By Helene Smith
The real rulers.
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Posted on June 17, 2016
What Was The Chance Of Ferris Bueller Getting Caught On His Day Off? This Academic Has The Answer
By Martin Archer/The Conversation
In the classic 1980s movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, the title character spent his day off gallivanting around Chicago, seeing the sights and even hijacking a parade.
Unlike the super-confident Ferris, most of us would probably worry about getting caught if we skived off like that. But is that fear really justified?
We can use a neat mathematical tool known as the “random walk” to answer this question by modeling a day off in a city. This simple but extremely powerful technique is a way of simulating the path of someone or something to see where they end up. As the name suggests, a random walk involves moving in an entirely random direction to a new location and repeating this process once you arrive (and so on).
It is used in all manner of fields. Physicists use it to describe diffusion, the random spreading out of highly concentrated molecules in liquids and gases. But it can also be used in the financial forecasting of stock prices. It’s even how Twitter suggests who you should follow.
Posted on June 16, 2016
Exclusive! The Real Reasons Why McDonald’s Is Abandoning The Suburbs For The City
Another Beachwood Special Report!
“McDonald’s has taken the boldest step yet in its yearlong effort to transform itself into a ‘modern, progressive’ company by moving downtown with the cool kids,” the Tribune reports.
“The world’s largest burger chain plans to relocate from the custom-built Oak Brook headquarters it has called home for nearly four decades to Chicago’s West Town neighborhood, an area of hot restaurants and bars, becoming the latest corporation moving to be closer to the millennials they want as employees.”
More specifically, McDonald’s is moving into Oprah’s old place.
But it’s not about being close to the cool kids, the Beachwood has learned. It’s about these compelling reasons:
Posted on June 15, 2016
A Message From Alcoholics Anonymous
A Note Of Thanks And A Request For Continued Cooperation
Dear Steve,
From time to time we write our friends in the media to thank them for helping us observe our long-standing tradition of anonymity for members of Alcoholics Anonymous.
First, let us express our deep gratitude to you. From the beginning of A.A. in 1935, its members have recognized that word-of-mouth is not sufficient by itself to carry the program’s message of hope and recovery to the many people still suffering from alcoholism. The media has been a vital part of this effort, and today we estimate that there are more than 2 million successfully recovering members of Alcoholics Anonymous in more than 180 countries.
Posted on June 14, 2016
Brock Turner, The Theater Teacher And Me
So, a few words (okay, maybe more than a few) on Brock Turner, rape, privilege, recovery, and our justice system.
Brock Turner, in case you live under a rock, was a rising swimming star at Stanford who chose to sexually violate a young woman, run away when he was interrupted, and then steadfastly refuse to accept any responsibility for his actions.
His victim was incredibly brave. She woke up in a hospital to discover she’d been sexually assaulted behind a dumpster after going to a party with her sister. She chose to prosecute her rapist. She suffered and continues to suffer from intense psychological torment.
When the newspapers initially reported her rape, they included mention of Turner’s swimming times, because he was a big man on campus and she was just some woman whose life was torn to shreds. Poor Brock. Swimming career over. Kicked out of Stanford. An ugly label to live with.
Posted on June 13, 2016
Beachwood Photo Booth: You Are Beautiful
By Helene Smith
“It began simply with 100 stickers in 2002 in Chicago, and has since evolved into block-long murals, public installations, and exhibitions at cultural institutions involving thousands of artists.”
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Posted on June 10, 2016
Cook County Bird Of The Month: The Great Egret!
By The Forest Preserves Of Cook County
Throughout 2016, the Forest Preserves of Cook County invites visitors to see some of the most interesting native and migrating birds in the Preserves.
Each month during the Forest Preserves’ 2016 Bird the Preserves initiative, a new bird will be highlighted. Visitors will have the opportunity to spot the bird of the month at an event or program, and learn what makes that bird so special. The June Bird of the Month is the great egret.
Whether fishing or fighting, the great egret’s razor-sharp bill is an amazing tool:
- Stalking & spearing: Standing motionless or slowly wading in shallow water, great egrets wait for prey (mainly small fish and amphibians) to swim by. With a swift stab of the bill, they pierce or snap up the oblivious prey – then swallow them whole.
- Sibling rivalry: Dominant chicks have been known to use their bills to attack weaker siblings in the nest, sometimes resulting in death.
- Nest defense: Great egrets most often nest in isolated tree-top colonies with other water birds. If a predator manages to make it to a nest, they’ll be met with sharp thrusting bills.
To see the June Bird of the Month, check out this event:
Posted on June 8, 2016
At The Art Institute | America After The Fall
The Art Wars Of The ’30s
“Curator Judith Barter provides insights into the exhibition America after the Fall, which brings together 50 works by some of the foremost artists of the era – including Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Grant Wood – to examine the landscape of the United States during the Great Depression and the many avenues artists explored as they sought to forge a new national art and identity.”
Posted on June 7, 2016
Beachwood Photo Booth: Greystone Chicago
By Helene Smith
“Chicago’s answer to brownstones.”
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Posted on June 3, 2016
U Of C Team Goes Inside ISIS’s Looted Antiquities Trade
By Fiona Rose-Greenland/The Conversation
For excavators – archaeologists, but also looters like the Islamic State, or ISIS – the opportunity for discovery in modern Iraq and Syria is dazzling.
The countries lie within the Fertile Crescent, a broad swath of land stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to the Zagros Mountains and the Persian Gulf that gave rise to some of the earliest complex societies.
The human settlement record begins around 9000 B.C., which means, among other things, that the soil is rich with artifacts. Syria alone has 4,500 surveyed and published archaeological sites, and scholars estimate that there are many more.
Everyone seems to agree that ISIS is digging up and selling archaeological artifacts to make money. But no one seems to agree on how much money it’s actually making from its illegal antiquities trade: amounts have ranged from $4 million to $7 billion.
Despite a number of challenges, my University of Chicago research team – known as MANTIS (Modeling the Antiquities Trade in Iraq and Syria) – has worked to outline the framework of ISIS’s antiquities trade as well as accurately estimate how much cash ISIS and other insurgent groups are making from the endeavor.
Posted on June 2, 2016