Chicago Metblogs » Dave!

Da Mayor and Northwestern

Dave! — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:22:13 +0000

Well, apparently, a lot of Northwestern students are not happy about the decision to have Mayor Daley speak at Commencement this year. Go figure. You can’t please all the people all of the time. I don’t think that’s such an interesting story.

What I do think is interesting is the response the University President made to a student who wrote to complain. Senior Matthew Braslow e-mailed President Henry Bienen, in which he called the choice a “slap in the face” and that it “proved again why [Northwestern] is falling rapidly in the national rankings.” Pretty immature stuff, for a college senior. But the response from President Bienen was even worse… FTA:

“You sound like a very unhappy person,” Bienen wrote. “I am sorry for that. Hopefully things will improve for you over the years.” Bienen took this one step further, suggesting to Braslow, “By the way you think a commencement speaker has any thing to do with the national stature of Northwestern tells me we failed here in educating you.”

Is that really any way for a University President to respond to a student? Hell, to respond to anyone? Even if the student was acting like a whiny, disrespectful brat, I would have expected someone who’d risen to the level of President of a respected university to take the high road. Looks like Jerry Springer has had more of an influence on Northwestern than I would have guessed…

Seed Conference

Dave! — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:46:09 +0000

The 3rd Seed Conference is coming up in June. The event has some really impressive Chicago entrepreneurs lined up: Carlos Segura, creator of T.26; Jason Fried of 37signals, Jake Nickell and Jeffery Kalmikoff of Threadless fame, and Jim Coudal of Coudal Partners. Plus Gary Vaynerchuk, who even though he’s not from Chicago and is a Jets fan, is still pretty damn cool.

Anyone been to any of the other Seed conferences?

Top Chef Chicago: Culling the Herd

Dave! — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:55:20 +0000

It was another good night on Top Chef Chicago. Unfortunately, the Chicago “celebrity” was “famed Chicago film critic” (what??) Richard Roeper. Man, that just made me sad… but moving on to the show. The movie theme was pretty cool, and I think the judges got it right…

…Richard and Dale’s Willy Wonka inspired dish looked fantastic. It was a smoked salmon with a faux caviar and a white chocolate wasabi sauce that looked pretty incredible, and apparently tasted as good as it looked. I was pretty impressed with Lisa and Stephanie, too, who did a strip steak with braised short rib, with an apple wonton and a caramel sauce. I’d order it, that’s for sure. I would have loved to have seen Stephanie pull out another win, but Dale and Richard really did deserve it.

Who didn’t deserve it? Manuel. It was Spike’s call to do Vietnamese, and it was his weak leadership that lead to such a lackluster dish. Plus the hats man… hats can be cool. Spike’s are not. When they were selected as the losing team, I was really hoping the hat man would go, instead, they kicked off Manuel for not being more assertive… whatever. And can I just say I really don’t like Tom Colicchio? Anyone out their ever eaten his food?

Top Chef Chicago: Bye Bye, Good Riddance. (SPOILERS)

Dave! — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:07:11 +0000

I can’t tell you how happy I was to see Erik leave… Considering Frontera and Topolobampo are two of my favorite restaurants in Chicago and that I love Rick Bayless, Erik’s attitude had me hating him from the top of the show. Good editing, Bravo.

Mexican can’t be fine dining? B.S. Topolobampo is a perfect example of how Mexican can be new, exciting, fine dining, all while retaining a sense of tradition and without pretense. Erik just showed no class and I was glad to see him go.

Besides, if you cook corndogs in your restaurant all the time, then you should have known they wouldn’t have traveled well–loser.

Beet It.

Dave! — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:54:23 +0000

I’d heard about cities in Ohio experimenting with beet juice for ice/snow removal on roadways, but I didn’t know that Chicago was doing it, too.

Sounds pretty good to me, although that business about the laser mounted poles does frighten me a bit…

Oppose the Sales Tax Increase?

Dave! — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:40:37 +0000

It could be that you think we don’t already pay enough sales tax or property tax in Cook County. If that’s so, you’re probably happy about the proposed sales tax increase. However, if you’re like most of us, the idea of paying 10.25% in the city for sales tax (the highest in the nation!) doesn’t really appeal to you… So call the Toddler and let him know:

CALL 312 -603-6400 (Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s Office)

Choose option 1 (to provide feedback on general issues)
Then choose option 2 (for proposed sale tax increase)
Then choose option 2 (to OPPOSE the sales tax increase)

I’d also call the other Cook County Commissioners, if you have the time:

Earlean Collins (312) 603-4566
Robert Steele (312) 603-3019
Jerry Butler (312) 603-6391
William M. Beavers (312) 603-2065
Deborah Sims (312) 603-6381
Joan Patricia Murphy (312) 603-4216
Joseph Mario Moreno (312) 603-5443
Roberto Maldonado (312) 603-6386
Peter N. Silvestri (312) 603-4393
Mike Quigley (312) 603-4210
John P. Daley (312) 603-4400
Forrest Claypool (312) 603-6380
Larry Suffredin (312) 603-6383
Gregg Goslin (312) 603-4932
Timothy O. Schneider (312) 603-6388
Anthony J. Peraica (312) 603-6384
Elizabeth Ann Doody Gorman (312) 603-4215

Chicago HDR Photography

Dave! — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:58:21 +0000

I love HDR photography… something about the surreal super-saturated colors just makes me happy. And I love Chicago. So without further ado…

Chicago HDRs
Flickr Chicago HDR images

Enjoy!

Spotted at Northwestern Today…

Dave! — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:57:03 +0000

Do you have stomach problems?

Many people have stomach discomfort, stomach pain, feel full after eating and other troubles with meals.

Our Fearless, Or Is It Clueless, Leader?

Dave! — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:37:52 +0000

George Bush is in town today, to ~~beat up little kids~~ celebrate ‘No Child Left Behind’ and to honor a soilder’s father. Then he’s going to chat with “Business Leaders” at the Union League Club.

In the meantime, his visit shut down the express lanes during rush hour this morning. I know he’s the President and all, but you’d think they could avoid impacting the daily commute of us working stiffs. Doesn’t he have a helicopter he can take downtown? I know he has a flight suit.

No More Party Cab…

Dave! — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:03:15 +0000

The Party Cab is no more. The Department of Consumer Services said the cab was “a safety hazard” and won’t let it on the streets until it complies with code.

Safety hazard? Apparently, the Department of Consumer Services are unfamiliar with the driving of the other ten-thousand cabs out there… how about doing something about that safety, instead of picking on a guy who puts stickers and kitsch in his cab.