Chicago MMXII

freedom dumpster don't run
i also can't stop laughing at these mayonnaise artisans

http://static.dangerousminds.net/uploads/images/mayo266030_415409331834037_938082535_o.jpg

Don't tread on me, but you can go ahead and fill me with trash.

the sound "ito" in japanese could mean thread, or someone's name, or it could just be something that "sounds japanese"

Holla!

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/121553/thumbs/s-LANCE-ITO-large.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A4eB4hwCQAAFykV.jpg

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is that real? I guess I'll find out since I walk by there on the way home from the train station.

If that's real I'm writing some letters.

When I first looked at it, I was 100% convinved it was a photoshop, but the more I look at it, I can't really point out what makes it look wrong. Something does feel off though, the text?

Fake. We still have a lovely miller lite billboard.

The angle seems off on the right side. Also the text looks like the common Web typeface Impact.

And there's no Gino's Pizza on the Gino's Pizza sign.

Yeah, that's what gave it away for me.

I don't get why you would need to erase the Gino's Pizza logo?

Gino is a litigious SOB.

I re-joined LA Fitness (f/k/a Bally's) but with too long a lapse to qualify for the amazing Bally's rates. Still, I semi-accidentally negotiated a fairly good deal by sitting and thinking silently for too long about what the sales guy was saying. Instead of telling me rates, he kept fucking saying things like, "Well let me ask you: what would you feel comfortable spending?" I hate that sales shit.

I told him, "I want to pay what I was paying Bally's, with no sign-up fee." He tapped his computer and said, "I have great news for you! This location is going to be completely remodeled and by January it's going to be one of our A-level [or whatever] locations!"

smdh

I don't know how or why Bally's rates were so so super low. The sales guy called in the general manager who asked what my rate had been. He told him that it had been $123.00. The GM said, "Per YEAR?!" I bet those Bally's rates are a hard part of their job.

Had no idea Bally's was no more, but I remember those crazy deals. Was there a big one-time fee up front, and then that monthly rate locked in for life or something?

No, not that I recall. I'm almost certain the initial fee was $50. For the first year or two the monthly rate was not as cheap. I think it was $19. Which is still pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0m4D52T3gg&feature=related

I know this is really short notice but Phillip (my bf) and I will be at Bar Deville on Damen and Huron from 7 to 10 or 11 — nominally for my birthday. If anyone would like to hang out please do. Call me: seven seven three three one eight seventeen sixty-three

Wow, fancy bday boy! Happy birthday, cloudgate, but I have plans to go visit a new 50" TV and its owners (K8E & spouse).

Mostly of interest to J/J, but here are some pics of the new Argyle station. Huge improvement.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8460/8063539731_3950404a60_z.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8318/8063542804_ba4dcdbd49.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8038/8063541802_2eb2327087.jpg

Gone is the station house that once dripped filthy water into my just-opened morning commute Diet Coke. Such a symbolic event.

Browsing the CTA's Flickr feed and holy wow!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8456/8053832204_0f665324c3_z.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/8053828827_1f2b1f47b0_z.jpg

Oh - "Transfer station." It's going to be a Purple line stop. Good news for anyone who has Purple-lined themselves and unwillingly took a trip to Howard.

Wow, Argyle looks incredible! Is it accessible now, too?

I can't wait for Wilson. That station is an utter shit show as it is now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfkV1E0sBZ0

guys i probably shouldn't go into this into too much detail online but i had a pretty amazing professional interaction with a guy who says he is a psychic who helps the chicago police department solve their cases

its okay, he probably already knows you are posting about him

(thats awesome though)

write it down and refer to these notes when i grill you about this the next time i see you
thx

Yes, agreed.

i will say that he told me, with no solicitation or even expression of interest on my part, that robert wagner hired christopher walken to poison and then drown natalie wood. then he said "i thought you might be interested in that" and left.

<3 this guy

I don't know if Argyle is accessible. I don't see an elevator in those pictures. The CTA's record on accessibility is pathetic.

I hope the psychic is actually Richard M. Daley. He just keeps his superpowers on the d.l.

thank god monday is over, only 11 more days until the weekend!

I'm sorry, justin3.

I don't know if Argyle is accessible. I don't see an elevator in those pictures. The CTA's record on accessibility is pathetic.

It seems like any new construction would have to be accessible. The crappy record is due in part to how very old the stations are. They got grandfathered in.

I think you meant to post to Just1n3 in the 77 thread.

The part that says "I'm sorry, justin3" but not the part about the Argyle station.

Yeh, that's the part. Sorry, I mentioned it b/c I figured you would want to know that she probably wasn't going to receive your message, not just to point out your humiliating mistake.

141 years ago Chicago was burning.

400 homicides and it's only Oct 9, same diff.

Was having coffee at a fast-food establishment and one young guy at the table next to me was playing a recording of himself rapping (not too well) and one of the other guys days "That's drill-hop!" And he says, "What?" And the other guy says, "That's drill-hop--you're doing it and you don't even know what it's called!" And indeed it was.

There's a young Republican phone banking center in a storefront next to where I get my hair cut and I have this overwhelming urge to do something super crass like hike up my skirt and mash my bush against the window and yell MY BOX MY CHOICE and then run away. The guy who cuts my hair said they are always outside smoking ("probably because they hate themselves so much") so I don't think they'd be able to catch me.

Red Eye says bush mash is the new flash mob. Reports of a bush mash at Chick-Fil-A at Chicago and Wabash.

I just realized I don't like the word "bush."

a.m. radio in Logan Square:
https://www.facebook.com/events/117753685042828/

Also, I noticed with the Thorndale remodel that the convenience store in the station is gone. True at Argyle and elsewhere?

I am trying out a standing desk right now. Really, it's a $150 contraption that I could probably build out of scrap lumber. However, it is also awesome and I am enjoying the absence of neck pain, as well as the freedom to bop around and dance a little bit while I work.

I would really like a convertible desk since sometimes sitting is nice but then sometimes my butt hurts.

yesterday i was giving my regular every-other-week talk at work about nonprofit funding and where it comes from, and i was at the part where i was talking about how religious organizations (churches, synagogues, etc.) receive the most charitable donations by sector, and right then a nun in a habit walked in and sat down at the table in front of me. it was distracting.

Would have been more distracting had she flashed her ... oh, I can't even say it.

...rosary beads?

if anyone knows anyone who'd be interested in editing work, there are two positions (1 copy editor, 1 managing editor) open right now at my place of employment