By ChicagoAlleyTV
We smell reality show.
Posted on April 25, 2012
Pretty Pennies And Coin Nuts
They Love Money!
“A 1792-dated copper cent has sold for US$1.15 million, a U.S. auction house said Friday,” AFP reports.
“The experimental coin with a silver center was one of the first ever struck at the United States mint and is one of just 14 known to have survived.
“It was purchased in 1974 for $105,000 and was sold to a dealer representing a group of investors at an auction held in conjunction with the annual Central States Numismatic Society convention being held in a Chicago suburb.”
That suburb would be Schaumburg. There is also an important show this month in Rosemont. Let’s take a look.
Posted on April 24, 2012
Chicago Scene: Matt Foley And Ozzy Osbourne
Way Funnier Than Svengoolie
Corresponding for Psycho Babble TV at C2E2.
Posted on April 23, 2012
One Priest, One Mic, One Message: Father Pontifex And The Chicago Catholic Underground
Loves Rap And Religion
“Claude Burns (born 1972), better known by his stage name Father Pontifex, is an American Roman Catholic priest and hip hop artist from Evansville, Indiana,” according to his Wikipedia entry.
“He was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, but apparently ‘drifted away’ for a while and began attending a non-denominational Christian youth group.
“Pontifex began rapping at age 17 in 1989 in a rap group called The Agape Crew. He later on felt he was called to be a priest in the Catholic Church, and didn’t rap for a while but kept up with hip hop music and the rest of the scene. Pontifex was ordained in 2002. In 2002 Pontifex was introduced to Dustin Sieber, a producer from Phatmass, a Catholic hip hop record label. Sieber signed Pontifex to the label and had him write and perform a song on a Massmatics mixtape called ‘The Son Still Shines.’
“On August 24, 2011 Father Pontifex released his first studio album Ordained. The album received good reception.”
Loyola journalism student Jordan Muck uploaded this report to YouTube on Monday.
Posted on April 17, 2012
Chicagoetry: Sad Eyed Lady Of The Northwoods
By J.J. Tindall
Sad Eyed Lady of the Northwoods
Something in the way
she grieved
attached to me like
sin on skin.
Beyond her Mercury mouth
and Venus eyes
was a sadness, a black mass
of blues and lies
Posted on April 16, 2012
The Beer Thinker: Lagunitas Reshapes Chicago’s Craft Scene
By Dan O’Shea
Discerning beer drinkers in Chicago tend to lament the fact that our town has played a fairly low-key role thus far in the resurgence of craft beer.
Even with the emergence of at least half a dozen new breweries in Chicago over the last year or so, and the sale of local icon Goose Island as recognition of Chicago’s current brewing community, the pride has been lacking a bit. Local beer drinkers and local beer makers alike have sometimes been too quick to acknowledge that smaller cities like Portland have a better-developed craft beer scene than Chicago.
Will all that change now that fast-growing Petaluma, Calif.-based Lagunitas Brewing Co. has decided to open Chicago’s largest modern brewery on the South Side? In some ways it could help make the local craft beer scene a bit more cohesive, giving the community a truly massive anchor tenant, where it previously has been made up of much smaller, yet ambitious, players.
Posted on April 11, 2012
Chicago Skatepark Star Makes Good
Meet Chaz Ortiz
“Growing up in Chicago, Chaz had an itch for skateboarding at a very young age,” KidzWorld once wrote. “When he was just six-years-old, Chad begged his dad to buy him a skateboard. When his dad gave in, Chaz took full advantage practicing tricks day and night. It wasn’t long until the pint-sized skatepark star started making a name for himself around the Windy City and eventually the world.”
Chaz is now 17. Check out this video from sponsor Zoo York.
Posted on April 9, 2012
Have A Rock ‘n’ Roll Passover
Teaching At The Oasis: Part Four
By Roger Wallenstein
Last in a series. Previously: One, Two, Three.
They call it a carnival, and the school stages three of them a year.
So we made our way over to Oasis Elementary last Thursday evening to find a few hundred students, parents, and teachers socializing in the courtyard amidst booths for food and games.
Principal Dora Flores greeted people from a table where she was selling tickets which could be redeemed for anything from putt-putt golf to tacos to a cold drink.
Once the program began, we were entertained by Ballet Folklorico and lots of songs. Not only were the kids cute, happy, and proud, but the ambiance exuded a sense of community and togetherness where the children were the center of attention. We also felt a personal sense of pride watching a few of our students engaged in activities other than trying to sort out language skills.
Yet, it is those skills on which these young people are most often judged. That is the reality despite the fact that there is so much more to the story.
Posted on April 5, 2012
Snakes & Sumo In Tinley Park
By SnakeBytesTV
The North American Reptile Breeders Conference came to Tinley Park in March and returns in October. We catch up with the action via today’s upload from SnakeBytesTV.
Posted on April 4, 2012