounds in H'wood right now:

MAN OF TOMORROW
Jeremy Slater

In an alternate 1940s reality, the US Government makes a deal with an indestructible
gangster to kill Hilter in exchange for the city of Chicago, which he will build into his
own utopia. Unfortunately his model city never comes to fruition and both he and his
Bureau liaison get much of the slack for destroying one of America’s greatest cities and
now the government wants him dead.

I'm assuming that should be Hitler, not Hilter.

Alternate reality, he spells his name differently.

Frankie Hilter, German immigrant to Chicago and minor supervillian

I say Montreal because I imagine Nick walking by Les Foufounes Électriques and then, when folks say "How was Montreal?", saying "Well, we went to Les Foufounes Électriques."

FYI - dancedancing was fun -- music was acceptable, i had a good time
still putting the finishing touches on my mix and waffling over sequencing, though.

Anyone have opinions on the L0cal 0ption? I've never been, but I was looking at their website and it has some weird imagery (lots of skulls, lightning bolts, some quasi-stars-and-bars southern stuff, etc).

i don't even know what that is

I've been there a lot. Great tap list and it changes very frequently. They have some of the best beer events too, 30+ taps and get some really good rare imports. The aesthetic of the places is similar to Kuma's, but it's a nice bar.

Food is solid too, not great. I like their muffaletta and fish tacos.

Checking my stats, I've consumed 30 beers there.

I really like it. They have a really good beer selection and tasty, cheap food. The decor feels a little contrived, I think, but it's not terrible. My main problem is that they write their beer list on a chalkboard at the front of the bar, and whoever writes it has absurd handwriting, and between that, my eyesight and glare, it's really hard to read. Sure, write that shit on a board if you don't want to incur the costs of printing a new list (their selection changes a lot) but get somebody with legible handwriting to write it ffs.

While the bartenders have always been very kind and welcoming to me, I've seen them get a little attitude with other college-student-looking people in the bar. I chalk that up to its location in the middle of DePaul's campus and some subsequent gatekeeping.

But yeah, overall a good place. I would go more if it were a smidge closer to public transit.

Also, it is a good trick to go the day after a big beer event because they often have beers leftover.

The owner friended me on facebook for reasons unknown to me. I don't drink there that much.

Probably one of my top 3 chicago bars.

I'd like to try it.

Another thing to note is they don't put prices/ABV/descriptions on their menu. Most of the beers are going to be from 6 to 9 dollars. Some people will probably find this annoying. They do keep their Beer Menus page updated though: http://www.beermenus.com/places/1255-local-option

Needless to say, but LMK if you want to grab a drink there one day. I'll gladly go there just about any evening/weekend.

I've been once. My main gripe was that the beer list had no information beyond the names of the beers. Fine if you're serving fairly common stuff, but most of it was unfamiliar to me, and I'd have liked to know the style and the price, at the very least, if not also the ABV. As I recall, the prices were on the high side (average $7). Also the atmosphere reminded me of a divey rock club.

That said, the beer and food were both pretty good. I'd go back, with Beermenus.com loaded on a smartphone.

(xxpost)

My only complaint is when a bar isn't clear about whether a beer is served in a pint glass or a snifter. I like a good big pint o' beer.

I'd go back, with Beermenus.com loaded on a smartphone.

Whose smartphone, who knows.

You'd better take your wife or Jeff or me, just to be safe.

EZ - the higher the alcohol content, the less likely you are to get it in a pint glass, if that helps.

Beer menus has the size of the glass too.

Just print out beer menus and spread it out over the bar when you get there.

I find it v irritating that there are no prices or abv on the menu -- would make me not want to go there but I am cheap and a lightweight.

i refuse to do homework in order to drink beer

haha OTM. If I didn't like beer as much as I do, I would be high fiving the hell out of you. As it is, I kind of enjoy beer homework, and also I have a Jeff so I just copy off him anyway.

However, please note that the bartenders are really nice about answering questions (as long as you don't look like a college student who meant to go into the football bar next door). I've gone so far as to say, "I can't really read your board, but I'm in the mood for a sour beer. Do you have anything along those lines?" And was then treated to a parade of interesting beers that I enjoyed very much.

Like, if I had to look up the toppings on an esoterically named pizza or hamburger bc the restaurant wouldn't put it on a menu, I would steadfastly refuse to go there.

i strongly dislike having to ask a gatekeeper for the thing i want to eat/buy/hear -- just make it easy for me to figure it out and find it by myself. (i realize this is my damage though, i hate to ask for help!)

I feel you. I dislike it, too.

All this LO talk has made me want to go. I'll be there early afternoon tomorrow. Maybe Carl too.

Intriguing plan.

I might be down.

Great! I'm looking to get there around 1 or 2 ish? It's my favorite time because its never crowded.

I just touched dry ice! Are my fingers going to fall off??!??! Jeff says no, but he has to live with me so of course he would say that.

No. You didn't hold onto it, did you? Do they hurt?

If your hand isn't shriveled and/or purple and/or falling off, u fine!

For a couple of seconds until my brain registered that the thing I was pulling out of the Peapod bag felt like burning. Then I looked at it and saw the, I have to say, not particularly obvious "dry ice" labeling on the plastic bag, which I also have to say, looks just like a regular produce bag with red lettering on it. I thought it was a grocery item.

My fingertips still hurt a little, but they aren't turning white or anything.

xp - none of that is happening, so okay.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A_tkCCVCMAA-szR.jpg

Cool. That's us.

Put the dry ice in a bottle with some tap water, cap it up, and throw it. It's fun.

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/news/goodbye-to-great-lake

smdh

Oh hey, grammarians, I need a quick refresher on helping verbs and the past perfect tense.

Plaintiff files a complaint against Defendant.
Defendant files a motion to dismiss part of the complaint.
Defendant must respond to the complaint, including the parts that it is trying to have dismissed.

Should the responses read: "Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss" because it is a finite action that occurred in the past and is no longer occurring, or should the responses read "Defendant has filed a Motion to Dismiss" because filing of the motion to dismiss occurred prior to the Defendant responding to the complaint?

References:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/auxiliary.htm
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

i don't see any past perfect in there...

has filed is present perfect

had filed is past perfect

chipublib redid their ebook site, i don't understand it

it was about that time for a new chilxor thread. i am exhausted and sore, but absolutely thrilled to be in the new house.

Congratulations!

Didn't know you moved! Congrats on that. I wish I could move.

congrats. i would like to have a house.

I think he's talking about the new thread guise.

i know you are wrong because i follow him on twitter/facebook

Love that Great Lake, a place notorious for making no concessions to the demands of its diners, declined to sign a new lease because its landlord would make no concessions to the demands of its tenant.

dangit xp

I like the new thread too, but yeah, we did move to a new house. I'm excited just to be able to set up my stereo system again and have all my music out of storage.

Great to hear. Still in E-town?

Yeah, just moved further east. Not too far from Howard and Ridge.

Ooooh that's an area I'm interested in. I walk/run through there ALL THE TIME.

So are you going with "filed" or "has filed"?

It's a cool area, there are a lot of older houses in that area that have pretty distinct architecture. Our house is from the early '20s, it has a lot of charm.

Filed

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130104/pilsen/tamale-perfume-pilsen-perfumer-says-yes

“In the ER, I was the person the surgeon would hand a piece of liver to,” she said.

Hello. I would like to program five radio stations into my radio here at work (I have six slots but I'm putting WFMT in one of them). I guess I'll probably put WBEZ in another, so four slots.

What are your favorite popular music (of all genres) radio stations?

i always scan from station to station when i'm in the car, but these are my approximate guesses

96.3 for top 40 hits usually
95.5 for Spanish language music, or there's another one at the top of the dial but I forget the number
97.something classic rock
92.3 (?) rap - i think? one is more r&b/rap and the other is usually just hip hop rap etc, the other is at the top of the dial
101.1 for 90s cheese after big format change but it gets REPETITIVE (still, they played Pony)

103.something is usually good too but i forget the number

also one of the stations seems to be mostly straight mexican music and the other is more pan-hispanic chart hits

My current radio presets are...

1: 91.5 (WBEZ) = NPR
2: 101.1 (I-101) = mostly '90s Top 40 (everything from Pearl Jam to TLC), with some CHR (contemporary hits radio) mixed in during the week
3: 93.1 (WXRT) = maybe the most consistently good radio station in Chicago; definite ROCK focus, but everything from classic to new indie, usually nothing terrible (tho sometimes a bit too NPR/Rolling Stone; like, you'll hear Led Zep but not Steve Miller Band); smart DJs, most of whom have been with the station forever, etc. etc. etc.
4: 88.7 (WLUW) = Loyola college station
5: 89.3 (WNUR) = Northwestern college station
(I don't listen to the above two that often; I mostly drive on the weekends, and their programming isn't that great during that time. But with college stations, you never know what you might randomly come across.)
6 : 96.3 (B96) = Rhythmic Top 40
7: 103.5 (KISS FM) = CHR
(Above two basically the same format, but B96 leans a little more hip-hop, KISS leans a little more straight-up pop)
8: 107.5 (WGCI) = urban contemporary (R&B/hip-hop)
9: 97.1 (The Drive) = classic rock
10: 100.3 (Rewind) = 70s-90s hits, generally of the pop/dance variety (Madonna, Human League, etc.)

In the past, we've had 101.9 (The Mix) ("Adult Top 40" = another shade whiter than B96 and KISS-FM) and 106.7 (formerly La Kalle) (Spanish-language) on the dial, too.

(Presets in my car, that is.)

And of the above, I listen most often to 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7.

as usual, you did a much better job than i did!!
i basically just go up and down the dial until i find something i want to hear so i don't really have any loyalties.

I think I might have brought this up before but WXRT always sort of mystifies me, like they'll play some decent stuff followed by a track by a band I have legit never ever heard of before, and it's completely bland crap, and then they say "they played a sold-out XRT show at (the vic/aragon/some other similar venue) last weekend" and I go "Who the fuck goes to these shows?" and change back to NPR. Usually this happens around pledge drive time.

Ha. Yes. WXPN is the WXRT of Philadelphia and they used to play it at an old job of mine and there were dizzying highs and gut wrenching lows, sometimes in the same hour.

Thank you, jaymc and LL. This is very helpful. Also LOL at "Rhythmic Top 40"

As opposed to all that top 40 music that is just a big heap of soggy pudding.

From downtown, if you're downtown, you might be able to get Triton College 88.9, which is the same kind of mix as WNUR and can be great.

I am downtown and I am very fond of college radio.

I just learned from L3sl13 that my undergrad alumni group meets at Timothy O'Toole's to watch our alma mater's football games. LOL.

3: 93.1 (WXRT) = maybe the most consistently good radio station in Chicago; definite ROCK focus, but everything from classic to new indie, usually nothing terrible (tho sometimes a bit too NPR/Rolling Stone; like, you'll hear Led Zep but not Steve Miller Band); smart DJs, most of whom have been with the station forever, etc. etc. etc.

I was back in Chicago over the holidays and I not that surprised to find out that XRT's core playlist hasn't changed in 25 years. John Hiatt! The Eurogliders! The BoDeans! Poi Dog Pondering!

*was not that surprised

OMG what is the deal with poi dog pondering?! for real, i don't get it.

First two records are really good, when they were legit Austin weird.

I wasn't around here for it, but I bet they moved to town at just the right point where a lot of Chicago folks, the kind who don't go out of their way to be music connoisseurs but want something they can like outdoors at the Zoo once a year, embraced them as something sunnier than the Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, and Urge.

^ this is OTM. I knew more than a few people whose favorite band -- of all time -- was Poi Dog Pondering. It was like some mini-Parrot-Head cult.

ok that makes sense
reelin in the years though eh?

Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea got a lot of play in the House of Hippies where I lived junior year of college.

I cannot get 88.9 btw. :(

i had friends who had friends who listened to poi dog pondering, but iirc none of my friends liked that sort of thing. this is like rusted root?

I legitimately like this PDP song quite a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWmfXimrLSU

YES it is like Rusted Root! It is very much like Rusted Root. Maybe not entirely in sound, but definitely in demographics/style/size/enthusiasm of following.

is there an intersection with DMB people?

if so, this was decidedly not my scene but i recognize the people

IME that demographic is "Deadheads trying to be open-minded about music."

Again, in my experience, and I was kind of dead center in the time and place for this stuff (let me tell you about the time I hung out with Rusted Root at an outdoor festival at a ski resort in PA while I was tripping on so much acid!!!!) there was a lot of DMB overlap in the early days (let me tell you about the time I got kicked out of a DMB show at the Stone Balloon in Newark, DE for being drunkenly belligerent and trying to fight with a bouncer!!!!) but not so much when DMB were cemented as a white basball hat college bro band.

Like, I am almost positive that I saw an outdoor festival show featuring Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and like... Widespread Panic or something. I mean, I know I saw Bela Fleck and DMB at an outdoor festival show, but I can't remember who the third band was.

In the middle of all that grunge, here's this guy singing "Are you the cup that I hold by the cheekbones? / I pull you close and I drink you up."

I was trying to figure out why I think of them alongside Crash Test Dummies, and it's because they both sang a lot about breasts and sex and things in a way that ran counter to the irony/sarcasm/violence of other "alternative" music on the radio at the time. And who wants to have ironic sex, anyway?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4j7EQtKPUc

xp - gotcha, that's exactly what i was talking about! now i know. the friend of friend who i knew sold my friend and i mushrooms once and iirc that guy was pretty nice and basically acted like i was invisible, which i liked. i also once drove him for four hours to visit friends at a college (i was visiting different friends) and we listened to the greatest hits of bob dylan vol 1 and 2 over and over and over both there and back. i mean while we're telling lol stories. i guess those aren't very good stories now that i re-read them.

eazy only pays attention to the songs about boobz looooooooooool ;)

lolling at the rusted root comparison, so otm

Much better lyrics, though. (That "Thanksgiving" song above is A+.)

I actually don't know Poi Dog's music very well at all, but one of the band members used to work as a sound guy at the Beat Kitchen and ended up recording C4n4st4 on a few occasions and is a pretty decent dude. IIRC, the band started out in Hawaii before moving to Austin and then Chicago.

Okay, I went with:

91.5 WBEZ
93.1 WXRT
98.7 WFMT
97.1 The Drive
103.5 KISS FM
107.5 WCGI

I'm sure they are very nice people, and they clearly have a ~chill vibe~ -- I don't think I'm super into their music but that's true for lots of things. More power to them for lasting this long.

xp Yeah, they're totally Chicago's Rusted Root.

XRT used to (and maybe still does) cheerlead some of the most tepid and mediocre Chicago bands...but then, they never played local music (outside of "Local Anesthetic") unless the band was on a major label (cf. the Insiders, Nicholas Tremulis).

Nicholas Tremulis
this is a perfect example! a guy I truly hadn't heard of til I got to Chicago and then he was mr big man

lol @ Nicholas Tremulis

they never played local music (outside of "Local Anesthetic") unless the band was on a major label

I don't know that this is entirely true. I've heard locals JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound (on Bloodshot) a few times.

And I *think* C4n4st4 got a couple of spins during regular programming hours.

But it's probably the exception.

Allegedly the alt-countryish band I was in for like 6 months in 2006 or whenever got played on that show before I joined, and they were never signed to anything.

lol I ruined their careerz

wtg

I dunno, XRT definitely has its flaws. I agree that it often defaults to the bland and rootsy, and I don't give a shit about the BoDeans, either. But I don't know any other commercial radio station with such a wide-ranging playlist (you could conceivably hear the Kinks into New Order into Spoon into Prince*), along with some decent featured programming (I'm always happy to catch Saturday Morning Flashback), and DJs that aren't annoying.

*I know that's not THAT wide-ranging in the grand scheme of things, but for a commercial station, it is.

I always have to smile when I happen to tune in to WHPK randomly and hear some excruciating noise track or whatever.

The only college station I can get 'round here is the Columbia College station.

But you cam get 'Round Here on XRT!

Typo due to enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, I'm excited about my new work computer! Big upgrade from XP to Windows 7. I can search within my Outlook! I don't have to ask people to resend their .docx files as .doc! (I had Word/Excel '97.) I can finally use Spotify and, once again, YouTube! Web pages (hopefully) won't take forever to load!

^^^this was me about 4-5 months ago, we had kept fuckin XP around due to some stupid database no-one had updated to work w/ win7. Back to being only one OS iteration behind the curve!

i like 92.3 (rap) through their reception is oddly shitty. i need to find out what the other rap stations are.

xrt really likes the alabama shakes, who i don't get, they're like a boring version of the gossip

I listen to a lot of KISS more than B96, but 80% of the time WXRT is sure to give you something good.

First two records are really good, when they were legit Austin weird.

Wasn't this when Poi Dog was Hawaii weird, or was that after? I know a lot of people who love this band. I'm not sure I've heard a note. Certainly I hear the BoDeans on XRT more than Poi Dog, afaict. XRT is the only place I come across Dave Matthews, but they also love the Talking Heads, New Order, Bowie, Richard Thompson, Beatles et al., as well as new stuff like Arcade Fire, Spoon, even LCD Soundsystem, etc. Not really sure I've heard much Prince there.

Used to be an oldies station, but I think it's currently less old. 94 something? and 104 something is all over the place, too.

I briefly had "Hold On" on my 2012 playlist before realizing I didn't really like it that much.

Not really sure I've heard much Prince there.

Yeah, not much, but not out of the question -- IIRC, I heard "Raspberry Beret" on there a couple of weeks ago.

For a station that definitely does love rootsy folksy stuff, they're not *entirely* opposed to electronic sounds. I've heard some new-wave synth-pop (New Order but also Yaz) as well as recent indie w/electronic flourishes (Phoenix, M83). They also currently have Alex Clare's "Too Close" in rotation, which is probably the only song in the last year that I've heard on both XRT and B96. (Well, and "Somebody That I Used to Know," but the two stations play different mixes of it.)

i used to write reviews for a bad music website and the proprietor sent me a bodeans album on vinyl as an xmas present. i never listened to it (don't think i had a record player at the time).

I think you wrote for that site at the same time that Ben T@usig did.

no, that site is good, i'm talking about a shittier site that i wrote for before that

i should have stuck with writing for dusted, probably

I briefly had "Hold On" on my 2012 playlist before realizing I didn't really like it that much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbXvaE39wM

i used to write reviews for a bad music website and the proprietor sent me a bodeans album on vinyl as an xmas present. i never listened to it (don't think i had a record player at the time).

― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, January 8, 2013 12:10 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

loooooooool
one time i got a buffalo tom cd from an insurance guy i used to make cold calls for

I heard Wilson Phillips's "Hold On" on i101 on Saturday!

Once I won an (the?) Alannah Myles cassette in a call-in contest from a local radio station. My mom had to drive me 30 miles to the station to pick the thing up, too.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh wilson philips ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh GET OUT OF MY MIND

i've won a bunch of shitty stuff off the radio but that was the only time an employer gave me music as a gift
it's weird to me that i still remember his name and his wife's name.

http://chicagoist.com/2013/01/06/wrigleyville_police_commander_wants.php

Wrigleyville Police Commander Wants "Zero Tolerance" Policy To "Contain The Idiots"

I just like the headline honestly

wrigleyville_police_commander_wants_donuts_now.php

Haha. They didn't include the quote in the story, but that's still funny.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/01/08/kenneth_conley_prison_escape_breaking_down_one_of_the_greatest_prison_breaks.html

Interesting. Wikipedia says there was one other escape from the MCC using bedsheets. Also, Christopher Nolan's brother was planning on such an escape from it, but the plan was foiled.

Billy Nolan

I can't hear you. Speak up!

I guess I'm just more mature now. Now that I'm a parent.
― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, September 16, 2010 1:43 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark

BILLY NOLAN

I hate this clip so much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sn-KO3xfXE

that reminds me: I heard "My Name Is" by Eminem this morning while trying out some new radio stations

what?
who?

slikka slikka
jim brady

I'm guessing you heard it on that new(ish) 101.1 station that is like all 90s all the time? I caught Alanis, "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and Notorious B.I.G. on there the other day during a quick drive in my wife's car.

yeah they play the same 300 90s songs ALL THE TIME

...but one of those songs is Pony and I have also enjoyed Dre Day. Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of the most dire songs I have ever heard, along with that "who's got the hooch" song, which they also play.

Now I really wish "Pony" had been one of the ones I caught. <3 that song so much

don't worry, if you listen to it for 15 more min you're sure to hear it or the feel it feel it good vibrations of marky mark and the funky bunch

i've heard "too close" and "shoop" a lot

Breakfast at B.I.G.'s

I didn't check to see what station it was, but right after it they played that terrible Lit song and I started pressing "Scan" again.

"that terrible Lit song" ---> realize this isn't really specific, it was "My Own Worst Enemy"

AND I'M SLEEPING WITH MY CLOTHES ON

ugh, i lived next door to a girl who played this thing incessantly for about two weeks straight when it first came out, forever burned into my mind, along with the other Lit song that went something like "you make me come/you make me complete/you make me completely miserable"

I love that Lit song there I said it. And I don't hate Breakfast at Tiffany's, either.

Jenny declared that Lit song Our Song (hers and mine).

If there isn't a heavy metal band called Avulsion, there should be.

The one song that I've heard a few too many times on i101 is "Stay" by Lisa Loeb.

That said, I love that the station basically plays any top 40 hit from the '90s, from Brian McKnight to Aqua to Stone Temple Pilots.

that reminds me -- i've heard that third eye blind song where the guy belts I WILL UNDERSTAAAAAA-EEEE-AAAAA-AAAAAAND like a zillion times more on that station than i ever heard it when it came out

I didn't know that was Third Eye Blind. I hate that song. I hope that makes up for my other musical indiscretions.

http://wgntv.com/2013/01/09/chicago-man-charged-after-bomb-threat-to-cta-bus/

They replaced a still photo of his mug shot with that video, but the mug shot is something else. Also, poor guy. He doesn't need federal prison. He needs assistance.

This weather makes my sinuses feel like somebody is standing on my face. Or like I am trying to breathe through a warm, wet blanket.

I've had some nasal/throat discomfort since last night, and I'm hoping it's weather- or allergy-related rather than the onset of something worse.

I'm learning how to salve prablems.

salve them with mayonnaise.

Go the extra mile.

God I'm so sick of the "modding" on this board.

What happened, homie?

lagoon and amon and their cronies are piling up on my again with the "race war" allegations that I've specifically asked to end. so not Matt DC, an actual mod, joined in on provoking them into more. i'm just tired of the attutude around here in which the ilx bullies get to decide for you whether you have a right to be offended by something or not.

"not Matt DC" = "now Matt DC"

Not that tired shit again. :(

Whatever, it started with Mordy and then amon & lagoon had to jump in again this morning to reignite it and spark things up again. I'm just so fucking of the mods turning a blind eye to it. Like, yes, ilx has a "culture of zings" or what the fuck ever you want to call it, but I've politely asked several times now for the "race war" thing to drop. The same asshole ilx bullies keep bringing it up again and again, but the mods just turn a blind eye to it. I think if any "known" poster on here, say Ned or aero, specifically asked someone not to say something incriminating or insulting about it, the mods would immediately permaban someone who disrespected their wishes. Not in the case of lowly ilx peons apparently.

I hear you saying that you're frustrated. I'm sorry you feel that way. Let me see what I can do to help.

(please note that there is nothing I can do to help)

Just so fucking frustrated by this. I don't think its unreasonable at all for me to ask that people stop throwing out that particular allegation/insinuation.

If it helps jon, I just flagged this post Literary Clusterfucks 2013

I appreciate it, but I'm pretty certain 'Flag Post' is meaningless when it comes to certain posters. I've flagged a number of those references but there's never been a single thing done about it.

Yeah I kind of feel like it takes more than a flagging by one single poster who is currently involved in a pretty obvs argument with the flagees to get anything done.

That makes sense.

I just feel like if I was a more popular poster or w/e, the mods would take swift action against the zing bully crew.

yeah, ilx is just like high school, and I guess high school is just like the rest of life. Human nature is a depressing thing. I did flag a couple of "[MODERATOR EDIT NECESSARY FOR ALL OUR SANITY]" posts on that thread though.

lol autoreplace

Well my request over in I Must Protest certainly gave me the decisive answer. Not at all the one I wanted to hear, but, hey. Have fun with your nurturing bullies ilx.

uh

http://gizmodo.com/5975633/car-crashes-directly-into-chicago-apple-store

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18bf255y8383tjpg/xlarge.jpg

Pretty sure the streets right around there are in a perpetual state of madness.

so you are justifying the shortcut through the apple store, is what you're saying

If they can get two more cars to crash into the store, they'll be tied with Petterino's.

xp I think I've fussed about that area on here before, but yes. It's congested and nuts.

it is a clusterfuck around there, especially in like mid-december when everyone's christmas shopping

so you are justifying the shortcut through the apple store, is what you're saying

Yeah why not, that store has already established itself as part of a transit hub, this is the next logical evolution. In the future all stores will be drive-thru.

Oh! I was in a car driving by there last night at around 6:45 and there was a shitshow of emergency vehicles, and then at around 9:45, there was a video crew there, and the store had no door. I thought they might have been doing a commercial and they'd removed the door so they could drive a car inside.

so tickets for next are basically impossible to get right? curious about the vegan menu

We were able to get tickets for the Thailand menu in 2011 by purchasing them online as soon as they were announced. However, I think that might be harder to do now that season ticket holders have already laid claim to many of the available tables. If that fails, your best bet is try to snag one of the same-night tables that Next routinely offers on Facebook. (Of course, to do that, you have to "like" the restaurant and then monitor its updates.)

And yeah, I'm interested in that menu, too.

People who have tickets also post on that page when they are selling them (usually at face value, because they can't go themselves).

I can go into this again and again, but I honestly think Next is a waste of time (and the new menu looks kinda bleh). It's a system designed to disappoint - by the time the kitchen and staff get everything right, it's time to move on - and for some reason it got some reputation as a good deal when in fact it ends up as expensive as any number of great places that cost much less and have a conventional non-PIA reservation system. It operates as an ingenious perpetual motion machine, though: each new menu gets a new wave of hype/buzz/reviews/ticket drops. What other restaurant gets reviewed no less than three times a year, with regular news updates in between? All to get the chefs' inconsistent and indulgent musings on a theme, minus the quality that comes with sticking with a theme, developing it, perfecting it. Those scrambling for Next tix would be better served saving up and just hitting Alinea or L20 or MOTO or Graham Elliot once.

Last night we went o Scofflaw, where on Sundays they offer a first come, first served four-course chicken-centric dinner that costs $60 total. That is, $15 a person for four people for a wing dish, Cobb salad, breast dish and pear dessert. What a deal.

"More expensive than any number of great places," I meant to say.

a big part of my interest is the vegan menu, since fancy places are almost never veggie-friendly. otherwise what you say makes sense.

I couldn't stomach paying for Next. That just crosses the line of how much I want to pay for dinner, even on a special occasion.

We went to The Carriage House last night. It was delightful. Also spent a couple of hours at Bangers & Lace beforehand.

xpost That's actually not true. I've never found a fancy restaurant that won't be more than happy to offer veggie alternatives. In fact, Charlie Trotter's veggie menu was reputed to be far superior than his meat menu. I've been with friends who went veggie by request at both Acadia and pre-Elizabeth One Sister, and both did a great job with alternatives.

I was really looking forward to Carriage House, but had a disappointing enough food experience that I doubt we'll be back.

What did you find disappointing? I really liked everything we tried except for some mushroom and truffles and grits and egg thing because the egg was just barely cooked and I actually don't like truffles that much and also we were really full by the time that one came out.

Good things we had: she-crab soup*, fried green tomatoes, baked oysters, fried chicken, collards, cornbread, and "creme brulee," which was actually rice pudding.

*Jeff did not like this because he doesn't care for very rich, creamy soup. Jesse and I used to work at a restaurant that served she-crab soup so I felt like I had to get it, but I also love any cream-based soup so I was pleased.

Each dish we got was saltier than the one that preceded it - even the cole slaw - and by the time we hit our main dish low-country boil we could barely stomach it. The service was great, and they took the price of the large entree off, but we left with our mouths like we had been gargling seawater for an hour.

I should say that a few of the things we got on their own were pretty great, like the honey chicken and the tomatoes. But as a whole, it was just terribly over-seasoned.

Oh that's too bad! Based on our dinner last night, I think they've handled the problem unless last night was an anomaly.

Oh I forgot I also had some delicious Manhattan-derivative rye whiskey cocktail. It's not on their on-line menu so I don't know what was in it.

If I went again, I would just get collards, cornbread, and the piece of fried chicken (which comes served on a pile of pickles) because those were my favorite things.

And that cocktail.

I went to Next's Kyoto when a former co-worker ended up with an extra ticket last-minute. Luckily, I won a lot of money from a certain famous statistician the night before, so it was exactly the right time to go and forget about the cost. It was pretty amazing.

Sunday-night prix-fixe dinners in Chicago are kind of the great hidden secret of getting good, full meals at nice restaurants for a decent price. Balsan has one for $31, Trenchermen has one for $35, Embeya has one I've wanted to try, a bunch others are out there.

Josh otm wrt Next imho

(lol omg wtf bbq 2k13 nasdaq)

Seriously though I'd rather take what we'd spend for one meal at a 3-star place and just eat at as many Bib Gourmonds as possible instead.

In some weird way I consider Publican brunch a hidden Sunday secret, since it's pretty much the only awesome brunch place that takes reservations. On the flip side is the L&E brunch, which is offered every day, so the lack of reservations are less of an issue than they are on, say, the weekends.

I like salt, a lot. So CH is right up my alley.

I find all super fancy restaurants kind of disappointing, no matter how great they are. It's never great enough for me to justify spending that much money. In fact, I swore off of them after our anniversary dinner this year.

Where did you go for that?

We went to Sepia on a friend's recommendation. The food was delicious, but being there made me kind of hate myself and I don't like servers who pay that much attention to me. The whole thing was just embarrassing. I hate being waited on and spending money; fancy restaurants are not for me.

I've requested a pescatarian-friendly menu on a number of occasions. In my experience, restaurants that offer fancy prix-fixe menus are often very accommodating to dietary restrictions. However, that doesn't *necessarily* mean that they put as much thought into the substitutions as they do the regularly listed dishes. Part of the appeal of the Next vegan menu, for me, is knowing that I'd be getting the same rigorously conceived dishes as everyone else.

We went to Sepia for Restaurant Week last year. I'm pretty sure I enjoyed the meal, but I also don't remember a single thing about it. And the space felt a little cold and off-putting.

It was also annoying to get to and, as I mentioned, too $$$ for me to feel good about it even though I enjoyed my arctic char and 2 bites of octopus appetizer. For marginally less money I could go somewhere like Anteprima, be closer to home, enjoy my food just as much, and 4 people could eat instead of 2. It just was too much in every way.

says "this customer is a jerk (La Lechera)"

Ha, apparently a Twitter conversation between me and Jeff inspired this:
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/February-2013/Best-Bars-in-Chicago-Bar-Exam/

Maybe our klout scores will go up now.

You guys rule.

btw this article from the same issue of chicago mag has some pretty awesome photos of old rundown movie palaces in city (with text by ebert): http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/February-2013/Chicagos-Once-Grand-Movie-Palaces/

dang spectacular photo of the uptown theater!!!

whoa all photos are amazing -- i think i drooled

central park theater is so prim! it looks like george washington would have sat in there. reminds me of the viewing deck above the floor of the house. The House.

The Uptown Theater just breaks my heart.

I am listening to XRT and they just informed us listeners that Poi Dog Pondering will be at the Paramount Theater in Aurora on Feb. 9. And the last song they played was Widespread Panic.

And Bob Dole may pose a real challenge to Bill Clinton.

http://photos.redeyechicago.com/redeye-57-million-home-in-lincoln-park-20130114/

That's a lot of toilets to clean.

Love those door handles, though.

i like how after a while, the captions are just "another bedroom. another bedroom. another bathroom. part of another bedroom. another bathroom."

irl lol Eazy

Oh man, I want to go soak in this tub

http://i.imgur.com/A0xhxl.jpg

Looks incredibly uncomfortable.

Baths are so inconvenient.

That sunroom is amazing. I love sunrooms so much.

I love baths in theory but in practice the tub is always too small. :( I would take so many baths in that copper tub thing.

i take baths 95% of the time because of my laid-back personality and because our shower sucks

baths are the best, will bathe in any sized tub

I think I only take baths when we stay in B&Bs. Perhaps this needs to change.

@cta
Expect delays, backups on Brn,Prp,Pnk,Org,Grn due to signal problems at Wabash/Van Buren. Trains moving; crews working to restore.

standing on a train somewhere between armitage and sedgewick not moving at all for the past 5 minutes

Looks like I beat the delays.

Someone just posted on Facebook "Brownline = Clownline this morning."

The disappointing thing about taking baths in our tub is that the overflow valve is so low that I never feel as immersed as I'd like.

Huh, I haven't left the apartment yet. Wonder whether I should wait it out...?

I picked a good day to work from home.

Nick are you still on the train?

No I take it back. I picked a bad day to work from home because everything is down.

Oh god is this the end times? First train signals, then corporate servers and then the C.H.U.D.s come.

I left home at around 9:40 and didn't experience any Brown Line delays. Dumbly, however, I missed my stop.

the train started moving (slowly) after i posted that. i got to work about 40 minutes later than normal.

the best was when the cta driver came on the speakers to tell us that the delays were likely due to frozen switches and that on cold days we should try to leave the house earlier. which was timely advice given that we were all already on his train. and we all appreciated that it was obviously our fault that we were going to be late.

Also we live in Chicago so fuck you CTA for not knowing how to deal with cold weather. It wasn't even abnormally cold last night or this morning.

example for what i was talking about wrt fancy restaurants

That said, Grace is very much Duffy's first-person narrative. This is immediately apparent as you're ushered up an inclining hallway into the dimly lit, gray-and-blond-wood dining room, where the first thing to seize your attention is a glass window that takes up nearly the entire opposite wall. Behind it is the brightly lit, spotless kitchen, crowded with busy cooks (on the night I ate they handily outnumbered diners). And among them stalks Duffy. The effect is something like staring at a movie screen in a multiplex with the chef, and his chiseled Hollywood hunkiness, in the starring role.

If you're eating as a pair, your chairs are likely to be arranged not face-to-face but face-to-Duffy-and-crew, and if you can't pocket your smartphone, servers will provide a pillow for it, which is slyly analogous to the admonition to shut them off before the previews start. It is difficult to look away to concentrate on companions, wine, or even the food, which isn't as favorably lit as the line cooks. For food groupies it's like a TV tuned to a Bulls game in a sports bar. You're there to watch the chefs as much as you are to eat.

For $800 and change you may find yourself slowly savoring a dish only to stop to wonder why all the tablecloth skirts are wrinkled. Restaurants iron out details like these over time, but for whoever's paying the check, they're likely to linger much longer.

Well, yeah, that is completely ridiculous. First person narrative? Go jump in a lake, Duffy. It is safe to say that everything about those three paragraphs irritates the hell out of me. But there's a world of difference between that kind of bullshit and, say, North Pond, which is fancy and pricey (not $800 pricey) but lovely and relaxing and delicious.

I think I'm no record here as finding Tru as very much not to my liking, too.

I like attentive service and good food and relaxing atmosphere. It's nice to be able to just relax and enjoy tasting, interesting food and not worry about who's going to do the dishes.

Definitely interested in reading the Vanity Fair article referenced in that reader review.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/02/top-chefs-totalitarian-restaurants

Oh yeah, thanks for posting that VF link. I opened it up yesterday but didn't have time to read.

Although the Curtis Duffy set-up sounds kind of annoying, I do have to say that I kind of like when dining becomes a sort of theatrical experience: you put yourself in someone else's hands, and interesting things (not always comfortable and familiar) happen to you. One of the most memorable moments I had at a restaurant last year was at Schwa, when the chefs suddenly cranked up "Combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bell" to an obscene volume; I had to grin at the brazenness of it, and also at the amusing juxtaposition of that particular song with the creative and often refined dishes in front of me. At a place like that, you're paying for surprises like that as much as for the food.

I'm happy that this experience appeals to ppl, it just dies not appeal to me. I strongly dislike having ppl pay too much attention to me, and don't like to be observed/monitored while I'm eating. I'm the weird animal here, I know that.

If this sounds like fun to you, hooray! You have that opportunity and I'm happy you enjoyed it.

Speaking of different strokes, RIP Conrad B(r)ain.

Dies = does obvs

My favorite places have really good food. The attention that is paid to me varies.

I don't think you're weird. But I do think that some people -- not necessarily you -- dislike some dining experiences simply because they don't conform to their base-level expectations of going out and eating and paying for a meal. And I think at some higher-end places, there's more going on there. That said, if you accept the analogy to theatre or performance, then you're engaging in a form of audience participation, and I know there are plenty of people who are resistant to that in any context.

(xp to LL, obv)

Dnw audience participation of any kind really. I like eating good food as much as the next food eater I just also like to be left alone to eat it. tbh I prefer eating at home to all other forms of eating!

I'm definitely more of a "dining out as relaxing past time" than "dining out as theater" person. But I totally get dining out as theater and I can see the appeal. I wouldn't say that Tru was my favorite meal by a long shot, but I certainly remember the experience (despite being drunk as hell by the end of the night). Where dining as theater loses me is when it demands audience participation beyond me eating or saying a few words to the chef who wants to come out and say hello. (TBF I don't like having to participate in improv, either.) Also, as I have said a bazillion times before on here, any time there's an attitude of hostility or condescension to the diner, I'm like forget it, jerk, keep your unagi foam.

xp ha! LL and I largely on the same page here.

As much as I'm advocating for a certain amount of surrender in one's approach to fine dining, when it comes to servers, I personally prefer those who encourage friendly conversation to those who simply instruct and narrate in a proper hushed tone.

I'd like to go someplace like alinea just to experience the majesty, but, in general, I like my meal to be as low key as possible. I really don't want to talk to the server any more than is necessary (a fact for which I sometimes feel guilty). Also, the idea of any kind of audience participation in any context at all depresses/panics/enrages me to no end.

I like servers who serve in a manner appropriate to the setting. I don't care for audience participation.

I like surrendering as far as food goes. Prix fixe or tasting menu, or ordering what the server recommends, never substituting anything because maybe this thing I don't normally like will be good in this context, plus it's fun to eat new and interesting things that I wouldn't normally try. That's definitely part of the appeal of fine dining for me. Otherwise, yes, as low key as possible.

xp "servers who serve in a manner appropriate to the setting" - OTM!

I think I just don't like fine dining. I enjoy dining. Fine dining is not for me. I think this is what I said originally.

The Boat where I worked said in its waitering manual that (their) servers should be like friendly ghosts, always present to help, but invisible until they were needed. I like service that makes itself invisible like that - silver should be replaced soon after it's done being used, water refilled, plates cleared promptly, table trash cleaned up, all right on time b/c your helpful server was anticipating needs, but not acting before it was time.

And it bears repeating: SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED SILVER SHOULD BE REPLACED

FUCK!!!!! Replace the silver!!!!!

REPLACE
THE
SILVER

In The Industry, we call it resilvering.

Courtney and I went out to brunch at a place that seemed to want to be fancy, but they did not resilver, and it didn't even seem to be something they were supposed to do, and that on its own was enough to undo most of its other fine points.

*THEY call it resilvering, not "we," since I'm not part of that world anymore.

PS: REPLACE THE SILVER

replace the silver

Maybe I shouldn't have used the phrase "audience participation." It's not like Alinea requires you to stand up in front of the whole restaurant and dance a jig. But sometimes, at fancy places like that, you'll be asked to complete the preparation of the dish at the table (because it causes a cool reaction or effect, perhaps, or because the dish is best consumed immediately after that last ingredient is added). Or you'll be asked to consume the dish in an unusual way -- for instance, leaning forward to bite something off a spear without using your hands.

The New Yorker article on Eleven Madison Park mentioned that at the end of the meal, you're whisked from your table and taken to a lounge apart from the main dining room, where you're given a complimentary cocktail. Even this struck me as an interesting participatory twist on the convention of sitting in one place in the restaurant for the entire experience.

But I'm calling that participation only because you get up and move.

Anyway, my point is that I don't mind doing stuff like that because I often find it neat, and it's usually not too embarrassing. (I did have a briefly awkward moment at the Aviary where I wasn't sure what I was being asked to do to my cocktail.) If "audience participation" ever amounted to more than that, there's a chance I'd dislike it, but I haven't had that experience.

you'll be asked to complete the preparation of the dish at the table (because it causes a cool reaction or effect, perhaps, or because the dish is best consumed immediately after that last ingredient is added).

That sounds really cool!

Or you'll be asked to consume the dish in an unusual way -- for instance, leaning forward to bite something off a spear without using your hands.

Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!

I have control issues.

What you just described goes waaaaay over my personal threshold. Everyone's different, not a huge thing!

Obvs I have control ish too if I want to make and eat my own food at home.

Also re: preparing the dish at the table bc of a cool effect, my immediate thought was the waiter bringing a glass of water and a Alka Seltzer tablet for the diner to unwrap and drop in.

xposting Schwa is its own sort of awesome animal, and multiples cheaper than the likes of Alinea.

Personally, I'm mostly frustrated by the sheer effort of dining at these places (with Schwa, again, its own sort of animal on this front). Alinea now requires hundreds of dollars shelled out months in advance for a meal that runs 4 hours. That's quite a commitment. As someone with kids, places with no-res policies irk me even more.

I will say, the service at Alinea was awesome and totally fun. I'd mumble something about a fork to my friend, and then a passing waiter would stop by and tell me all about the story behind the fork. Also, at a lot of these places, they might be formal, but they're not stiff, and they'll have as much fun as you want them to.

This is my favorite local fancy restaurant review:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/February-2013/Review-Elizabeth-Restaurant/

You almost have to read between the lines to know that Iliana is awesome and the diners are dorks.

YOU KNOW WHAT though, jaymc, I would go to some wacky, eat off a spear dinner with you because I think you would make it fun.

Or like make me get over myself for a minute so I could enjoy something that I would otherwise not care for.

I'm not gonna commit to that but I'll cook dinner for y'all and then make you eat with your hands. Eh?

You're not the boss of me.

Sorry. It's like a reflex.

You'll snort your food and you'll like it.

Salmon
Dried and powdered, served cut into four lines on a Prince coke mirror with a trimmed 7-11 straw

I'll blast UK folk music while you snort.

Carl, have you ever been told that your need to control things actually controls YOU?

Don't be defensive, but it's actually pretty IRONIC.

LL, how do you feel about bathroom attendants?

I hate it, but I always tip, because whether I think it's stupid and pointless and humiliating or not, there's still some guy sitting in a windowless bathroom all night - a men's room! - while people having a good time circulate in and out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi5PFI3rMTQ

The worst is when a shitty bar has one. Cactus in the loop did at some point.

The only one I come across with any regularity is Park West. I just don't get it. Is it considered a good thing to be on potty duty, and just sit for tips? Like, does the staff take turns? Or is it a punishment, like traffic duty?

I would avoid patronizing an establishment with bathroom attendants. They have them at Park West and I dread using the bathroom there.

I don't remember bathroom attendants at the Park West, but I've only been there twice, I think. The place I've encountered a bathroom attendant most is the Abbey Pub, where I think it was the same guy every time.

Yeah I think I've only been there twice too -- once for Numero Group soul revue and once for The Church. Both times there was no line for the women's room, but there was a lady sitting in it.

Gibson's has them too. That place sucks anyway.

The worst is when a shitty bar has one.

This. Timothy O'Toole's is a fratty shithole in Streeterville that has them. Absurd.

Courtney and I (and Matt and Katie) like this shitty touristy bar on Bouron St. b/c it has a mechanical whale, but it also has bathroom attendants. The bathrooms are filthy, and the stalls are made of ratty plywood, but they have attendants. Last time I was there, the attendant was unabashedly puking into a trash can.

For tips.

Ha, I almost went to T O'Ts yesterday. Supposedly they had Baudoinia on tap. Ended up going to Blue Frog's Local 22.

Some of the bathrooms at the Charlotte airport have attendants, too. And I recall their toiletries were surprisingly upscale - nicer colognes and fancy-hotel-level lotion.

I fucking hate bathroom attendants. It's a terrible, needless job, and it costs me a fucking dollar to pee b/c I'm not going to NOT tip the poor guy. Also? What could be more appealing than snagging a mint in the shitter?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-talk-illinois-cat-ownership-0117-20130117,0,481681.story

Step it up, Illinoisians. I expect every non-allergic person to have at least two cats by the end of the week.

Weird, I would not have guessed that. Cats are everywhere in my social experience.

did anyone else read this? http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/01/17/shoenice-put-my-phone-number-on-youtube

i can almost see the guy picking up the phone and calling and then having that moment run through his head over and over and over as the moment everything went wrong

I had no idea that person existed. There's pretty much no way I can watch any of those videos without puking. I tried to watch the "chug a bottle of Everclear" video and I got two swallows in before turning it off and going to eat a handful of Tums.

i didn't know that person existed either!

I wish I had more natural talents like that. I would be pretty much unstoppable.

sounds like you have a natural talent for self-deprecation!!!

i'm watching evie by myself for the next three days. if anyone wants to hang out with me and evie, now's your chance.

Straight Bragging 2013: I went to the d*****t this morning and he said that I was his best patient and he was always thrilled to see him in his chair because I have such great t***h.

Do you and the Evster have anything planned? How do you feel about taking your child to bars?

Has she tried Malort yet?

my only issue with taking her to bars is that she's going to get bored and want to run around and pick stuff up and knock things over. there isn't usually much at bars to entertain or contain toddlers.

Au contraire! Has she tried Malort yet?

I would occasionally meet with friends at Big Star for lunch when my daughter was pretty young. The staff would always do a double take when they saw a little 3 year old walk by to the bathroom.

yeah a food situation could work. but probably not for more than an hour or so.

I'm probably going to be at a bar with food tomorrow in the early afternoon. Location TBD.

I have no idea what I am doing this weekend, but if you guys come up with something lemme know!!

i wonder if it's cruel for me to make evie watch 6 hours of football with me on sunday

i'm not really going to do that btw, i can't watch football for 6 hours

I bet she'll be looking for some alone time by Sunday afternoon anyway!

I somehow managed to just take over responsibility for selecting all adult fiction for the library. This means I have to buy 20 grand worth of novels a year. I am actually very excited but also apprehensive! It is going to take a lot of work to figure out what horrible romance novels to buy!

I think I know of a publication that actually tells you the good ones...

ha, well, I read every issue already, though will have to pay more attention! But children/teen's stuff is still not my area, so d's stellar reviews will not help...

There are blogs written by smart people about romance novels. I don't know what they are but I know they're out there.

http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/

that's the only one I know, but it's pretty cool.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/01/04/chief-keefs-finally-rich-has-a-home-at-northbrook-public-library

they have year-end roundups of genre fiction, and there's an adult section -- the whole mag is not focused on YA/youth
just thought it might be helpful, i dunno shit about shit

no, no, I know, as I said, I already read every issue of Booklist! It is by far my favorite library magazine.

no prob bob, i was just trying to help

btw there is a tuesday night "residency" thing at the hideout and this month it's bitchin bajas playing and i think i'll go this tuesday if anyone wants to join me? it's just in the front room, super chill synths dood.

When I was deep into cultural studies in college, I came across a lot of references to Janice Radway's Reading the Romance, a 1984 academic study of women who read romance novels. I remember being interested in it because, as I recall, it didn't accept the common theory that such readers were just passively absorbing the ideologies of the text. Actual people with agency might read romance novels for various reasons, and they aren't always uncritical of the genre and its conventions. Another study that came out around the same time took the same approach (and reached similar conclusions) with viewers of Dallas.

Not that that helps AJ, of course. I was just reminded of it.

That sounds v. interesting! I think I'll be able to figure it all out, though it has been slightly surprising how fast the market is currently changing, in the post-50 Shades world. A lot more smut out there, or maybe its just marketed differently...

SMUT!

Oh btw, LL: I had a weird worlds-collide moment on Twitter a few days ago when I saw a friend of mine from college reply to something D tweeted. She's a YA librarian, though, so the connection made sense.

haha
that is weird

Actual people with agency might read romance novels for various reasons, and they aren't always uncritical of the genre and its conventions.

When you put it that way, the gendered nature of the criticisms against romance novels just glares out like a neon sign. Meaning that the idea that all readers of a genre geared directly towards women would be silly, passive, and entirely uncritical is so based in gross gender stereotypes, it makes me want to read some romance novels.

I've never really read a straight romance novel (I read maybe an eighth of Outlander before throwing it away) but I am reading a series of what I think are called "supernatural romances" or maybe "urban fantasy" or some cross between the two by prolific author J3nn1f3r 4rm1ntr0ut and they are okay. Not great by any stretch, but sufficiently entertaining that after reading the first in the series of four, I went ahead and bought the "bundle."

Yeah, we read a bit about this in library school. Like, most "genre fiction" doesn't get a tremendous amount of respect, but genres associated with men (westerns, noir, sf, etc) are sometimes given a little bit of critical love...but romance has mostly just been viewed as trash. This is all changing of course, but a lot of old prejudices remain.

xp

I was forced to read Outlander in library school and it's still, I think, the only book I have ever given one star to on Goodreads.

She's the person who has been writing amazing chapter by chapter take downs of the 50 Shades of Gray books. I'd like it but her blog is classified as having adult content and I don't want to open it at work. They are worth googling, however.

xp I took my Outlander hate to Chicago ILX and I remember we bonded over what a pile of shit that book is.

I'd LINK it, I meant to say. I like it already.

askance - six organs of admittance devil horns at ya man - thanks so much for the smartbitchestrashybooks.com link - my gal Sherrie now has summer vacation reading for life ... seriously, the SciFi Nebula awards written as haiku article on that site is pretty good stuff ...

Bumping this so I can find the thread on my phone to post a link to an amazing blog post detailing two women's experiences attending a D1so0very C3nt3r workshop (not Alan Salami, alas, but surely in the same realm)...

BAM

http://5cities6women.com/2013/01/22/black-womens-dating-bootcamp-2/

ha

“HO, WE ARE GOING.”

The woman who said that writes a pretty great blog, too.

Je55e, this place opened today: http://www.isabelsrestaurant.com/index.html

The photo gallery is awesome.

Standard looking breakfast. I would eat there, once I am assured that the interior of the restaurant is not a terrifying void of gray nothingness.

what used to be the alps east diner near us is now a different diner

That is the place that used to be some other diner.

Ha photo gallery.

xp

» Non-Alcoholic Beverages — Coming Soon
» Beer — Coming Soon
» Wine

For now, all they're serving is wine.

Oh! The friend of the blogger who goes to the Black Women's class is Bitches Gotta Eat! I love her.

R & I went to Storefront Company over the weekend and had some very, very nice food and drink there. The place continued the over-service thing that we were talking about last week, though. We had a waiter but when food came out it was always two other people, one who carried the dish and said what it was and the other that just stood there. Then the waiter would come by a minute or two later and tell us what the dishes were again. It was slightly weird.

Everything else was great except they seated the douchiest couple next to us and the place wasn't even half full.

Example of said couple's douchiness: one of them tried to order a drink off of the cocktail list that was apparently "out" at least 3-4 times, even going so far as to ask other servers who weren't waiting on them. He then stated that he didn't believe that a drink could be run out of.

lol maybe he needed to be told that that they'd run out of a crucial *ingredient* in the drink.

That food-running duo is weird. Could the watcher have been a trainee?

I thought the same thing, but it wasn't always the same person/people.

Douche-couple also discussed asking their server about the preparation of a dish, then asked, received a (from what I could hear) very thorough explanation, then immediately started discussing how the server "obviously didn't know what he was talking about" after he went away. We left not long after that.

Yuck.

Water main broke in the freer by my work and parked card are frozen in their spots. Will they get ticketed? I would t bet against it.

The absolutely will.

Oops, wouldn't

Oh yeah, they are going to be all over it.

I bet those poor jerks get multiple tickets.

http://cdn.dealbreaker.com/uploads/2010/09/drudge-siren1.gif

Alpana Singh is Leaving Check Please!

http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2013/01/alpana_singh_leaving_check_ple.html

RIP

I hope they replace her with a host who is Aubrey Plaza levels of bored/annoyed.

:(

Although LL's replacement idea is a very good one and would make for exceptionally entertaining episodes.

Going to check out her new bar sometime soon...

This new hostess will idly start texting while people are talking and also stare off into the distance while a suburban car salesman tries to explain tactfully that not everyone can afford a quick weeknight steak at the downtown steakhouse that the pharma sales rep just loooooves after a long day at work. But they have to keep that lady in the opening credits who says "they really kick it up a natch!"

Guy Fieri is always looking for work.

omg

They are constantly filming episodes of Diners Dives and Ding Dongs down the street at Paddy Longs so he might as well dip into WTTW's studios and file a few episodes of Check Please. Why not?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3uFjaXydPAM/UIA__8xYgnI/AAAAAAAACzY/PwjtvFGSJx8/s1600/billycorgan.jpg

With a new austere Charlie Rose-like set.

Bring back Amanda Puck.

The combo of bald dome + dyspeptic look in that Corgan photo sort of reminds me of Wallace Shawn.

hahahahahaha
oh man u guys

Would love to have a Corgan-hosted 'Check Please' - he could use it as a platform to ban any restaurant in Ohare/Midway flight paths b/c of the chemtrail contamination to the food ...

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6996651520/h395FE3E7/

lololol

Has it been snowing all day? Is it sticking anywhere near youse guys?

it has been snowing all day but the flakes just got bigger in the past hour sometime. doesn't appear to be sticking yet.

i saw on facebook that next had some tickets for sale on their site so i logged in out of curiosity and the security captcha was "any cojones"

haha gross

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/15-amazing-and-beatiful-photos-of-icy-aftermath-to

whoa

Carl A., thought you'd like this:

http://www.believermag.com/issues/201301/?read=review_cathy

I will read it!

http://chicago.racked.com/archives/2013/01/23/progress-the-lakeview-lincoln-park-walgreens-has-finally-flattened-its-pointy-thing.php

haha pointy thing

Walgrizzle employees, currently holding down the fort across the intersection couldn't be more excited.

This is exactly why I can't stand the writing at 97% of internet news outlets. If it isn't drowned in snark, it's people trying so hard to be "witty". Just stop. Facts please.

Fact: the pointy thing is gone.

Well, of course, I was appreciating that highly techincal term usage!

As an architect, I thought you might enjoy that.

"Put the pointy thing over there by the sticky-outy part. By that red hump."
"The roof?"
"Whatever."

I've had conversations not entirely dissimilar to that, unfortunately.

Does that mean there'll be more of a plaza there where the pointy thing was? Maybe I'm imagining more space than there is, but it's always been so crowded on the Clark side where the 22 stop is.

http://chicago.racked.com/uploads/2013-01-23-Walgreen-walmart-lakeview-thumb.JPG

I hope thumb-on-the-lens is the new sunburst signifier of authentic vs. stock photography.

do you really hope that?

I hope for it as a funny affectation, but I'd rather it didn't happen.

Not big enough for a plaza, but it will be a nice space for people waiting for the bus. And panhandlers, of course.

I learned from another Racked post that they're building a low-rise apartment building and multi-story retail space where the current Wall Gristle stands.

Commenters OTM: how damn many Walgreens and CVSes per square mile do we need in Lakeview?? Lol at one commenter pining for more Kohls in the city.

When will the drugstore bubble burst????

It's been a while since I gave you a retail stuff update for my neighborhood.

Kuma's Too is going to open at 666 W. Diversy soon, an unnamed discount mattress store opened up next to Sally's, and Walmart is open.

Didn't we talk about Kuma's weeks ago?

I guess not. Sorry.

why is nu kumas so close to regular kumas ;_;

3 miles!

yeah that's pretty close imo

Walkable. IMO.

Given the wait times at the original, a 3 mile walk might end up being a quicker way to get a table.

perhaps this new location will mean that I will actually go to (a) kuma's at some point? Only time will tell.

I one time I ate at Kuma's - and I can't imagine going back, wait or no wait, even though there was no wait - I think I stayed full for two days afterward. Like, for two days, I just didn't need to eat anything. On that front Kuma's is pretty economical! However, it's just a pile of stuff. Bad Apple does the better burger.

I really need to go back to Kuma's again. I had a really bad experience at Bad Apple, so I'm pretty biased against it, though I think it deserves another shot because the experience wasn't totally Bad Apple's fault (annoying douchecouple next to us screaming at each other, rude server, and a fucked up order from the kitchen).

Having had both, several times. The Kuma's burger is better, but bad apple is no slouch. I still prefer Owen and engine over both of them though.

Owen & Engine has probably the best burger I ever had. I just smeared a little mayo on it, and I didn't even really want the cheese b/c meat itself was delicious.

I wish I had a good burger right now.

I just ate a can of beets.

J, you've got a Duke of Perth burger so near.

I need to try the burgers at:

Au Cheval
Three Aces

Probably should try the new Lincoln Park Edzo's too.

Kinda wish Kuma's made their own veggie burger. (Did they ever? I feel like the first time I ate there, it was a lot better than the second.) Then again, Bad Apple makes their own, and it's kind of weird. As a pescatarian, I think DMK is probably my favorite burger joint.

Is Duke of Perth good? I don't think I've tried theirs. I'll have to.

I need to try the burgers at:

Au Cheval
Three Aces

Yeh, I want to try Au Cheval. Lets go. It's near my work.

I'll only go when I have a day off work. Not going to deal with waiting.

Vegetarians, who has the best veggie burger? Bad Apple is a little weird and kind of squishy.

i don't often order veggie burgers out, oddly. usually they're either token gardenburgers or the restaurant has more interesting veggie options. i'll get the morningstar grillers prime veggie burgers or black bean burgers to make at home sometimes. i did like the veggie burger at kuma's the one time i went there. i really don't like mushy veggie burgers or ones that have chunks of veggies in them

I really liked the black bean burger at the grafton, which was somewhat unexpected.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the veggie burger at Kuma's because I LOVE the toppings, but I get toppings that include meat. TBH I'm not really into burgers that much because that much beef is too much for me. I like a little bit of meat as accent, but not like a HUGE BUNCH OF IT, usually. My tacos are mostly toppings.

Also the one at Duke of Perth is good, imo.

I've been to Duke of Perth at least a half-dozen times, and I don't think I've ever gotten anything besides fish and chips.

I know a few of people (R, K, and others) who swear by the Small Bar "Lawnboy" veggie burger.

just a few people, not a few of people

This conversation is making me want a veggie burger.

me too. me too.

dragon lady lounge (2 blocks away from kuma's) has a good veggie burger w/ kimchee in it

sounds good

anyone doing anything fun this weekend?

Race in the morning then probably hanging out at Local Option in the afternoon. They are having a beer event tonight so there should be some good leftovers on tap.

Kansas City here I come. Jeff I'm planning to make a stop here: http://foundrykc.com/

I like Dragon Lady.

I am going to be domestic. I've been cooking the past few nights and now my freezer is too full. I had to take some stuff to work to eat as lucked b/c it wouldn't fit. I'm very close to buying a chest freezer.

Also pretty close to hiring a cleaning lady or gentleman.

Yes. Love the Lawnboy. Also had an awesome mushroom/lentil (? i think?) burger with truffle aioli at Marion Street the other week.

I got a letter from ComEd telling me that my new supplier of electricity is Intergys Energy Services. Somebody please read this and tell me what it means in practical terms, e.g., am I gonna save money and feel happier http://www.pluginillinois.org/MunicipalAggregation.aspx.

I got the same letter. I ignored it.

I don't think it means anything in practical terms. As I read it, it just means that instead of XXX Energy Services supplying electricity to ComEd, Inergys Energy Services is going to supply them. It sounds like it might be cheaper? But ComEd can still charge whatever service charges they want, and can continue to be a major pain in the tits so I doubt you as the consumer will notice any difference.

A woman representing a company called ENCOA came round our flat about a fortnight ago. She claimed that ComEd bills are now supposed to be lower, but ComEd hasn't been diligent about removing certain charges, so she wanted to see a copy of our bill to make sure everything was on the level. I was a bit wary of her intentions (and we also don't keep paper copies of our bills), so I sent her on her way. Later I found a couple of things online that suggested it was legit but that her ultimate aim was probably to sell me on ENCOA, which is a competing energy supplier. I'm still not quite sure I understand, but this is worth reading: http://chicago.everyblock.com/talk/aug21-encoa-5270269/

Rahm effected this change b/c he said it would result in lower bills for me, but I won't go planning how to spend my savings just yet.

A woman representing a company called ENCOA came round our flat about a fortnight ago.

... Go bag a mess of flats.

We get those folks at our door fairly regularly. I always send them away, too.

Yeah, we've sent those folks away too. Like jaymc, I've Googled enough to see that it may just be legit, but a total stranger coming to my house asking to see my copy of one my bills will always and forever be a huge red flag.

we went to bang bang pie co. yesterday and evie fell asleep in the car so sarah and i took turns going in to get pie and coffee. when i went in there were no empty tables so i asked this woman who was sitting by herself if i could share her table and she just totally ignored me. she was wearing earbuds and talking to someone on her computer but i was standing directly in front of her and put my cup of coffee on her table so you'd think she'd look up but nope just totally ignored me. so i just kind of sheepishly walked away and ended up sitting somewhere else. but the pie and coffee there were really good and it wasn't the store's fault that lady was obnoxious (the guy who was running the register saw what happened and didn't do anything about it but did apologize to me so whatever).

do you guys think $5 for a really good but normal-sized (like 1/8 of a pie) piece of pie is a fair price?

Sure, probably.

upper end of fair, yeah.

Whoa pie and biscuits? That is a restaurant dedicated to two of my favorite foods!

I wouldn't pay more than that, but if was really good I probably wouldn't complain either.

pie, biscuits, and cinnamon rolls. they only have 3 kinds of pie each day.

i would go back but probably only if i had a weekday off. it's a small space and it was pretty busy and i find it hard to relax when i know other people are waiting for me to leave so they can have my seat.

Yeah, me too. I guess if I wanted to haul myself to Logan Square I could work from there one day.

According to another letter I got from the city regarding Intergys Energy Services, they have negotiated a new rate that will save people approx. 22% on their bill every month. This is due to the referendum that was passed last November.

I think Bang Bang is fine, but no Hoosier Mama, who has ten times the variety and cooks without lard. BB is more expensive, too, iirc.

i think i like hoosier mama better too but they have even less seating

There's nothing wrong with lard in pie crust, unless you're a vegetarian, in which case there's everything wrong with lard in pie crust.

Exactly. Except since Hoosier Mama and a million other places proves there's no harm in lack of lard, why go lard? I don't think BB trumps Hoosier Mama in the crust department, but the lard does limit their customers a bit, and I wonder - given the number of people who don't eat lard, for lots of reasons - if it's made clear at the shop that a product most people assume is vegetarian friendly in this case is not.

Hoosier Mama also sells small (four slice) personal pies. And you can get a pie flight there if you dine in - three reasonable slices plus coffee.

Lakeview needs a pie shop so one day I would actually go to one.

There is sweet Mandy b's, which is awesome, but pies are not their focus.

Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, we've sent those folks away too. Like jaymc, I've Googled enough to see that it may just be legit, but a total stranger coming to my house asking to see my copy of one my bills will always and forever be a huge red flag.

― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, January 28, 2013 9:34 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
otm, do not ask for my personal deets, thx

and

this discussion of bang bang and hoosier mama and sweet mandy b's made me lol and lol -- could someone please come up with a pie shop with a name that is legit not embarrassing to say out loud?!

Embarassing name or no, Sweet Mandy B's is wonderful. We got all of the cupcakes for our son's first birthday party from there.

Cum Hungry Buttholes Pie Shop

UH XPOST

bang bang pie co is kinda weird now because of chief keef ('bang bang' is one of his catchphrases)

well that's an interesting wrinkle, i'll give it that.

not surprisingly, i will never ever in my life order that beer called sumpin sumpin
you have got to be shitting me with that name

Fucked Up Teenagers Pie shop.

lol

How about a beer called "Shartpants"?

I had Shart Pants 442 days ago.

ILX quoted out of context

someone i know, just a person, has a dialect in which shart and short are pronounced identically and the same is true for the word "forty", which you can imagine has made me lol on more than one occasion

T.H.U.G. Pies

At least they didn't call it The Piery.

Or That Little Pie Place

Was flipping around the radio and heard "Layla" on 94.7 and 97.9 at the same time. Now, I know playlist are relatively shallow, and "Layla" is a warhorse, but stuff like this happens with surprising frequency given the statistical unlikelihood.

I heard the same shitty 311 song on 87.7 twice in two days. Not gonna listen to that station for a while.

Speaking of shallow playlists ...

I heard "the humpty dance" twice in two days and it was the best thing that has ever happened to me.

There are a few stations that shake up their playlists once in a while, but tend to replace, say, a set 100 songs with a different set number of songs. Which I kind of like. It's like having the same 100 CDs on shuffle in your car for a while, then replacing them with another 100 CDs. Ensures a fair number of surprises, but also the wonderful feeling of hearing a song you haven't heard in years multiple times the same week.

The shallow playlist has always been my biggest complaint about WXRT and I'm fairly certain I've gone on about this in length on ilx before. For a radio station that always prides itself on its long history and huge library, they still pull out the same four songs for every artist. Granted, the Friday features might dig a little deeper, but on any given day you'd think Van Morrision or Elvis Costello only released two singles ever.

And that the only reggae singer ever was Bob Marley. I heard the new Jimmy Cliff single on XRT for a couple of weeks.

I could never figure out (OK, well, I could, but ...) why Q101 would play "License to Ill" era Beastie Boys as its sole rap act but not Run DMC.

beastie boys are white, iirc

really though, i think it comes down to the 90s marketing of the Beastie Boys as a "legacy alternative act"

Yeah, but I couldn't imagine a single person who likes "Brass Monkey" or "Paul Revere" switching the channel if "My ADIDAS" or "It's Tricky" came on the radio, let alone "Rock Box." It was just them being conservative for the sake of being conservative.

Rarely heard/hear any post "License" Beasties at all, actually. Certainly never "Paul's Boutique" stuff, which is similarly weird in its omission.

I heard "the humpty dance" twice in two days and it was the best thing that has ever happened to me.

― doctor, doctor, what's in my shirt (askance johnson), Monday, January 28, 2013 3:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

oh man this made me lol

Rarely heard/hear any post "License" Beasties at all, actually. Certainly never "Paul's Boutique" stuff, which is similarly weird in its omission.

That's odd.

"Sabotage" and "Sure Shot" featured on Q101's year-end Top 101 of 1994, "Intergalactic" and "Body Movin'" were on the station's 1998 countdown (the former at #1, even), and "Ch-Check It Out" and "Triple Trouble" both made the 2004 list.

I sure heard it the year it came out! But after that it was apparently straight to the dustbin.

They still definitely played "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot", but mostly only during those "all 90s" weekend they were running constantly just before the end.

xpost Oh, I see what you mean. It was only during 2005-11 that Q101 *ever* played hits of the past, though, right?

Btw, maybe only of interest to me (and Askance?), but City Provisions is closing.

Hey if anyone wants to see Pissed Jeans and Fake Limbs at the Empty Bottle with me on April 18, I'm thinking really hard about going because that's a killer lineup. But I realize that's a while away.

Describe their style and tell me if I'd like them.

Ska-punk, yes.

I need to pick a show to see in 2013.

I kinda wanted to see Jessie Ware at Lincoln Hall last Sunday, but the show started at 9 PM and there were like three openers. :/

OLDMC

I recommend Emmylou Harris reunited with Rodney Crowell plus the Richard Thompson Band at Symphony Center in a month or two. That show is going to be awesome and guitarific.

(Also, just in case, Pissed Jeans is not ska-punk)

Maybe I'll go see Bad Religion with all the high schoolers.

hahaha i don't think high schoolers like bad religion anymore
u gonna be surrounded by old dudes

I am kinda considering the Los Crudos reunion show in March.

Ha, you know, Jeff said that BR show was all ages and I was like "Oh man... kids..." but LOL no, it is totally going to be majority dudes 30-45.

I'm not so sure about that. Opening bands will bring in younger folks too. All ages and presented by riot fest. Maybe not high schoolers but surely lots in their 20s. I mean it's not like bad religion are cheap trick.

Or are they.

And it's not on a school night.

surely i'll see a show between now and then, but i'm kinda looking forward to goat on may 2 at EB

don't all scramble at once to go with me

Has anyone else noticed NPR's Lisa Laves (sp?) having problems lately? I've noticed her stammering and misspeaking numerous times basically every morning.

Labuz.

And I don't listen to WBEZ on weekday mornings much anymore, but she's never been the most eloquent speaker, IIRC.

I'm probably just noticing her shortcomings since they got a traffic reporter without major quirks.

I've noticed a lot of NPR folks with speech issues, or at least perceived speech issues, but that may only because I am so familiar with their voices. Terry Gross has all sorts of ticks and impediments.

Dang y'all they're not robots

it's not like bad religion are cheap trick.

Or are they.

Amazing to think Bad Religion is only five years younger than Cheap Trick.

xpost I'm pretty sure at least 30% of the NPR voices are indeed robots.

That's how they save you, the listener, valuable money.

For a donation of $500, Lisa Laves will clean your house.

I was kicking around that Bad Religion show too. I mean, cheesy old fart warning here, but that band was pretty influential in my musical development, so I'll always have a soft spot for 'em.

I'm sure I have mentioned that I once hung out with Lisa L. and her husband at Huettenbar...?

How much did you have to pledge first?

I'm not trying to be harsh on the announcers, but Lisa gets mixed up a lot. I wondered if maybe it's a problem with the text she's going from. As far as the traffic voices, Sarah Jindra did annoy me because when the main announcer did the usual hand-over "Thank you" after her traffic announcement, she always said "You're welcome!" The next one was fine, but she had a little quirk where she would go "Mmmmnnnnwell" before at the start of every traffic segment.

You guys have strong opinions on this.

Ira Glass screens all candidates for speech issues.

You guys have strong opinions on this.

But are they sound opinions?

Even Ira Glass' speech cadence is whimsical.

This morning I listened to 103.4 and heard "She Must Be Somebody's Baby", which ruled, and somehow I never knew that was Jackson Browne.

I LOVED SARAH JINDRA'S "You're welcome!" SO MUCH.

Hey, re: Grahamwich:

1. Are there places to sit and eat there?
2. Is it crazy bananas crowded?
3. Is it prohibitively expensive for someone who works at a nonprofit?

I'm going to lunch with a friend who works in the area and I'm trying to find a place that is the right balance of tasting good, affordable, and not annoying me with a long wait.

Maybe we'll just go to Big Bowl. God knows I love a LEY restaurant.

The only time I've eaten there it was before noon and it wasn't crowded. But there aren't a lot of places to sit. And the food is meh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFy6tJRkxFY

Okay fuck it we're going to Big Bowl.

^^euphamism for getting high at lunch

Big Bowl :: Eatin Thangs

Righteous conflagrations itt

guys, we should do pub quiz again sometime

oh yeah, that's fun
agree

The only time I've eaten there it was before noon and it wasn't crowded. But there aren't a lot of places to sit. And the food is meh.

My take's basically the same, except replace "before" with "a couple hours after."

I played pub quiz at the green lady last month. I didn't mean to, but happened to be there when it happened. I think I finished in next to last place.

guys, we should do pub quiz again sometime

I don't know if you know Jody's friend Sofia (she's in my yoga class), but she invited me the Logan Square movie theatre (the Logan Theatre?) tonight for a movie-trivia thing. Haven't decided yet whether I'm going -- will depend on how much work I can get done this afternoon. But I guess it's every Tuesday.

The problem with movie trivia is that it could very well lean toward the Ain't It Cool News/IMDB Top 250 canon. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Spielberg, Tarantino, Fincher, Nolan. Maybe some Kubrick and Hitchcock for the real buffs. Movies for Dudes Who Love Movies.

between that and the albums poll results, i want to throw up technicolor vomit on the canon

Fuck the canon!

i don't want that, i just want to puke on it

I actually have no idea about the Logan Theatre's movie trivia, but those are the kinds of movies that get overrepresented on Sporcle's movie trivia quizzes.

Carl would be a better date for the canon.

Fun fact: My mom threw up shrimp on my dad's shoes when they went to go see Carnal Knowledge.

I was at formerly-related-to-the-Globe bar AJ Hudson's last Wednesday and they had pub quiz going on. Didn't seem as well-attended as the Globes, could be ripe for the picking.

When I heard about that huge fire last week at 3801 S. Ashland, I missed the "S." in the address and briefly thought that AJ Hudson's had burned down.

Zero Dark Five O'Clock

We're getting it easy, though.

http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/snow.jpg

I want to see this so badly: http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/bewaremrbaker

But the only night I have free is 2/7 and if I go, that will be three nights out during the week plus class on Saturday, which I think is too much doing stuff for this old broad.

i wanna see happy people but i think it's only at the music box? i haven't googled "happy people" yet but i'm also going out of town (looooots of driiiiiiving) this weekend, trying to get psyched up for 15 hrs of driving alone.

who am i kidding, it's gonna super relaxing and kinda fun.

BE super relaxing

attn DR A JOHNSON - i'm listening to the new alasdair roberts record and it rooooooooooolz

Sitting in a dark room in a comfy seat, though, is only 0.5 "going out," so you're good.

In other news, I finally had that moment of someone handing me a shot of Malort, for the first time. Was surprised it didn't taste like shoe polish but more like burnt marshmallow.

Also: nice surprise that it's in the 30s today. I thought it would be 15° again by now.

Oooh, I've gotta hear that new a. roberts record, that song that's floating around the net is really good. Maybe he'll actually tour america this time around???

And I think it's going to be 15 degrees by tonight.

it is SO GOOD you should listen to it immed -- one song uses the melody to red river valley and then turns into some bizarro music hall thing while he sings about empire and bankers and other stuff

there is also a(nother) awesome folk ballad about the perils of incest

and a bunch of other excellent songs

Okay, I'll have to hunt it down. Though I am in a weird space right now where I feel like I don't know how to obtain music anymore.

I posted the incest ballad to facebook -- at least listen to that. I bought the LP from the Drag City website.

You could also prob get it in a store in a variety of formats since DC is local.

In other news, I finally had that moment of someone handing me a shot of Malort, for the first time. Was surprised it didn't taste like shoe polish but more like burnt marshmallow.

I actually *just* listened to Marc Maron's interview of John Hodgman, and apparently he is a Malort evangelist. They talked about it for several minutes. Strange to hear about it discussed in that venue.

I just found out that my favorite licorice is like the Malort of licorices.

D said it tasted like congealed tree sap and I was like I KNOW isn't it great?
He said no.

what is this licorice?

I had some weird Danish salt candy a few weeks ago--is this Malort licorice Danish or something else?

Wonder if Alistair Roberts' incest ballad is the Malort of incest ballads.

no, it's very palatable

Please, what is the brand/style of this licorice? I tend to enjoy unpopular candy.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8323/8429397609_8dc1f3ae21.jpg

sorry i had to take and upload the picture while hustling my ass to get to work!!

i have been dilly-dallying

Remember that durian candy? Same day I had a red bull margarita with a pop rocks rim.

i can see how people who don't like licorice would find it repulsive, but the guy warned me before i bought it -- "are you sure you like this? have you had it before" and i was like man why do you think i am BUYING IT.

i love it, but it's extremely gross/medicinal tasting to some people i think

when i was a kid my dad tried to make homemade horehound candy and it was one of the worst things i've ever eaten, so bitter. he threw it away.

i'm listening to the who "sell out"

fun album

i've always had an irrational dislike for the who but yeah this is good

xp I am pondering their logo.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130129/chicago/hopefuls-vying-for-check-please-slot-include-chef-cleetus-friedman

i forgot to tell you guys i had a dream with many of you in it the other night. i was in a dive bar/pub, sitting at a table with many of my friends (specifically including jenny but i think others of you were there too). the bartender/owner was a very nice lady but there was also a bouncer, a very large unstable-seeming man. the bouncer kept kicking out patrons for ordering drinks that he thought were improper for that bar, like complicated cocktails or "feminine" drinks. then someone at our table said something about how he shouldn't kick people out for ordering the wrong drinks, so then he was going to kick all of us out. but i stood up to him and gave this whole speech about how there were almost no customers left in the bar and how we were going to order lots of beers so he shouldn't kick us out. i ordered a beer for myself and told the bouncer to get a beer for himself too. but then i got annoyed at everyone else because no one else ordered anything, after i'd just made this big speech about how many drinks we were going to order.

haha. n/a I promise you here and now that I will always order a beer to back you up if you make a speech that's central premise is that we're going to order a lot of beer.

Here is an interview w/ a concierge at the Trump Tower: http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2013/01/30/jay-baldrige-trump-lead-concierge-talks-hotel-whales.php

Interesting list of potential hosts for Check, Please.

You know that Suzy Singh's big selling point for herself is going to be surname continuity.

Ugh that concierge interview makes me want to go live in a hut in the woods.

everything makes me want to live in a hut in the woods!

I'd live in a hut in the woods if only there was convenient access to a helipad.

Yeah, I disagree with the concierge that lack of helipads within city limits is "one of Chicago's problems."

You know that Suzy Singh's big selling point for herself is going to be surname continuity.

I was imagining some gruff dude recording "SUZY" and WTTW just subbing in "SUZY" for "Alpina" in the opening and all of their promo materials.

That second sentence is me quoting JAYMC if that is not clear to my readers.

Hey, did you all hear that Jim Neighbors got married to his boyfriend of 38 years? My grandfather loved that man's music and while I loved my grandfather, he was unquestionably a bigot and I am enjoying the thought that he unwittingly purchased albums recorded by a gay man. It's kind of like the time this super Christian (like president of the Campus Crusaders for Christ) woman in my college dorm was going on and on about Erasure until someone told her they were gay. She was shocked (and dumber than hell).

Hahahaha I knew a guy in high school who was similarly super Mormon, conservative, bigoted... and a huge Erasure fan. I never had the heart (or interest) to tell him the truth.

Jim Nabors?

Oh, I relished it (fine, the "someone" was me). She was such a jackass. And had the room next to mine so I couldn't escape her relentless smug proselytizations.

xp yes, obviously.

Congratulations, Jim Nabors!

also this is the variety of licorice that i mentioned earlier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salty_liquorice

xp I am pondering their logo.

Me too! I double-checked for a worrisome name.

Someone check w/ Tuomas for a socio-political history of that licorice label.

ARGH what does it mean that i have recently had three work shirts tear/split in the elbow? are my elbows huge?

or really pointy?

it sucks because it means now i have to shop for clothes

they just really want out

I have that happen to me all the time, but it's only my left elbow. I think it might be the way I lean on my desk or something?

sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your elbows are covered in acid

I think every Mormon likes Erasure. All the Mormons I knew in high school sure did.

Do you rest your elbows on things a lot? Do you absent mindedly rub your elbows throughout the day? Do you put antiperspirant on your elbows? Do your elbows secrete acid?

XPOST!!!!!!

see i'm not the only one who noticed
maybe you should take care of that

my elbows sweat a lot

ooh, it just started snowing here!

Nick is Hulk, but only in the elbows.

He and AJ will start their own superhero duo, the Elbow Brothers. They'll fight crime using their superhuman elbows and teach important lessons to all about proper joint health.

It is actually the way I sit, I realize...my right hand is on the mouse, and the rest of my upper body weight is leaning on my left elbow. I should get a little pillow to put under it to make my shirts last longer.

Just wear an elbow pad. That won't be weird. Or attach some elastic to a dainty little elbow pillow and wear that. And a dainty top hat. And keep four leashed cockatiels perched on your shoulders.

That should really drum up good business for your library.

It probably would!

Roll up your sleeves. That's what I do. I can't stand having my sleeves buttoned up.

I also have been questioning the licorice label. xp.

It was delicious, that's all I know.