By Steve Rhodes
“After tracking these most extreme of extreme beers to Texas and Colorado, I can now report that two of the strongest beers ever made will be sold in Chicago soon,” Mark McDermott writes for the Examiner.
“Binny’s Beverage Depot’s Assistant Beer Buyer, Kyle Fornek, posted on the retailer’s web site that they will be getting a small shipment of Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck! from BrewDog, based near Aberdeen, northern Scotland.
“Proudly waving the banner of ‘Beer for Punks,’ BrewDog has been pushing the boundaries of both style and propriety. When UK government regulators complained about their naming an 18.2% oak-aged imperial stout ‘Tokyo,’ they responded by creating a 1.1% beer (later 0.5%) called ‘Nanny State.'”
Bring Your Own Knives
“Talented home cooks can show off their skills at an open call for FOX’s MasterChef with Gordon Ramsay,” Fox Detroit News reports.
“The nationwide talent search will take place on Saturday, Dec. 4 at Chicago’s Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.”
Chocolate Factory
“Chocolatier Robyn Rice-Foster refuses to compromise when it comes to fashion and flavor, so she creates jewelry and shoes made entirely of chocolate,” ABC7 reports. “Robyn’s delicious accessories will benefit the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, aidschicago.org, as she returns to its signature event, World of Chocolate on Thursday, December 2.”
Deal of the Day
“Google’s $6 billion bid for Groupon, an online coupon start-up, is an aggressive move by the company to dominate local online advertising and help with its long-sought move into social networking,” the New York Times reports.
“Google has offered Groupon $5.3 billion, with the promise of $700 million in performance bonuses for management, according to a person knowledgeable about the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Several people close to the deal said Groupon, which is based in Chicago, was expected to approve the acquisition and an agreement could be signed as early as this week.”
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If the deal goes through, will Groupon give us our money back?
That’s Todd!
“Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s administration treated families whose homes were damaged by floods to a nearly $79,000 party at Brookfield Zoo, paying for the day of fun with federal grant money meant to restore those homes, newly released county documents show,” the Tribune reports.
“The Sept. 12 zoo event included parking, admission, special attractions and ‘hungry as a bear’ picnic baskets for up to 2,250 people, according to an invoice. The zoo tab also covered more than $8,000 in entertainment, including a prize raffle, a disc jockey, a face painter, seven caricature artists, a juggler and a stilt walker.
“At the event, called a ‘family resource day,’ flood victims also received tips on how to remove mold, job training and health screenings. There was a music therapy workshop.”
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From ABC7’s Chuck Goudie two weeks ago:
“The ABC7 I-Team obtained county spreadsheets revealing that of the many flood families who were promised help none ever received a dime. ABC7 also discovered thousands and thousands of dollars from the disaster grant are sitting in an appliance store in south suburban Lynwood.”
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“In Park Ridge, Charlie Melidosian wonders the same thing. Home video from 2008 shows when water poured into his house.
“‘The government comes in, destroys the basement, and then disappears to not be able to finish it, and we’re not making much progress getting them to finish it up,’ said Melidosian.
“Basement boxes are still in his garage and his collection of pinball machines are in the living room. Cook County spent $30,000 to demolish his basement, but the county doesn’t have the money to put it back together.
“‘I’d like to see, somebody within the county, the Cook County system realize what they’ve done to people’s lives,’ said Melidosian. ‘We’re living our life as a zoo right now.’
“The zoo is where Cook County spent thousands in disaster grant money on a catered picnic in September, even as flood victims were trying to get county officials to finish paying what they had promised.
“ABC7 has asked for spending records for the event, but the county hasn’t provided any documents showing how they’ve spent any disaster grant money, despite numerous requests under Freedom of Information laws.”
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Perhaps Stroger will meet with Melidosian at the Billy Goat or Manny’s to talk it over.
Chicago Overcoat’s Big Score
Columbia College film students make it big.
Go Ask Mavis
Or the Lord. Or Jeff Tweedy.
Somebody Likes Johnny Knox This Week
Fantasy value increases.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Cut off the head.
Posted on December 1, 2010