By Steve Rhodes
“As the temperature pushed into the mid-90s and the heat index hit 100 degrees on Sunday, ComEd restored power to the entire Chicago area,” ABC7 reports.
“ComEd got the electricity going just before extreme heat hit the area. Chicago’s North Avenue Beach was packed with people trying to stay cool Sunday afternoon.”
Wait a second. You mean City Hall didn’t shut down North Avenue Beach because of the heat?
Odd Pitchfork
“So, in the end, Odd Future, the most controversial booking in the seven-year history of the Pitchfork Music Festival, turned out to be a thoroughly unexceptional live hip-hop act, no better or worse than a hundred other mediocre ones you’ve seen before, albeit even more than usually foul-mouthed,” Jim DeRogatis writes.
See also: Nothing Radical About Odd Future’s Hate Speech.
Groupon Fail
“The Groupon juggernaut rolled into auto retailing last week, and dealers around the nation watched intently to see whether the online coupon phenomenon could drive herds of shoppers into showrooms,” Crain’s Detroit reports.
“So far, no.
“Only three consumers agreed to pay $200 to get a $500 discount voucher at LaFontaine Buick-GMC-Cadillac in Highland Township. Groupon and LaFontaine had set 10 as the minimum required for the vouchers to be issued.”
If Only This Was Just A Bad Joke
“Why did the Town of Cicero buy 250 rubber chickens?”
If Only This Was Just A Bad Joke
City Hall Fighting For 18 Years To Close Chicago’s Only Topless Bar.
The Architecture of Marilyn
“Turns out the base of the 34,000 pound sculpture itself weighs 10 tons, ‘engineered for a category 5 hurricane,'” Lynn Becker notes.
“To me, what’s most interesting is how the supersized human figure of Marilyn Monroe, a constant curving presence seemingly without a single right angle, plays out against the relentlessly rectilinear Miesian skyscrapers that compose her backdrop.”
White Wash
“At a time when pay raises are a distant memory and unpaid leave a reality for many area government workers, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has handed out pay hikes exceeding 6% to his entire executive staff,” Crain’s reports.
White refused to comment, but I bet it wasn’t out of shame.
Ball Four
“Billy Beane’s a bright, engaging guy, but I don’t see how Moneyball packs theaters unless they’re letting A’s traveling secretary Mickey Morabito play himself,” Phil Rogers writes for the Tribune.
Yeah, no one will pay to see Brad Pitt in a baseball movie.
Life Sciences
“With the forecast calls for high temperatures in the 90s all week, experts are asking the public to use common sense,” the Daily Herald reports.
If it’s common sense, why do we need experts to tell us to use it?
*
Experts Say: Don’t Turn To Us! Just Trust Your Instincts!
Suckers Bet
“Before you cough up your hard-earned money at the new Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, which opens Monday, see what a mathematician says about your odds of winning,” the Daily Herald reports.
Too bad the article doesn’t deliver, beyond DePaul’s William Chin saying “The odds are almost completely against you.”
If they weren’t, the state would have no interest in handing out casino licenses. The state not only doesn’t want you to win, it works in concert with the gambling industry to make sure you don’t win.
*
“Actor Jim Belushi attends the VIP party at the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines to gamble and sing with his band in the Cube Room on Sunday,” the Daily Herald reports.
That’s about right.
Obama Cracks Down On Truth
Choking whistleblowers.
I Am A Security Guard
The final installment.
U.S. Women Choke
What was Pia Sundhage thinking?
Jeff Baker Era Right On Course
Hendry: Hands off!
Pure Baseball
From Welles Park to the South Side.
The Weekend In Chicago Rock
The non-Pitchfork edition.
–
The Beachwood Tip Line: Just whistle.
Posted on July 18, 2011