By Steve Rhodes
“In year seven, does the Pitchfork Music Festival mean anything?” Jim DeRogatis writes. “Or is it just a very well-marketed brand catering to a different demographic than the Vans Warped Tour, the Grant Park Lollapalooza, the Dave Matthews Band Caravan, or the Red Bull Riot Fest, but fundamentally the same business proposition: Collect their not-cheap tickets, pack ’em in, sell ’em a lot of crap, and entertain ’em. Ca-ching!
“I suppose we’ll find out over the next 72 hours. At least, I hope we will.”
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P.S.: You’re damn right, DeRo. It means everything.
Waste Management
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel today did not directly respond to a state gambling regulator’s contention that he would be ‘flabbergasted’ if Gov. Pat Quinn signs a major gambling expansion into law,” the Tribune reports.
“The mayor was asked about Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe’s Wednesday comments about the gambling bill, which includes a Chicago casino. Jaffe also repeated his previous description of the expansion measure as ‘garbage.’
“Emanuel chose to explain once more why he supports a Chicago casino.
“‘This was an issue of debate for 20 years, approximately. On that evaluation, I helped pass a bill that allows Chicago to own a casino, run a casino and bring in that revenue to the city.'”
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No, Rahm. A Chicago casino may have been the subject of periodic debates over the last 20 years, but this bill was passed on the fly with barely a whisper. And this bill is still largely a mystery even to those who passed it.
“The legislation, which would allow for a Chicago casino, three other new land-based gambling halls and the addition of slot machines at horse racing tracks, is filled with regulatory loopholes, Jaffe said,” the Tribune reported Wednesday.
“‘I’ve said before and I will tell you again, it’s 409 pages of garbage,’ Jaffe said, later adding ‘use your imagination, and whatever evil thoughts come into your minds, it will probably be worse than that.'”
History tells us this is so. Do we ever learn?
Juvenile Justice?
Quinn’s Youth Prison Proposal Fades Away.
Drug Beat
* Jackets Soaked In Liquid Opium Seized At O’Hare.
* Man Arrested After Reporting His Pot Stolen.
Goal Kick
“It seems that the beautiful game is ascendant everywhere in America except perhaps in the minds of some American sports journalists,” John Kass writes.
He did not name Rick Morrissey, so I will.
Back to Kass:
“And nowhere was the this clearer than on the ESPYs the other night. For you who aren’t sports fans, the ESPYs are sort of the Oscars of American professional team sports. Highlights, speeches, trophies.
“And when the ESPY was handed out for Play of the Year, they offered up five spectacular sports plays.
“Three nominees for Play of the Year involved soccer.”
And one of those three won.
Big Pharma [Hearts] Obama, Rahm
“President Barack Obama’s campaign has moved a New York fundraiser featuring Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel,” HuffPost Chicago notes.
“Next Thursday’s event originally was to be held at Pfizer’s headquarters but now will be at New York’s University Club. Emanuel was Obama’s chief of staff before being elected Chicago mayor this year.
“The Boston Globe reported Thursday that the event was moved after the newspaper asked about the propriety of hosting it at a pharmaceutical company regulated by the government.”
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“Pfizer is proud to participate in the political process and encourages its colleagues to do so as well,” company spokesman Raul Damas told the Globe.
Brzeczek’s Back
“A federal judge will allow limited testimony from a former superintendent of the Chicago Police, in a police misconduct lawsuit brought by a man who spent more than a decade in prison after being wrongly convicted of rape and murder,” Courthouse News Service reports.
There’s Something About Marilyn
Curbed Chicago has a round-up.
See also: Goodbye, American Gothic People, including Jeff Huebner’s comment about the art in Pioneer Court.
Hitman Harris
One Chicago Bear’s lockout workout.
From South Park to Halas Hall
Jay Cutler then and still.
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A Demonstration From Our City Clerk
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Sticky.
Posted on July 15, 2011