February 2011
34 posts
1 tag
Just to Follow Up on "The Panic."
Every time I see someone say “what’s the big deal about snow this is Chicago it’s not like we’ve never seen snow before,” I feel obligated to remind them that yes, this is Chicago. The Chicago where we usually get about 2 inches at a time, which then melts fairly soon after. The Chicago where we get one or two, maybe three big storms a year. The Chicago where we...
Feb 1st
3 notes
“One reader suggested we call the forthcoming snow a “snownami;” Karl coined the...”
– Chicagoist (via leahj) I just want to say that I don’t remember saying “blizzaster” at all but apparently I did and I’m pretty sure I saw it on Twitter.  Credit where credit is due & don’t want anyone thinking I’m some filthy hack portmanteau thief.
Feb 1st
7 notes
January 2011
58 posts
Join The Panic.
We’ve collectively spent all damn day freaking out about this big storm that’s apparently coming our way.  By all reports, it seems like it’s going to be pretty rough and we should all be preparing to hunker down and ride it out. Part of Chicago is thinking “they always oversell these things, it’ll just be 4 inches and some gusty winds.  No big deal.” ...
Jan 31st
6 notes
1 tag
Jan 31st
61 notes
3 tags
Jan 31st
6 notes
Jan 31st
7 notes
2 tags
Jan 30th
Jan 28th
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“CLAIM: A secret tape recorded aboard the doomed Challenger captured the final...”
– I know it’s fake.  But even though it’s fake, this seems plausible.  And it always affects me, because serves to humanize this national tragedy, creating people where otherwise it’s just news footage watched by a whole country en masse. Damn you, Weekly World News.  This is...
Jan 28th
1 note
2 tags
Jan 28th
1 note
Jan 28th
2 tags
Every Year We Do Superbowl Nacho Night...
…and this year we’re expanding it to new people which prompted a few questions and this response from my wife today: 1) Each year we offer a variety of nachos, but the past couple of years we’ve landed on 2 favorites: BBQ Pulled Pork with melty, creamy queso Traditional nachos with taco-spiced ground beef, shredded cheese, some queso, tomatoes, green onions- all baked until...
Jan 27th
2 notes
Jan 26th
3 tags
Irony.
I just got an email obviously phishing for my bank information. I tried to report it to the Gmail cops, but the link to that page was blocked by my work’s Websense for “security issues.” If people still said FML, then FML, or something.
Jan 25th
2 notes
From Craigslist:
Wikipedia Content Writer Individual experianced in writing articles/content for Wikipedia. must have had prior articles published with Wikipedia and furnish examples. Please email wikipedia examples and what your charge per article would reange. What the hell?
Jan 25th
Jan 24th
2 tags
Herein Lies Radio Related Blithering.
Feder wrote about the battle between the Loop and the Drive today, wherein he said this: In terms of air talent alone, it’s not even fair to compare the Drive’s lineup of Steve Downes, Bob Stroud, Bobby Skafish and Phil Manicki with the Loop’s Pete McMurray, Pat Capone, John “Byrd” Kempf and Walter Flakus. Under current management, the Loop and Q101 have become mere echoes of their past...
Jan 24th
5 notes
4 tags
“Before the game, the governor hosted six veterans and military service members...”
– Say what you will about Pat Quinn, but never doubt his dedication to soldiers.  H/t to CapFax.
Jan 24th
1 tag
The GOP Last Week:  “The symbolic vote to repeal Health Care Reform is an absolutely necessary vote that is a vitally important sign to the voters that sent us here!” The GOP This Week:  “Why should anyone care about where Congressmen sit during the state of the union?  It’s useless, timewasting symbolism.”
Jan 24th
Settle Down Sports Fans →
aaroncynic: The ‘85 Bears were so cool they made a rap song after winning the Superbowl during a time when most music was made by Phil Collins to encourage homicidal tendencies in investment bankers. At least with the ‘10 Bears missing the big game, you won’t have to listen to hundreds of crappy remakes of a classic. I have to return some videotapes.
Jan 24th
2 notes
Jan 23rd
“Candyflipping is the consumption of both LSD and MDMA, in that order. Everybody...”
– This term reminds me of 1998, for some reason. “First, you will eat some acid.”
Jan 23rd
Jan 23rd
3 notes
Jan 22nd
29 notes
Glenn Beck targets a female college professor as... →
Frances Fox Piven is a distinguished professor of political science and sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. At 78, she has taught several generations of students about how and why poor people don’t get a fair shake in the United States and how to increase their organizational power and encourage voter registration. … [Beck] accused her of being “an enemy of...
Jan 21st
694 notes
4 tags
Jan 21st
5 notes
“We have made the ground game our priority,” Ferguson said. “Ideally, you would...”
– Braun Campaign Has Raised Less Than $600,000 | Early And Often “…when you have no money,” said a small voice inside Ferguson’s head.  (via ourmaninchicago) And yet, she’s polling at a not-insubstantial 21%, a massive jump from her previous 6%. Despite the way she plays in the press,...
Jan 21st
1 note
3 tags
“And then the Romans came along with their gods that they had borrowed from the...”
– Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill Streaming on Netflix. Yesssssss. (via absurdlakefront) We’ve been maniacally streaming Izzard on Netflix for a few days/weeks now.  Every time I watch Dress To Kill, I’m always reminded of just how much of my sense of humor was shaped in one single comedy...
Jan 21st
Say it with me, internet:
I WILL NOT LINK THE OCTOMOM FETISH VIDEO. Repeat it: I WILL NOT LINK THE OCTOMOM FETISH VIDEO.
Jan 20th
Jan 20th
Jan 19th
2 tags
Jan 19th
Jan 19th
8 notes
Jan 15th
Jan 14th
1,913 notes
“The director of this half-cooked mess is Michel Gondry, whose “Eternal Sunshine...”
– When Ebert hates your movie, he really hates your movie.
Jan 14th
2 tags
Jan 14th
Jan 13th
38 notes
Jan 13th
3 notes
I Usually Never Get Asked Nothin'.
But my wife’s intern, who’s apparently going to start doing some interviews for a website, asked me - me! - some thoughts about how I go about doing my interview and Q&A pieces. Now, I’ve done an interview or two in my day, so I thought I’d throw these up against the walls of the interwebs and see what sticks.  Here’s what I put together: 1)  This is the...
Jan 11th
4 notes
Jan 11th
143 notes
3 tags
I Have An Idea.
Someone needs to write an app, or a program, or a plug-in, or a something, that simply blocks every single mention of the Westboro Baptist Church from ever entering a web browser. I can’t help but see news about all their protests come through on Twitter and news sites and all the other outlets I follow and count on to tell me about the world.  If I don’t see any of the news and never...
Jan 11th
Jan 11th
6 tags
Six Months Later...
From MSNBC, August of 2010: Man with assault rifle attends Obama protest Experts fret over ‘chilling’ effect on political discourse following Ariz. event About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday — the latest incident in which protesters have...
Jan 10th
2 notes
Jan 10th
1 tag
“Dick King-Smith, an internationally popular British children’s author...”
– And with that, the entire Internet reflected and said, “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.”
Jan 10th
2 tags
Jan 9th
THE WORLD, LAST WEEK: “Why the hell would the President congratulate a convicted felon with an amazing talent for taking advantage of a second chance?” THE WORLD, THIS WEEK:  “Isn’t it great that a thief and a drug addict with an amazing talent is getting a second chance?”
Jan 7th
9 notes
2 tags
Jan 6th
Jan 6th
4 notes