Fortune magazine has an article titled “How To Find a Job”. It has the usual job hunting tips so you can read it for that. I, however, am reading it to enjoy the antics of one of my favorite Chicago sketch groups Hey You Millionaires. The last page includes the comedy group demonstrating how NOT to answer interview questions.
The new episode of Anthony Bourdain‘s food travel show No Reservations was set in Chicago tonight (they obviously filmed sometime in the summer). He did a good job of covering the wide range of food in Chicago — from gut-busting street food to adventurous-but-not-fancy like Hot Doug‘s to high-end places like Blackbird and L2O. At first I was disappointed that they seemed to be doing a lousy job of telling you where exactly in the city these restaurants are, but that is, I suppose, the job of websites, and there’s a very complete list, including a map. The only thing missing from their list is The Publican (837 W Fulton Market), which at the time of the filming was just a concept and some dishes in Paul Kahan’s backyard, but is now open. And maybe somebody is going there for his birthday tomorrow (me, it’s me, I’m going tomorrow).
Thanks, Café Descartes, for reminding us that nothing is as welcome this time of year as a ice cold coffee beverage.
I’m breaking the fourth wall to wish our readers a Happy Halloween with a 3 1/2 minute comedy video featuring two of this blog’s contributors: Bryan Bowden as Frankenstein and yours truly as the whiz behind the camera.
This video will be screened at tonight’s Lincoln Lodge Halloween Show, after which Cameron Esposito will perform a stand-up set in character as the Bride of Frankenstein. The video also features Zee Hartmann as a sexy lady vampire.
“Sure, the Bride of Frankenstein was literally made for him, but what if her heart belonged to someone else? Like a sexy lady vampire? Lucky for her he’s a pretty understanding, progressive guy.”
Pride of Frankenstein: You Sexy Beast
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHk8m7GL4oQ[/youtube]
Never let it be said that sketch comedy is a young person’s game. At Second City Sunday night, after the mainstage show, alumni from 1968 to 1972 reunited to perform a surprise set of classic scenes. The perfomance included such noteworthy Second City veterans as Joe Flaherty, Brian Doyle-Murray and Harold Ramis, who played the hour-long set to a packed house. The setlist included scenes that have become staples of the Second City touring companies, including “Funeral,” in which mourners try to stifle their amusement at their friend’s undignified demise, and “PTA,” which sends the cast out into the house to simulate the chaos that ensues after the topic of sex education is introduced at a PTA meeting.
Although the scenes themselves were almost forty years old, much of the humor arose from the random attempts to update the settings. References to iPod Docks clashed hilariously with comments about four-dollar movie tickets and the draft. Some of the scenes had been created by Jim Belushi, David Blum and director Del Close, to whom the evening was dedicated.
Second City celebrates its fiftieth anniversary next year, so there’s a chance that there will be a few more nights like this in the future.
NY-based pranksters Improv Everywhere (you know, the No Pants people) are taking their MP3 experiments on the road and they’ll be in Chicago on Sunday, October 5. Full instructions are how to participate are on their website, but the short version is that you download an mp3, put it on your iPod (or what-have-you), and go to Lincoln Park and press play at 2 pm. As everyone does so and follows the instructions on the track, you’ll participate in a happening.
Previous MP3 experiments: the first one, 2.0, III, Four, NYC and Toronto.
Hey, if you live in Chicago you have until October 7 to make sure that you’re registered for the upcoming elections. Go to the Chicago Board of Elections website and you can check your registration. If you need to update your address or register, there’s a form you can print out and then mail in.
As one of my favorite writers likes to say whenever his favorite team does well, “Life is magical and full of joy!”
Da Bears got the ’08 season off to a good start Sunday night, upsetting the Indianapolis Colts in stunning fashion. The star of the game (as you probably already know by now, as his picture was on the front page of every major publication in the city) was rookie running back Will Forte, who rushed for 123 yards. The last rookie running back to start the first game of a season for the Bears was Walter Payton in 1975. His stats for that game? Eight carries for zero yards.
The Bears defense was not the sluggish beast that lurched through the preseason. They caused and scored on turnover, stuffed Colts running back Joseph Addai in his own end zone for a safety and most importantly they managed to prevent Peyton Manning from finding any kind of rhythm. Granted, Manning spent the entire preseason recovering from knee surgery and was off his game before the opening kickoff. Still, it’s Peyton Manning.
Speaking of quarterbacks, Bears starter du jour Kyle Orton had a solid game, going 13-of-21 for 150 yards. More importantly, no turnovers. That was new and interesting.
Oddly enough, the only real screw-up came from, of all people, Devin Hester, who tried to get clever on the opening kickoff of the second half. He caught the ball deep in his own end zone, then stood casually for a few seconds, hoping the Colts would assume he was taking a touchback. They did not fall for it, but Hester decided to run for it anyway, making it only as far as the three-yard. The Colts got the ball back with good field position and responded with a touchdown.
Overall the Bears played a solid, no-frills, no-mistakes game. If they can maintain that this season should go much better than people feared.
Not that this affects us too much in Chicago, but Tom Brady’s season-ending injury is a huge loss for football fans everywhere. It will be a strange year without him.
If you are walking down the street some time this month and happen to encounter a giant red ball, do not fear; you have just seen an art installation called the RedBall Project. Conceived by Chicago native Kurt Perschke, the RedBall Project has traveled to such disparate locales as Barcelona, Spain, and Sydney, Australia. And for the month of September it will be appearing at various locations around our great city.You can find a schedule of where to find the big red ball here.
Here’s a brief video clip from the RedBall Project’s appearance in Portland, Oregon:
Do not miss the Big Red ball! How can you miss the Big Red Ball? It’s a Big Red Ball!
(How do you like my awesome photo illustration? Can I work for the Sun-Times, you think?)
A Chicago Police officer has been suspended and ordered into counseling after she was found guilty of demanding free Starbucks coffee from six different stores on the North Side from 2001 to 2004, sometimes flashing her badge, displaying her gun and screaming at employees.
Officer Barbara Nevers of the Belmont police district was suspended for more than 15 months, according to records the Chicago Police Board released Thursday. [Sun-Times]
I’m all for due process, but it’s interesting that it took four years for this officer to be suspended (and that’s suspended, not fired). Maybe the police board were similarly caffiene-deprived and so they were all asleep.
(via Boing Boing)
