Chicago - A message from the station manager

The Five Dumbest Ideas Of The Week

By Stephanie B. Goldberg

1. This was a week of odd couples. First up, Bush v. Gore legal opponents David Boies and Ted Olson, who announced they would challenge Proposition 8 in federal court on behalf of two gay couples – and in defiance of many gay legal groups who view this strategy as disastrous. Boies and Olson have apparently been buddies since Boies attended Olson’s most recent wedding. With seven marriages between them, maybe they just want to spread the wealth.
2. Our second odd couple is Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, who are Broadway-bound to star this fall in “A Steady Rain,” a play about two Chicago cops whose friendship is tested after a domestic abuse incident. For the sake of authenticity, both will refuse to take a Breathalyzer each night for four hours after the curtain closes.

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Posted on May 29, 2009

People’s Gas Journal: The Sequel

By Steve Rhodes
Previously:
* People’s Gas Journal. In Russia, appointment schedules you.
* Reminder: Vaunted White House social secretary and Friend of Obama Desiree Rogers made $1.8 million as CEO of this stellar outfit for just the first half of 2008.
–
I’ll call this one “In Russia, Meters Read You!”
On March 24, I discovered my gas was off. I called People’s Gas and they treated it as an emergency call, sending out a technician – and an assistant – within a couple of hours.
The technician went down into the basement to check the meters. I was suspicious because the person in the apartment across from mine had recently closed her account. I figured mine had been closed instead.
Also bear in mind some history; at some point within the last year I called People’s Gas to inquire about higher bills that didn’t seem to coordinate with any changes in my personal use.
The technician discovered that indeed one meter had been shut off. But the technician also told me that it was the meter for my neighbor’s apartment – where the gas was on. The accounts had been crossed.
Or was I just imagining the events I’ve just described? According to People’s, I was. I must have been in a fever dream.

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Posted on May 28, 2009

The Salad Bar Series: Chuck E. Cheese’s

By Rick Kaempfer
Restaurant: Chuck E. Cheese’s
Location: 511 North Randall Road, Batavia
Description: If you’ve never been, Chuck E. Cheese’s is like an amusement park for kids; perfect for a 6-year-old’s birthday party. The children buy tokens to play games, and earn hundreds of tickets to buy cheap plastic prizes that will be thrown out as soon as they get home.
And while Chuck E. Cheese is known for its cardboardy cheese pizza, they also serve beer for the adults (who need it badly at this loud, loud, wow is it friggin’ loud, restaurant/fun park). They also have a salad bar.

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Posted on May 20, 2009

20 Tweets: Billy Corgan

From most recent on down.
20. And Happy Mothers Day to all the mommys out there!
19. If God does have a sense of humor, that would mean the jokes will never stop being funny.
18. I believe in blue skies.
17. Do pirates go to heaven??
16. The day itself is a prayer.

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Posted on May 14, 2009

The Salad Bar Series: La Villa

By Marilyn Ferdinand
Restaurant: La Villa
Location: 3632 N. Pulaski, just north of Addison
Description: Established in 1972, La Villa is one of Chicago’s old-fashioned American-Italian restaurants that just keep going and going. It was a favorite of my father, who was born in 1926, and it was one of our dinner spots before the opera some 25 years ago. Ever-present Italian lights, fake shutters, red vinyl, and red-and-white checked tablecloths mark La Villa as the equivalent an old-man bar.

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Posted on May 12, 2009

Chicagoetry: A Murder Of Tulips

By J.J. Tindall

A MURDER OF TULIPS
I lug my spavined heart
to work
along the Magnificent Mile.
A murder of tulips
belies my grief.
They are nothing!

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Posted on May 11, 2009

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