Chicago MMXII

We're number h8!

http://motherjones.com/files/images/blog_states_favorable_0.jpg

goole posted about this poll in a politics thread.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_US_022112.pdf

xp - just DG

Huh, some of those rankings aren't intuitive to me at all. Like, I get Hawaii at #1, but why is Tennessee #2??

To answer my own question: perhaps b/c people of all persuasions have positive associations with Nashville/Memphis b/c of things like music and BBQ, and the state, while comfortably red, doesn't automatically code as crazy-conservative.

I think it's the Arrested Development song.

Man, Rod Blagojevich has a lot to answer for.

Yup.

Here are some animals:

http://www.zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b016762acce85970b-800wi

http://www.zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b016762926a11970b-800wi

I think that grumpy deer is my spirit animal.

look at how round its little orange head is
also, chin

Apparently idiot baker lady has apologized publicly after her neighbors boycotted her bakery. Totes talking about this in class btw.

that place is literally a block away from me

right next to a flower shop, a computer store and a nice mexican restaurant, omg so ghetto

idiot baker lady is idiot, bigger idiots were the commenters on chicagoist rallying around her with the tired "she's just telling the truth because i once heard a gunshot in that neighborhood" argument

who what is this?

The video is upthread, but basically this lady opened a bakery in Humboldt Park then another one in Lincoln Park. During an interview she said the Lincoln Park one had more traffic because it wasn't in a crack and gunshot filled ghetto like her original store. Paraphrasing here, but she did use those exact terms.

Gross.

To the Chicago-based Yooper diaspora: is there a Yooper thread on here? My parents are talking about wanting to retire to North Dakota and I am on a mission to make them move to the UP instead. I need some solid arguments in favor of this.

Jenny:
Waaah christ dere eh, pard? A 906 thread.

Why don't they retire to somewhere that is easy to get to via a major airport. And warm in the winter.

God, no kidding.

Home prices in NoDak are going way high now, on account of all the oil and natural gas up there. (Lowest unemployment rate in the country, I think.)

so hip they're calling it NoDak

My dad has been talking lately about wintering in Florida, and my mom is currently in Arizona for the next month.

90% sure my parents will never move house, much less move to another state.

My family will never move North of the Mason-Dixon line.

my mom is currently in Arizona for the next month.

Correction: She just got back from Arizona, and now she and her fiance are going to SC/FL/AL for a month.

Not that any of you actually care or anything, I mostly issued that correction in case Mark is lurking.

Malurking

My folks retired to the redwoods. I think it's been good for their health, being able to be outdoors year-round, having the stimulus of living in a new area instead of seeing an old one become unfamiliar. Then again, they met in the Peace Corps and lived for four years in Samoa, so factor that in.

Jeff, how was G.I. last night? And may I call you G.I. Jeff?

ppl seem to retire to the UP because 1. it's so, so, so cheap 2. it's so cheap you can afford to live somewhere else during the winter 3. because summer is drop dead gorgeous while it lasts

also with global climate change and all pretty soon we'll all be in a war for fresh water and hey! Lake Superior

also the UP thread isn't much but like the 4 people who currently/used to post to ILX making inside jokes

I'd never heard of Da Yoopers Tourist Trap. (Weirdly, in mid-Ohio, the diner near my and Lechera's college had Da Yoopers on the mini-jukeboxes in each booth.) That photo cracks me up, and now I want to visit.

not braggin' but I'm pretty good friends with the sons of two of the guys who started the band, and one of them (and his son) run the Trap now.

said son also plays drums in several bands, incl Sah and Redettes who have played Chicago shows blah blah blah

Are there any other musicians from the UP? Seems like a good place for launching a few Gordon Lightfoot types.

Why don't they retire to somewhere that is easy to get to via a major airport. And warm in the winter.

Pops hates cities. I don't know about the weather thing. They also often discuss moving to Montana (we came pretty close to moving to MT when I was in high school).

They are probably never going to move anywhere, but if I can get then closer to me as they enter their waning years, that will significantly reduce the stress and anxiety of caring for aging parents as an only child. Plus, getting them to move anywhere is more likely to result I them agreeing to move to Chicago when they need significant assistance.

Result in them moving to Chicago. Meaning it will break the current inertia.

FYI, Amanda, I typed that one with my thumbs.

Also iPhone wants to autocorrect "Yoopers" to "toilets."

xp to Eazy you'd think, but it kind of goes against the ethos of most who live up there (hard work, woods life, no artsy-fartsy non-practical pretentious stuff)

still, I can think of a few

the Walker brothers, of Gravitar fame
Bernie Larsen
Msrc "Sycamore" Smith
PJ Olsson

I'm sure there are other non-pop (if you can call Gravitar pop) musicians that I'm not aware of

(Jenny if you have any specific questions I'm all ears.)

I have two!
Is there an airport up there?
Is there a specific town that might offer a nice balance of hunting fishing blah blah for my pop and good places to eat for my mom?

There are multiple airports. The one in my (and Katie and T0mas and etc etc) hometown, Houghton, has 2 flights a day to Chicago and the one in Marquette has flights to the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Detroit iirc. I'm not sure about the Sault Ste. Marie airport, whether most people use the Canadian side or what. Cancellations due to weather are a problem everywhere, mostly in winter time.

Pretty much every town has plenty of hunting fishing blah blah blah so that's easily covered. As for nice places to eat one of the university towns (Houghton, Marquette, Sault) are probably your best bets. Out of those Marquette wins easily.

The video is upthread, but basically this lady opened a bakery in Humboldt Park then another one in Lincoln Park.

I thought the other one was in Bucktown, not LP. Regardless, she is gross.

carl, why North Dakota?? I've seen quite a lot of that state and it's not especially alluring.

I like the badlands parts of North Dakota.

http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/north-dakota/images/s/badlands.jpg

Jaymc, it was good. Thursday nights are usually low-key there and they have a brand new beer (or 2 or 3) every week.

whoa whoa whoa whoa
BAAAADLAAAANDS

FYI, Amanda, I typed that one with my thumbs.

Also iPhone wants to autocorrect "Yoopers" to "toilets."
1) impressive!
2) lol!

I like the badlands parts of North Dakota.

I didn't realize NORTH Dakota had badlands. Assuming they're in the SW side?

I thought the other one was in Bucktown, not LP. Regardless, she is gross.

Yeah I don't know, I p much tuned out everything else she had to say.

I showed the interview to my students and they gasped when she started to talk about crack.

would be p hilar if that video ends up running the place out of business

We can only dream, but like I said a fair amount of people have been defending her for "being honest" so I'm afraid it won't amount to anything.

Gravitar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIgyPRRqb3s

Amanders and Nick would prolly like this the best, maybe jvc too?