November 30, 2006
Living With LaLa - Sending Some Love To Green Bay
The back of the lala trading envelope has space to put album information, notes, greetings, etc. The space doesn't get used much. Except for the Georgia Satellites CD that I blogged about earlier, I haven't received any notes and I've never used it either. Until now.
I had a lala request to send a copy of 'Sorry' by Catherine
Will the Green Bay recipient notice? If so, will she care? Will the smiley face disarm any anti-flatlander rage that might bubble forth like cheese in an unattended fondue pot? Will a Packer-loving postal worker make sure the envelope gets some 'extra special attention' on it's journey to the mailbox? Time will tell! Stay Tuned!
Posted by JB at 11:05 PM | PermalinkNovember 29, 2006
Metropolis Re:Create
The folks at the Metropolis Preforming Arts Centre have redone their website and have a new online magazine called re:create. A letter from Metropolis Executive Director Tim Rater tells the story of some recent successes. Hope it's a sign of more good things to come.
Posted by JB at 8:56 PM | PermalinkNovember 28, 2006
Oooh, Look At The Blinky Lights...
Looking at the server logs of Harvard Avenue, I see that there are people searching for info on the Christmas light show at Arlington Park (2200 W. Euclid Avenue in beautiful Arlington Heights for those who have never been to Arlington Park). Why oh why the fascination with paying money to see Christmas lights? Too much trouble to look outside at your neighbor's tacky light displays?
Here is the official page for the oh so Christmas-y sounding: 'Washington Mutual presents Clearbrook's Wonderland of Lights'. Ahhh...nothing says 'Happy Holidays' like corporate sponsorship.
All kidding aside, the money raised from the light show goes to Clearbrook, which provides services to children and adults with developmental disabilities.
Posted by JB at 4:02 PM | PermalinkRichard Nickel's Chicago: Photographs of a Lost City - Release Party
If the Museum of Contemporary Photography hadn't sent me an email that they are hosting a book release party for "Richard Nickel's Chicago: Photographs of a Lost City", I wouldn't have known that the book existed. For some strange reason, Amazon.com isn't carrying it and I've become dependent on their new release recommendations. I guess it's time to broaden my resources. The book is available at Barnes & Noble.
I haven't flipped through "Richard Nickel's Chicago" yet, but the simple fact that it contains 200 previously unreleased Nickel photos is more than enough reason to get excited.
For those unfamiliar with Richard Nickel, he was a Chicago-area photographer (lived in Park Ridge) who championed the cause of preserving historic Chicago buildings, especially those of Louis Sullivan. What couldn't be saved, he photographed extensively and salvaged pieces of ornamentation. Nickel was instrumental in saving large parts of the old Chicago Stock Exchange including the trading room that is now rebuilt at the Art Institute of Chicago. Nickel died on April 13, 1972 in the abandoned Chicago Stock Exchange when part of the interior collapsed while he was in the building alone. WTTW Channel 11 has an excellent documentary of his life and work in "Chicago Stories: The Richard Nickel Story". It's worth keeping an eye on the television listings for.
November 27, 2006
Scott Skiles Serious About Fashion
Besides finally having a big man in the middle to grab rebounds and push the other team around, the other reason I was glad the Bulls signed Ben Wallace was the hair. Would he come out with the corn-rows or the wild man look. It's a fun fashion element that I can use to pull Inga into watching the game.
Coach Skiles is potentially messing up the hair fun, as it turns out he has a thing against headbands. Skiles pulled Wallace twice from the game on Saturday because he took the court wearing a headband. How can Wallace pull the wild man look without the headband? It's just plain dangerous! C'mon Coach, let his freak flag fly!
[Via: Deadspin ]
Technorati Tags: headband, Ben Wallace, Scott Skiles
links for 2006-11-27
November 26, 2006
Metaphors Gallery
Wow, a downtown Arlington Heights gallery that isn't full of pieces that look like they came from a 'Starving Artists' sale. (I'm kidding just a bit. The gallery that used to be at the corner of Vail and Campbell a year or two ago had some interesting pieces.) We popped into Metaphors Gallery on Saturday. The gallery is a breath of fresh air; full of lively fresh contemporary art. The pieces that I was drawn to, which were quite a few, were fairly priced to boot.
This Saturday, December 2nd, Metaphors is having a Grand Opening celebration starting at 6 p.m. I may have to stop by. There is some digital artwork there that I would be interested to learn the steps to it's creation. Plus there's food and entertainment which are always welcome on an aimless Saturday night.
Posted by JB at 11:55 PM | PermalinkNovember 25, 2006
Vote Early And Often
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November 24, 2006
Keeping Passwords Private At Public Computers
Lifehacker has an incredibly easy solution for keeping you passwords private when you have to use a public computer (e.g., internet cafe, hotel,). Snoops use keyloggers to harvest passwords from computers, but Carnegie Mellon University has them foiled.
[via: Lifehacker]
Posted by JB at 10:32 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-24
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First Day Of Med School
November 23, 2006
Bargainist For Black Friday
If the closest you are going to get to shopping tomorrow is online (like me and the rest of the sane world) check out The Bargainist. The site is full of discount codes for online shopping and some printable coupons if you need to deal with the brick and mortar world. Inga is savoring the 20% off at Restoration Hardware deal.
Posted by JB at 10:23 PM | Permalink
links for 2006-11-23
November 22, 2006
Mike Tyson - Still Looking For Work...
Looks like Mike Tyson's job prospects did not get better as previously posted. Heidi Fleiss' publicist told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the Tyson hiring was "a ridiculous hoax".
[Source: Deadspin] Posted by JB at 5:21 PM | Permalink
Embracing The Blur
Have you lost weight? Did you get a haircut? Well, you look fabulous.
What's going on with me? Oh nothing...but I do have this photo submitted to JPG Magazine in the category of "Embrace The Blur". Would you visit my entry and give it a 'Yeah!' vote? Oh, you are too kind and beautiful as well.
In all seriousness, the voting does not pick the winners but it does help to get the attention of the editors. Voting ends December 1st. Thanks!!!
Posted by JB at 3:25 PM | PermalinkNovember 21, 2006
Drumming
A few pics from the 53rd Annual American Indian Center Pow-wow last weekend at the UIC Pavillion. The singing was as impressive and powerful as the drumming.
links for 2006-11-21
November 20, 2006
Living With LaLa - The Good And The Bad
Somewhere in the world, there are coffee tables that have tops made of sandpaper. The people that own these sandpaper topped coffee tables use CDs for coasters. Then they try to trade those CDs on lala.
I've been trading pretty heavily, sending and receiving CDs. A majority of the discs have been fine, but a few have come in scratched beyond hope. Outside of coaster or Frisbee use, I can't figure out how you can get a disc that scratched up. They're in worse shape than the ones lent out by the library for a couple of years! Such is the ugly side of trading on lala. Granted you just tell lala that the CD is no good and they cancel the transaction. However, it's disappointing to wait for a disc that you have wanted and it comes it horribly scratched and unplayable.
But there are some cool things going on that balance out the bad. I've exchanged some great messages with fellow traders that have similar tastes in music. I received a terrific added bonus with an old Georgia Satellites disc I requested (their third and final studio album - 'In The Land Of Salvation And Sin'
links for 2006-11-20
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This is bad for movie lovers and a even worse move for the movie studio. Why would you want to limit your renting audience?
November 19, 2006
Mike Tyson - Male Prostitute
Is there a big demand among women to hire an wife beating, ear biting ex-heavyweight champion and convicted rapist as a male escort? Especially one that is thinking of boxing women in the near future?
Mike Tyson has been trying to find new ways to earn a living since his retirement from professional boxing. He's currently out on the road fighting exhibition matches and signing autographs to make ends meet.
All that networking and shaking hands on the road has paid off as he has landed a job as a male prostitute at Heidi Fleiss' brothel for women - 'The Stud Farm'.
Don't you get the feeling that Dennis Rodman is going to get in on this action too?
[via - Deadspin]
November 18, 2006
Say It Ain't So Hellmann's. Say It Ain't So...
This is bad news. Potentially a sign of the Apocalypse. Disaster for millions of post-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich eaters across North America.
Hellmann's mayonnaise has changed it's recipe. Oh the humanity! One person says the new Hellmann's tastes more 'mustardy' while another says "sweeter with a chemically tangy aftertaste". That sweet and chemically taste describes Miracle Whip in my book.
Where will shoppers go for real(ish) mayo? It's another reason I'm glad I shop at Trader Joe's. (Damn, I sound like a commercial.)
[via kottke.org remaindered links and megnut]
Posted by JB at 11:52 PM | PermalinkNovember 17, 2006
Birthday
I just had one of the best birthday presents and meals of my life today. Inga took me to Rick Bayless' Topolobampo for my birthday today. I've been wanting to go there for a while now, being a fan of his television show, Mexico - One Plate At A Time and his cookbooks. What a meal! Everything from the cocktail before hand to the five courses of the chef's tasting menu that I had was an adventure. I'm going to see if I can get a listing of what was on the tasting menu, as there were too many little details of the dishes for my tired mind to remember. I'm going to bed.
Thanks Inga. You Rock!
Posted by JB at 11:49 PM | PermalinkNovember 16, 2006
Upcoming Golombisky-Kirchner Duo Shows and More!
A couple of show announcements from Matthew Golombisky:
Two upcoming Golombisky-Kirchner Duo shows:
- Friday. November 17th. 10pm. Silvie's Lounge (1902 W. Irving Park). .-. other bands play too .-.
- Sunday. November 19th. 10pm. Stadium West (3188 N Elston, at California/Belmont). .-. The Leaves .-. play too!
- Copies of their debut CD 'Introducing will be available.
Plus this bonus show:
- Quagmire String Quartet plus Quin Kirchner (compositions/drums).
Monday. November 20th. 7pm. Downtown Sound Gallery (66 E. Randolph). FREE, but you need to reserve tickets; call 312.742.8497.
But wait! There's more!
- put this on your calendar! "ears&eyes Festival"!!!!!! Dec. 10th, 4pm-2am, Silvie's Lounge. A one-day festival slash benefit concert for New Orleans percussionist and bandleader of The Other Planets (http://www.theotherplanets.com). READ MORE HERE: http://www.myspace.com/earseyesfestival
November 15, 2006
Bathroom Wallpaper
I have a problem with bookstores. When I go into one, I find myself more often than not, needing to go to the bathroom. Inga takes great pleasure teasing me about this.
This photo is from the bathroom in Barnes and Noble.
Posted by JB at 10:30 PM | Permalink
Do Not Disturb - Tinkering In Process
Howdy.
I'm tinkering with the layout of the site. So if you stop by and see weird things you know why...
Posted by JB at 9:44 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-15
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Goya painting 'Children With A Cart' stolen while being transported between two U.S. museums.
November 14, 2006
Japanese Take On 'The Mac Guy'
There has been some buzz this week about a rumored change to the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" television commercials. First, a report came out that Justin Long, who plays the Mac, was no longer going to be part of the commercials. A few days later, Justin Long stated on his blog that he is still in the ad campaign and was in the process of shooting some holiday versions of the commercials.
All this stirred up a lot of feelings about how people liked or disliked Justin's Mac persona. John Hodgeman, who plays the PC, is pretty much universally loved as he steals the show in the spots. However, some people find Justin Long's Mac persona to be smarmy and unlikeable, while others say he is the perfect straight man to Hodgeman's PC.
This rumor and discussion about changing the Justin/Mac character makes the Japanese version of the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" commercials all the more interesting. If you think the Justin/Mac character comes off as a tool, the Japanese Mac version gives you a taste of what the commercials would be like without him. The Japanese Mac guy seems to come off as more likeable and down to earth to my non-Japanese speaking view. Maybe I'm losing something in the dialog.
Like it or hate it, I think the Long/Hodgeman "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" spots are pure gold. You just don't mess around with an ad campaign that is that successful. We'll be watching those commercials 10-20 years from now on a 'TV Ads From Yesteryear' special that will be hosted by Bob Saget (the 21st century version of Dick Clark though way more annoying).
[via: Amazon Blog - Mac Rumor Central:The Long War]
Posted by JB at 9:58 PM | PermalinkStormy Blues For Alice
Alex Itin's latest video creation - Stormy Blues For Alice.
Technorati Tags: Alex Itin, Stormy Blues For Alice Posted by JB at 2:50 PM | Permalink
testing
Technorati Tags: test Posted by JB at 2:38 PM | Permalink
links for 2006-11-14
November 13, 2006
It's Official - A Burrito Is Not A Sandwich
The difference between a burrito and a sandwich has never been a gray area in my life. A burrito is a burrito and a sandwich a sandwich. Two distinct food types. When my friends and I discuss what to have to for lunch, the conversation never goes like this: "Let's go grab a sandwich." "Okay, how about Chipolte Grill." (in reality a local Mexican burrito place would most likely mentioned in this conversation, but I had to think of a burrito place everyone would know...)
For the record, the distinction between the two is now part of the legal record as a Massachusetts judge ruled that a burrito is not a sandwich in a case between Panera and Qdoba Mexican Grill (a division of Jack in the Box). Panera tried to prevent a Qdoba restaurant from opening in a shopping center they had an outlet in, as they had clause in their lease saying the mall would not lease space to any other sandwich shops.
So, where does a wrap fall into this mix? Is a sandwich shop that serves wraps, more than a sandwich shop? Or how about the Jimmy John's Unwich? There's no bread or tortilla! OMG!
[via BoingBoing]
Posted by JB at 11:15 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-13
November 12, 2006
Women's Tackle Football Tryouts At Harper College
Any ladies in the area who have aspirations of playing tackle football, this is for you. The Chicago Force of the Independent Woman's Football League (IWFL) is holding tryouts at Harper College on Saturday November 18th! All you need are cleats, gym shoes, workout clothes and 20 bucks.
I've heard of these woman tackle football leagues, but didn't know they were in the area. Looking at their schedule from last year, the Force played teams from Detroit, Iowa and Kansas City and played their games at Lane Tech H.S. in Chicago. It looks like they have teams sprouting up all over the country.
Women's tackle football? Why not?
Posted by JB at 11:43 PM | PermalinkNovember 11, 2006
LaLa
The downside of having a large music collection, is having an ever growing pile of CDs that you don't want anymore. That's the case with me as I have unwanted CDs stashed in a couple of places around the house. Last month, I got turned on to a Web 2.0 solution to these unwanted CDs in a service called lala.
Lala is a CD trading site and music community. Users make a list of CDs they have to trade and another list of CDs they want. Lala facilitates the trade by matching the CDs on users 'have' lists with the CDs on other users 'want' list. Prepaid envelopes (a la Netflix) are provided to ship the CD (and the artwork so your new music won't arrive naked) off to the requesting user.
Lala keeps the trading balanced with the amount of music you are sending and receiving to keep the overall trading market moving smoothly. You can't receive more CDs than you ship out and on the flip-side, as I have recently run into, you can't ship out 10 CDs more than the amount you have received in return.
When you receive a CD you are charged $1.75 ($1 fee plus 75 cents for shipping). Considering what the local used music store is charging for a CD with a limited selection and giving me for my trade-ins, it's a pretty good deal.
My experience with lala so far has been pretty good, but admittedly not without some problems. I did receive one disc that was too scratched to play and another got lost in the mail, but lala takes care of those kind of problems quickly and painlessly. You just tell them what the problem with the CD is and they put it back on your 'want' list, no questions asked and no penalties.
There are a few other nice things about lala. 20 cents out of the one dollar fee goes back to the artist. If you don't want to wait for a trade, you can buy CDs new from lala very cheaply. I haven't bought a new CD yet, but the prices are the lowest I've seen anywhere.
There is a whole music community aspect to lala that I haven't fully explored yet. You are encouraged to list your entire music collection on your 'have' list so others can see what you like and see the collections of people with similar taste. Personally, I have too much stuff I want to get rid of to clutter my list with music I have no intention of trading. I can see the appeal though, as it is an easy way to show off your collection and explore new artists. There are also streaming radio stations and the capability of creating your own streaming radio playlist.
This a probably the best way out there to clear some deadwood in your music library and cheaply add to your collection at the same time. If you are on lala already or if you sign up, my user name is ArlingtonJB. Look me up and add me as a friend!
Posted by JB at 11:56 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-11
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Loved him in Bagdad Cafe and the old Ripley's Believe It Or Not series.
Just Made It
Just got in that last post with two minutes to spare. Kind of surprised that I haven't fallen off the NaBloPoMo wagon.
Posted by JB at 12:16 AM | PermalinkNovember 10, 2006
Snapshot Of The Future - Parrot Wrestling
In 2035, middle-aged men trying to recapture the excitement of the extreme sports of their youth, will turn to parrot wrestling.
The women of 2035 will take advantage of the fad; raising cybernetic enhanced parrots with neurotoxin tipped claws, micro-hydraulic-assisted titanium alloy beaks and nanotube plumage armor to cull the aging and mentally deficient from the male population.
links for 2006-11-10
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This is odd and disturbing...
November 9, 2006
$2 Bills
According to a piece in the Washington Post, the $2 bill is having a surge in popularity. The federal reserve has seen a steady increase in demand of the Thomas Jefferson adorned bill since 2001. The weird thing is, like Barry Manilow, no one knows why it's popular again.
via kottke.org remaindered links
Posted by JB at 9:58 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-09
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Mmmm...long pig...
November 8, 2006
No, Your Daddy Can't Be A Senator
Via Warren Ellis -> Via Hep
November 7, 2006
My Pen! And Other Problems
Turns out there is a voting controversy in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago including Arlington Heights. It doesn't involve electronic voting, but surprisingly the low-tech pen. There was a pen shortage at polling places causing complaints and delays.
Gilda Karu, vice president of the League of Women Voters for Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect and Buffalo Grove, said Arlington Heights precinct had four pens for five booths when she voted at 6:30 a.m. "There should've been a box of pens there," Karu said. "People could walk off with the pens or they could run out of ink."
According to the Daily Herald story, Cook County officials said that the pens cost $1.14 each so they had to limit the amount of pens they passed out. $1.14 for a pen! I wonder who has the contract to sell pens to the county. Inga voted with a paper ballot and on hearing the pens cost $1.14, said 'the pens weren't that nice'.
In addition to the shortage of pens, the television news is reporting problems with the downloading of the data from the Sequoia voting machines in the Northwest Suburbs. Sequoia is saying they tried to push too much data through the counting process and the computer(s) crashed.
Posted by JB at 9:28 PM | PermalinkMy Electronic Voting Experience
There has been a lot of justifiable concern of electronic voting this year (Dial 1-866-OUR-VOTE if you have any problems voting or see anything that isn't kosher). I went to vote this morning. Our voting precinct is pretty small compared to the other precincts that surround us, so there was only one electronic voting machine and about 5 paper voting stations. The sole electronic voting machine was available, so I took the opportunity to take it for an election day test drive.
I was given a small cardboard ticket similar to a CTA pass and led to the machine. The worker put my ticket in the slot of the machine, told me I was all set to go and the ticket would eject when the the voting was complete. The card has a chip in it that activates the machine. When the card is ejected, it is also erased which prevents multiple uses/votes. I sat down and met the Sequoia AVC Edge II Plus, face to face.
Since using the machine this morning, I've learned that the Sequoia AVC Edge II Plus has some issues like having a reset button 'feature' that some say can be used to stuff the ballot box and not being certified to use by the Illinois State Board of Elections when early voting started in Cook County. I couldn't find information if it had been approved by election day. Knowing how things work in Cook County, I doubt it was.
In my experience today, the machine was easy to use and there were no obvious problems. (Some issues would make for a more exciting post though...) All the right names popped up on the screen and a big green check mark appeared next to the correct name after making my choice. After finishing the 13 screens of voting choices, there was a review all my choices on the screen with a chance to change or approve them. These machines were also equipped with a printer to provide a paper trail (why isn't this required everywhere?). Behind a plexiglass screen on the side of the voting machine, my choices were printed off a long strip of paper to be verified for a second time, with another chance to make corrections. After this second approval step, the paper was pulled into the machine for storage and the voting card ejected. There is a step-by-step demo on how to use the machine here.
On the surface everything with the whole process seemed to be problem free. I'm sure there are possibilities for shenanigans, but they were there in the past too. Now we have the opprotuntiy for new digital shenanigans instead of the tired and dusty paper ones we were used to. The problem with the whole electronic voting thing is that it doesn't seem to solve anything that a better designed paper ballot couldn't. All the potential problems still exist.
Personnally, the paper trail gives me some piece of mind if an issue were to pop-up here, it could maybe be addressed. We still get to choose between electronic and paper voting which I hope is still an option for a long time to come. If there are problems, I'll opt for the paper ballot next time. I am still concerned with the machines in areas with a history of problems like Ohio and Florida, but from my local view in Arlington Heights Illinois, the electronic voting seemed to work just fine today.
Posted by JB at 4:07 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-07
November 6, 2006
Delicious And Nutritious
This video post goes out to all the Mizzou grads in my life (Inga, Greta, Renee, Mags, Brad Pitt, etc). It's from last weeks Mizzou loss to Nebraska and features Mizzou Quarterback Chase Daniel. Is this Tigerade?
[via Deadspin,]
Posted by JB at 10:18 PM | PermalinkGuess The Logo
It sounds easy because you see these website logos everyday. In 'Guess The Logo' you see six variations on the same logo (e.g., Amazon, Ebay, YouTube) and you have to pick the real one. Speed counts and you are pentalized for wrong answers. I scored 39.4%.
[via BoingBoing]
Posted by JB at 9:45 PM | PermalinkClothes Recycling Bin
Treehugger a story about a great idea from Switzerland. Next to public recycle bins for paper, plastic and the like; they have added an extra bin for used clothing. The clothes then go various organizations that distribute clothes to those in need. That's very convenient.
I have to admit that I like the Salvation Army's collection method in our area, which I'm assuming they do in other places if not all over. You get a large neon postcard in the mail with a collection date. If you have anything, you bag it up and leave it out on the assigned day with the neon postcard attached. Then they pick it up sometime during the day. Pretty nice! Putting clothes in my green curbside recycle bin would be even better and the easier it is the more people will use it.
Posted by JB at 5:45 PM | PermalinkNovember 5, 2006
Tea and Pumpkins
It's not going to help my manliness quotient that I chose to go out an kick around Evanston than stay home and watch football. Considering how the Bears ended up doing, it looks like I made the right choice.
We had breakfast at Las Torres in Des Plaines and headed out to Evanston to walk around, enjoy the weather, and pay a visit to Chinese tea shop Dream About Tea. Afterwards, I caught up on the sleep lost Friday and Saturday night (don't ask) and caught a late dinner at AltThai, which is slowly turning into a Sunday tradition.
An Inga snapshot to commemorate our day. Damn NaBloPoMo...
November 4, 2006
WBEZ 2007 Schedule
WBEZ-Chicago Public Radio put out their new less music more talk schedule (in PDF). As you may recall there was a lot of complaining (including here and here), about WBEZ's proposal to completely drop the music programming and go all-talk. Looking at the released schedule, it looks like they compromised a bit.
First the bad news. Our favorite show, Jazz with Dick Buckley on Sunday afternoons survived, but has been cut back from three hours to one. Music shows that have been dropped include 'Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz', blues shows Comin' Home and 'Blues Before Sunrise' as well as the weekday evening jazz music. 'Afropop Worldwide' and 'Passport' survived. One of my favorite news shows that was added this year 'To The Point' from KCRW, has been cut. (Thankfully the show has a podcast so I can still listen to the show. I think it is the best topical news interview show on television or radio.)
Here's the good news. We have gained a music show called American Routes, that looks like it has potential. CBC news show 'As It Happens' at 7 p.m. has been dropped which is a good thing in my opinion. Even though I have more interest in Canadian news than most, it is so Canadian issue specific that the stories are totally irrelevant to the Chicago market (CBC world news I would understand having). Evening programming now consists of rebroadcasts of popular daytime shows: 'Eight Forty-Eight', 'Worldview' and 'Fresh Air' (though 'Fresh Air' show is kind of hit or miss). Following that are new to WBEZ shows 'BBC Outlook' and 'Global Overnight'. There is an added rebroadcast of 'Sound Opinions' which is an nice bonus.
All in all it sounds okay. The programming loses are balanced out by the gains, unless you listen all day. Then those evening rebroadcasts are just dead programming, but I don't think many fall into that category. I still wish they had kept all the weekend music shows especially the blues. We'll give it a try and see how it works out.
Posted by JB at 10:20 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-04
November 3, 2006
Governors Race Slithers Through Town
When we went out to dinner tonight, there were several insanely large clusters of Topinka signs on Northwest Highway and Arlington Heights Road that I didn't notice before. Seeing the evening news, they were probably some kind of preemption or reaction to Blagojevich visiting Arlington Heights today. He stopped into Dunton House to shake hands and such.
I would rather have both gubernatorial candidates stay out of town and go back into the holes they crawled out of. They're both embarrassments and equally repulsive choices for governor without an honest bone between the two of them. It's lose/lose choices like this that make people stay home on election day in disgust that there is no one evenly halfway decent to vote for.
I'll be curious to see how many votes the Green Party candidate for governor will get . There are a lot of other reasons to get out and vote this year, so maybe they will pick up a larger than normal percent of protest votes. That's where my vote is going.
Posted by JB at 11:42 PM | PermalinkNorthpoint Sold For $62 Million
The NorthPoint Center (the mall at Rand and Palatine roads in Arlington Heights) was sold to a joint venture for $62 million dollars. There are plans to remodel and add a Circuit City.
Why am posting about this? Because I had no concept on how much something like a mall would cost and find it a bit interesting. Not that most of us will ever be in the market to buy a shopping mall.
Posted by JB at 6:12 PM | PermalinkWorldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day
Embrace your inner-nerd. Tomorrow is Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day.
[Found at Merge-Gapers Block]
Posted by JB at 4:35 PM | PermalinkNovember 2, 2006
Frank Black At The Metro
I woke up after a five hours of sleep and a distant ringing in my ears, but my heart was re-energized having seen Frank Black at the Metro last night. In my admittedly biased opinion, Frank put on a great show.
My friends and I got there a little late as it was a work day and we weren't in a rush to see Reid Paley open. Nothing against Mr. Paley. I saw him open for Frank Black a few years ago and he didn't push my buttons. So we met up, took our time getting to the Metro and walked in as Frank took the stage.
Frank took to the stage alone with his acoustic guitar and belted out unplugged versions of Pixies and early solo album favorites. After warming the crowd up with the classics, the rest of the band came out to start the 'rock and roll part of the show' as he put it. Doug pointed out how much fun everyone seemed to be having on stage, especially the drummer who's name eludes me as well as the lead guitar player; Eric Feldman played bass. He was right, which is good to see as I've read that Frank not real big on preforming live especially in the crowd interaction area. I seem to recall him saying something to the effect that he feels like a dancing bear. Therefore, like his past shows, there's not a lot of talking and telling stories between songs. Just crowd pleasing favorites belted out one after another, which is fine by me.
They played 3-4 songs from the new album, Fast Man Raider Man
I decided against bringing my little camera, which I kind of regret as I could have gotten a few decent snapshots to share. I had to empty my pockets and remove my hat when I saw the Pixies, so I didn't want to risk getting it confiscated. Turned I could have brought it in. In hindsight though it's nice to just sit back and enjoy the show without being preoccupied about getting a good shot and I did really enjoy just sitting back and watching Frank Black do his thing.
Posted by JB at 11:17 PM | Permalink
River Jumping Rocket Lincoln
When you hear about a video of a guy jumping the St. Lawrence river in a rocket powered Lincoln Continental, you have no choice but to watch. The river is a mile wide, the ramp is 8+ stories tall and being 1976 the Lincoln is a serious hunk of Detroit steel. [Source - Kottke.org Remaindered Links]
Quote of the Day
"Wikipedia - Home of the C+ term paper..." --Ze Frank
Posted by JB at 1:14 PM | Permalinklinks for 2006-11-02
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You have to see it to believe it.
November 1, 2006
NaBloPoMo
I've decided to challenge myself in the month of November by registering for NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month. (Thanks to Mags for mentioning it in her blog and turning me on to it.) It's like a light version of NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month except instead of committing to crank out a 50,000 word novel in a month, I'm going to attempt to do a post a day.
Sounds easy on the surface, but there are a lot of days (like today) where I'm not in a talkative mindset that I need to be in to do an entry. The good thing is this entry counts, so the first day is already out of the way. Photos count as a post too according to the rules. So if I'm feeling particularly grumpy, I can always let my camera do the talking. A photo is worth a 1,000 words.
Posted by JB at 4:33 PM | Permalink
