Why I Oughta...

Recently, we were headed into the City to visit with Nat's sister and Google Maps took us on a route that I don't think I've ever been on before this trip.  Along the way, we drove past the Patio Theater and what did the marquee say?  "A B I D E".  Then, as we creeped forward, the side of the marquee listed an event taking place on Friday:  Lebowski Fest. What the what? Sure enough, according to DNA Info , there was, indeed, a Lebowski night there. "The Big Lebowski" is returning to the big screen at the Patio Theater on Friday. The theater, 6008 W. Irving Park Road, is hosting "Lebowski Night" with a 7 p.m. screening of the 1998 Coen brothers cult classic.  The showing will be followed by a 10 p.m. live performance by The Fortunate Sons , a tribute band to Credence Clearwater Revival, whose music runs throughout the movie's soundtrack.  The theater use the event to show off its newly-rehabilitated bar, so spectators can sip Whi

I scored another vintage Marshall Field's Christmas mug at a Garage Sale a week or so ago - this time from 1983.   If you recall, I posted a few years ago about the two Walnut Room/Marshall Field's Christmas mugs that I picked up at the Elmhurst Goodwill .  They were 1980 and 1981 years.  There were four total mugs (two from each year) and my sister Vic has a Marshall Field's collection of sorts, so a pair of them were destined for her collection. If you go back and look at the other post showing the 1980 and 1981 mugs , you'll see that the 1980 version is one of these 'hot toddy' mugs while the 1981 one is a normal mug shape.  The '83 version went back to the taller, 'hot toddy' version.  But, the character is just as interesting. 1980:  A teddy bear, Christmas tree and presents under the tree. 1981:  Contortionist Santa. But, in 1983, they used Uncle Mistletoe.   Don't know who he is?  C heck out this piece about Field's from the

Chicago's 'front yard' is a winter wonderland this morning as a bit of snow dropped on the parks.  The last time I posted a snow picture of my view from Edelman was last year in February . We've been fortunate with very little snow this winter and normally I'm all for bad, snowy winters.  But this year, since we've been building the house during the bulk of the winter, we've been hoping and (so far.... *knock on wood*) have had a super mild winter. Now that our house is all button'd up with a roof and windows , snow like this doesn't affect us one bit.  And that's kinda nice.

This is the 17th coaster added to the 'coaster collection'.   You can see the whole archive here .  This is from The Betty where we went for a 'too cool for school' cocktail while we waited for a table at Duck Duck Goat. The Betty is a pretty big place so we found a spot to hang for a while and drink our craft cocktails like the cool kids.  We weren't out of place, thankfully, because Nat, her sister and her mom were there to class our group up.

Recently, I was standing in my office going through my email, listening to Stern, minding my own business when this dude dropped down on his scaffolding and proceeded to wash the windows 64 floors up at the Aon Building. Not sure why I get such a kick out of this pretty intimate face-to-face interaction, but I do!   I posted a similar photo from my time at Google when I saw the window washer back in 2012 here on the blog . This guy gave me a head nod and I then proceeded to give his equipment a once-over.  He was harnessed in but he didn't have the suction cups that connected his rig to the building like the guy back in 2012. I have a HUGE fear of heights, so I don't know how these guys do this job.   Not only are they cold and wet, but they're dangling on a piece of aluminum by a few cords 64 floors up.  I guess there's some satisfaction in cleaning windows - what with seeing the job getting done in front of your eyes - but the height.  My GOD...the height.

Compare those stands of trees to the west (to the right in this photo) of the Pritzker Pavillion in all their red glory to what they looked like just 3ish weeks ago in this post . It won't be long before they're barren and covered in ice.

Walking down State Street this week, you'll see that they've gone 'dark' with their windows in preparation for the release of their annual windows featuring Christmas scenes. I covered the same 'coming soon' situation back in 2014 and the day they opened last year here on the blog .  We still take our kids down to the Walnut Room every year just as I did when I was a kid with my mom and sister(s).  (I actually only remember going with Vic, but I'm guessing that Sharon and Linda were there, too??  I dunno.)  Thus, I have a really soft spot in my heart for Marshall Field's at Christmastime and specifically for peering into these windows. Let's hope that the fine folks at Macy's have learned their lesson and won't give us New York City's "hand me downs" like they did last year .  Shame on them for that one.

The trees are starting to turn.  Look at the ones just southwest of the end of the Pritzker Pavillion lawn.  They're red!  Well, some of them are.  But, looking back in the archives, I found this post from Halloween of last year that shows that same stand of trees being all bright red .  So, the best is yet to come. There's also a bit of post-Chicago Marathon clean-up happening here with the tents and what-have-you in the parks and around Buckingham Fountain.  Fall splendor, not quite.  But a quick look at the transition point between summer and fall from the 64th floor of the Aon Center.

If you look closely at the photo up above, you'll see a boom truck on the right with a guy in the cherry picker installing white Christmas lights on the trees out on the Randolph side of the Daley Center. Turns out, I spotted the exact same thing last year, but they were putting up the lights even earlier?!?  I posted these photos on September 22nd of 2015 .  This year, they're almost three weeks later. Here's a photo that shows more of the lights in the trees. If I recall correctly, they actually turn these lights off for a bit, until we get closer to Thanksgiving.  So, while sure, this is technically Christmas Creep, I still stand by my statement that this is just good planning.    I also kinda love to see it.

Saw this as I walked by the Chicago Theatre this week on my way into the office.  While I know she's a legend, it was her stop on the Stern Show that made me think about her.  So...seeing her selling out three shows at the Chicago Theatre just made me smile.   Glad she's still be appreciated and that *she's* still creating.

That's the view from my office this week as the NFL has arrived and Chicago has rolled out the red carpet for them in the form of the second year of Draft Town.   Here's my post showing the setup from last year in 2015 .   They seem to have shifted the bulk of the activities towards the lake with the biggest tent area right along Lake Shore Drive and a few other tents and what look like broadcast booths scattered around Buckingham Fountain.  They also (if you look closely!) added a Ferris Wheel.  Which is weird, right?   Last year, all the action was confined east of Columbus with the biggest tent right on Michigan Avenue.  That's where the team representatives sat and talked on the phones.  They then 'walked' the picks across the street to the Auditorium Theatre .  Not sure if that's part of the schtick this year?   I think it is great to have this event here in town.  I'm sure that we - the taxpayers - are footing the bill, but I think that

Back a couple of weeks, I met my childhood friend Neil at the Chicago Athletic Association building for a few beverages and some what-have-yous.  We got the full tour of the place from the drawing room to the game room to the new rooftop place called Cindy's.  We didn't however, get into the Cherry Circle Room.  It didn't open until 5.   The Cherry Circle is a place that I've been before.  In fact, it was likely one of my few times when I was served in a bar before I was 21.  My oldest sister was married back in the 90's at the CAA and I remember spending time with her soon-to-be-husband and his wedding party in the Cherry Circle the morning of the wedding.  I really like what the new owners of the place have done with the place.  They've kept everything that was wonderful with the old CAA and breathed a lot of new life into the place.  It is funky and weird, but not so off-putting as a place like the Ace Hotel in DTLA is for me.  I'd gladly go back and

I'm pretty sure they changed the logo .  Could the Rickett's have drawn a line in the sand?? More about this place soon.  I did post about the cider I had there, though !  But...just wait for the full story.

If you wonder by Marshall Field's errrr  Macy's on State Street today, you'll see some pretty cool windows being displayed that celebrate the Macy's Flower Show that takes place on the 9th floor.  Gotta be honest...if the windows are any indication, the show must be spectacular.   The window above is on the Randolph Street side (right around the corner from State) and focuses on the American Southwest.  Pardon the glare, but if you look closely, you'll see a bunch of cacti and succulents in a wide array of shapes/sizes.  It made me stop in my tracks to peek at. And below is the northern-most window on State Street that highlights 'The City' and features a little rooftop balcony scene with pots and a bunch of tropicals. They've created these 'cards' on their site that show the 8 different areas.  Here are three of them to show you how well they're done.  The Pacific Northwest Wonderland.  The Vast Southwest.  And the Shining Northeast

Here's what things looked like out my office window yesterday in the early am.  As a reminder, if you click here , you'll see all these posts that show what is lurking underneath those clouds. Seems that the whole cooler by the lake thing in action, right?

It is a winter wonderland out there in Grant Park and Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park these days. Here's a photo of the same view about a month back in early January .  The sunshine sure makes a difference. I also took this photo showing more of the lake.  Check out the jagged-ness of the ice on the water.  Pretty neat to see.

Man-o-man.  The train was packed this morning and the office was full of people when I arrived at 815 am today.  Either people had cabin fever and wanted to get back to their regular schedule or people are like me and fired up to get started.  Let's sell some HR software, amirite?!?! Here's the view from my office back in late November on the first snow .  Looks pretty similar. Aside from the lack of glisten in the eye of all the little people buzzing around getting ready for Christmas.  Now, the people in the photo above are just mindlessly milling around trying to get to their first cup of coffee to get the year started right.

After reading about the hub-bub over this Macy's mistake over on Rachelle's blog , I had to go see it for myself.  My photo isn't the best angle of this thing, so if you want to see a straight-on-shot, check out this photo to see the full thing for yourself .   What you're seeing there is some iconic Chicago buildings (Hancock, Sears, Crain) all wedged into what is definitely Manhattan Island with the NYC Thanksgiving Parade running right down the middle.   Rachelle Bowden has some close-up photos of this mess here .   To be fair...the windows this year are just flat.out.awesome.  Really beautiful to look at and a really fun story.  But why did they have to put Chicago on an island?!? This is *some* bullshit, right?   This thread on Reddit does a good job of covering the issues .  Just corporate deafness.  Oh, Marshall Fields...what could have been... Chicagoist got a response from Macy's where they are saying that this isn't a hand-me-down fr

There's a nice sign up on the east side of the market explaining what the big giant light-up "A" is all about. It isn't....for the "Roll Tide" folks.  It is for the Atheists and agnostics and it's aim is to 'encourage the non-religious to come out of the closet, eradicate the negative stereotypes of non-believers, promote rational thinking over superstition' and more.  Good luck with that.   There's nothing quite like the so-called "War on Christmas" that gets a certain slice of the population up in arms.  Well...there are other things like marriage equality and other things that happen inside people's bedrooms.  But...let's just agree that the same folks who consider this an 'assault' on Christmas are likely the same folks who consider marriage equality an 'assault' on marriage. Sadly...there's no aluminum pole for the Festivus celebrants.  Guess those folks are too busy prepping for the 'air

This is the view I walked in to at the office this am.  You'll see that there's plenty of snow covering Maggie Daley park on the left side, but the city crews have cleaned up the bean pretty well.  Also, as a bonus, you can barely.make.out the new City of Chicago Christmas Tree in very bottom right.  See the oval-ish ice rink on the right side next to The Bean?  Just below that is a planter with the new tree stuck in the middle of it.  If you click on the photo above, it should blow up bigger and you can make it out. Here's what this same spot looked like back on Halloween .  Much different feel, isn't it?