1,001 Chicago Afternoons

On Wednesday, I put out an incredibly difficult Chicago trivia quiz.

The purpose, aside from the fact I’ve been all coughing and bronchial and wanted a story I could write from my sickbed, was to get people to explore certain sites I like, including this one, Atlas Obscura, the Chicago Collections Consortium, the Chicago History Museum, Mysterious Chicago and Curious City.

So I made the quiz goldanged impossible. (And Curious City, that thing we talked about? It’s handled.)

From the Fool Killer submarine to park bats to Iroquois Theater Assistant Chief Usher Archie Guerin, here are the answers you didn’t get to the 1,001 Chicago Afternoons Really Difficult Trivia Quiz. » Read the rest of this entry «

You might know the Iroquois Theater Fire happened in 1903, but do you know the name of the assistant chief usher called to testify after?

Sure, you know that the first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction was at the U of C campus, but do you know what sport the room was originally made for? » Read the rest of this entry «

Joe was poised and professional, knew just when to pounce with a “So what are we thinking?” when he caught me eying a blue checked blazer a bit too long for my interest to be casual.

Joe was a bit older, still well in the realm of middle age, but clearly past the midpoint of it. His smile was calm and practiced, a salesman in his element of $1,495 blue checked Canali blazers and paired slacks of a mere $375.

Joe loves Chicago’s culture.

“Music, theater, modern dance — all those things,” he said. ”It’s like New York, but a bit more manageable.”  » Read the rest of this entry «

On Feb. 8, 2016, eight days before the Illinois online voter registration deadline, RedEye — a website and small print tabloid the Chicago Tribune puts out to catch the commuter crowd — published a pro-con on voting pitting two 24-year-old journalists against each other.

Catching most of the online flack was Rianne Coale, who wrote the piece “I’ve Never Voted: Here’s Why.” Five-second review: Sad and self-defeating, the author of RedEye’s voting guide saying voting is confusing and dull.

Easy target. No points me.

Although Coale’s limp blurb frustrated, I found Tyler Davis’ pro-voting piece more disturbing in the long run. Here’s how it ended:

“But if you’d rather not vote, I’m not going to judge. I imagine that nonvoters must look at this whole system and feel powerless, and uninformed voters probably feel overwhelmed. Personally, I feel empowered when I vote.”

I do judge. Because their apathy should not be seen as equal to my action. And frankly, Davis, it’s not about how you feel.

So, leaving out of it the two 24-year-olds who will move on to regret this moment in their careers, here is an open letter to the editors of the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye on their decision to legitimize and normalize political self-castration. » Read the rest of this entry «

Leave the fatter end hanging on the right. Cross it over the front of the thin end.

Wrap it around the back, pull it through, cross over the front again, wrap it around the other side, pull it through and that’s how to tie a perfect four-in-hand business ribbon. » Read the rest of this entry «

Listen… » Read the rest of this entry «

Although my background is in political beat reporting, I rarely delve into it on this site, other than the odd poem, rant about museums or what I’m sure is the only guide to tax increment financing to use the word “craptacular.”

But as tensions mount in Chicago, as the world’s eyes are turned toward the racial segregation we’ve lived in for years, as people yell and scream for the recall of the increasingly friendless mayor, I would like to take a moment to look at the biggest political issue of our day.

Mayor Rahm’s missing finger. » Read the rest of this entry «

“There’s a lot of stuff out there,” said Mr. Eckland, Mangan’s business partner, as they looked into the night sky from their offices above LaSalle Street in Chicago’s Board of Trade building. They were discussing ESP and how thoughts could travel through space. Grinning, Mangan replied, “I wonder who owns it?” At that moment in 1948 he claimed ownership of all outer space for himself and the Nation of Celestial Space.

Thus sayeth the Duke of the Moon of the Nation of Celestial Space, which commands all the known universe as registered with the Cook County Recorder’s Office. » Read the rest of this entry «

Geocaching is an amazingly odd little activity wherein people use GPS coordinates and clues to find treasures hidden around the world.

For those who don’t have a GPS and time to spare, here’s a little list of an article on four of the oddest things created in Chicago.

But if you have both, it’s a chance for you to hunt down four spots where Chicago changed the world. » Read the rest of this entry «

The Art Institute of Chicago only exists because a woman’s legal rights didn’t. » Read the rest of this entry «