Why I Oughta...

This morning, on my walk to the train, I spotted this rendering that is up on the windows of the old Plass store on York Street.  It shows a three-story mixed-use building and has an entry on the 'public walkway' to the north of the existing Plass building with an entrance for something called "York Condominiums". I covered the building back in February when they took the asbestos out of the first floor here on the blog . It looks to have a terraced elevation with the second and third floors receding backwards - which I think will help with the street presence.  I am, a bit bummed that they're going to be ripping down the Plass building - along with the sign.   Take a look at this post that shows the sign and the building . I know that government's role isn't to dictate to property owners what they can/should do with their property, but as the Elmhurst City Centre continues to evolve, I think we'll wish we had *more* of the old buildings that

Take a good look, America.  That right there is Christmas 'stuff' showing up in Costco in Oak Brook, Illinois in August.  Yes....August. This isn't the first time Costco has gone out in August for Christmas.   Back in 2013, I posted some photos from August .   Same in 2012 . You'll hear lots of folks belly-ache about 'Christmas Creep', but I'm not one of them.  Bring it on. I LOVE Christmas.  I love everything about Christmas and having these retailers get ahead of Christmas by booking some revenue in Q3 of their year, than I'm totally ok with it. We didn't buy anything, but don't think I wasn't tempted.  Can't wait for Menards to toss out the Halloween stuff and bring in the Christmas stuff.  Let's go.

The Babe *soooo* wanted the Halloween scary train from Menards.  She was like, "Daddy!  Take my picture by the train!" Alas...this is NOT the year for it as we're in transition between homes and stuff.  Hate to disappoint her, but....maybe next year?

Spotted this in the hallway of the Edelman Chicago Office.  I've worked at a few very special places in my career and one of the things that tie those places together is that in each case, the powers--that-be have done far  *more* than simply paid lip service to cultivating a strong, unique culture.  They lived it. While the business results and the 'setting' (like what the office looks like) are important, the concept of a culture is far more important in recruiting and retaining the brightest minds in the world.  I'm excited everyday about the people and the challenges my team is tackling.  Onward.

It was just a week ago that I was moaning about how Disney ships a ton of iOS apps and very few Android ones - or at least ones of the same quality. Well, well, well.  Guess what showed up in my inbox today?  This note about a new Star Wars app that is - huzzah! - available on both iOS and Google Play at the same time. Downloaded .  Let's see what's doing with this thing.

I spotted this poster for 'The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared" outside the York Theatre this morning.  This is the September showing of the monthly "Art @ The York" series.   I've covered past screenings on the blog here and here . Here's the synopsis from the York's site . Based on the internationally best-selling novel by Jonas Jonasson, the unlikely story of a 100-year-old man who decides it's not too late to start over. For most people it would be the adventure of a lifetime, but Allan Karlsson's unexpected journey is not his first. For a century he's made the world uncertain, and now he is on the loose again.

Spotted this flyer in a City Centre business window recently for a BBQ competition on Sunday, September 6th.  The host is the Elmhurst Walk-In Ministry - which I have no idea where/what they are, but the fact that they're having a meat competition makes me interested.   And...frankly...this competition is a success by just having people like me head to their site and try to figure out what they're up to.  (Turns out, it sounds like a really great organization doing hard, necessary work !  Good for you guys!) The competition is set to take place in a spot that they're billing as "the Elmhurst City lot at the corner of York and Vallette", but I think that means it is in the lot behind (east) of those businesses at that intersection in the lot that hosts the Farmer's markets on Wednesdays. The Elmhurst Walk-In Ministry is  hosting a pdf on their website with the full rules and it appears that this is a true competition with judges and a 'clamshell tur