Daley Blames - Who Else? - The Media For Oprah-geddon
Chicago Gets Googled
Friday Flashback - Old School Oprah
Today's Transgender Day of Remembrance Honors the Dead
Review: Paramount Room
Photo by Jeanneg
ATA is going to stop flying out of Midway. Nooooo. [Trib]
OK, Sun-Times, we get it. You don't want Sam Zell to sell the naming rights to Wrigley. But interviewing a 99-year-old man and claiming that this is his "wish"? A little much. [S-T]
Gary Police Chief Thomas Houston, Deputy Chief Thomas Branson and Sgt. Thomas Decanter were indicted today on charges of violating civil rights. [Trib]
We know this is photoshopped, but it's such a cute idea. [Link]
This winter in terms we hadn't heard yet: "Snow has fallen on Chicago four of every seven days since Dec. 1." [Bloomberg]
Tyrus Thomas has been suspended for two games for skipping practice yesterday. He said he missed the workout for "personal reasons." [S-T]
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I don't think that was photoshopped. Just a clever use of perspective.
Didn't you hear? There's a new law in Gary - if your name is Thomas, you're under indictment.
If it were real, you'd be able to see her left sleeve.
oh hey thanks everyone for leaving me high and dry at sheffield's. Guess I deserved it.
@Matty:
Dude! We were in the back! We had the board out and everything! Sorry :-(
Also, read this:
New City
March 6th, 2008
The Pursuit of Chicagoist
Sheffield’s hosts a Trivial Pursuit bash
Laura Hawbaker
“I will play. I will lose,” Lucas Shelton says. He peers over the rim of his glasses at a Trivial Pursuit board. “But I will learn a lot.” It’s Thursday night, and Shelton sits with a raucous group from Chicagoist.com (“Simmer down, Chicagoists!” shouts the waitress). They gather in the candlelit back room of Sheffield’s for a Trivial Pursuit smack-down. It’s a Herculean match that snowballed online, culminating in the brave dismissal of their screen names and treasured anonymity. At long last, they are meeting face to face.
Chicagoist is an online community of bloggers impassioned by all things Chicago. The site has a fervent group of hardcore commenters, a “peanut gallery” beneath each article that trade jabs at one another in feisty, often-times divisive debate. They communicate every day and know one another’s ages, genders and political parties, but before last Thursday none of them had ever met.
The gathering was initiated by Patrick Brown (a.k.a. Plumbum82) in a blog about Scrabble tournaments. The commenters abandoned Scrabble speak in favor of Trivial Pursuit one-upmanship. “It was an intellectual pissing match. We needed to settle it in the field of battle,” says Brown, who later went on to win the game.
Rachael Spavone (a.k.a. Spav1), knew she would get a lot of shit if she didn’t show her face at Sheffield’s. “I comment obsessively. It’s ruined my workplace productivity.” Spavone often goes to war with other commenters. She gleefully trades barbs and posts controversial opinions to incite arguments. “Every blog I comment on gets thirty comments. That’s not by accident,” she smiles devilishly, “that’s by design.”
It’s a well-sung criticism of the web; hidden behind an anonymous mask, people are free to drop all pretense of civility. Smussy, a former Chicagoist writer who now comments regularly, believes the advent of online communities is a double-edged sword. “It’s made possible the meeting of minds from New York to Russia, but the level of discourse has lowered to the fifth-grade playground. We say things we would never say if we were face to face.”
However, Thursday’s rowdy Pursuit game may have rocked Chicagoist on its virtual axis. Spavone admits, much to Smussy’s delight, that it will be harder to insult people now that they’ve met.
Brown has an easy answer for Spavone. When asked what he’ll be doing on the site tomorrow, he replies, “Making fun of all the people who didn’t show.”
(2008-03-05)
I think you mean "hooooooooray!" about ATA leaving. They're cheap, but terrible.
@ Margaret,
Good call. I didn't notice the left sleeve at first.
i dunno i was there until 8:45 then left. I did periodic walk throughs in the back but they were having bar trivia.
probably need to show people what people look like or what they will be wearing next time.
anyway, penciled for march 6th. sounds fun!
March 6th was yesterday.
And sorry, homey. Spav will be pissed you were there and we didn't know. We played bar trivia in order to win free beer. Then we broke out the trivia while taking turns to heckle comedians.
Next week is the last week to enter a tournament to go to London and compete there, which is why we end up going every Thursday.
Seriously, though... fuck.
You seem cool and we were all looking forward to meeting you.
Also, I look like a hipster lumberjack and Spav is a massive six foot tall sorority girl with a sweet rack. She keeps trying to pick up random guys, so I'm suprised she didn't talk to you.
We'll have the game out from now on :-(
if the thursday night sheffields trivial pursuit is becoming a weekly thing, i will definitely start posting recaps on friday mornings.
so you guys go to play trivial pursuit but play bar trivia instead? how was i supposed to find you? i was looking for a trivial pursuit board!
i was wearing a white checked shirt and went out to the back a bunch of times looking lost.
what a waste of time.
@Amy:
It is looking that way. I lost to Spav's roommate last night. And the open mic comedians next door harrassed my friend in the bathroom. I might be going up next week to regulate.
i guess it was no one's fault though. :(
@Matty:
We play both. The bar trivia gives away free beer.
And I know what you look like now. Damn, man, really, apologies...
(Breaking Embargo)
I am SO SORRY Matty!! We were event talking about you! We always do bar trivia and then transition into Trivial Pursuit. I feel really really bad, but no worries, we will see you next week! I will make a sign that says "Chicagoist".
Hearts!
(Embargo Back in Effect)
hey plum, can you email me a recap? include anything you can think of!! if anyone else wants to help me out, too, go for it.
amymikel[at]gmail.com
does anyone have any pictures?
@ plumbum
It wasn't so much harassment in the bathroom as more a one woman show called "Breaking the Seal". Awesome.
@ Chicagoist...you should be embarrassed you let a commenter mention the fact you were in the press. It should have been it's own post. With all the banner ads and "brought to you by" lines, you seem to love your advertisers enough, so brag about the fact that people are actually reading the blog.
obviously plum knew that the article was being written, since he was interviewed for it last night.
makes sense that was the first to find it. no embarrassment here.
The interview was from last week's game, and PlumBum talked about it on the blog on Friday. If you guys are actually trying to raise the profile of the blog, you should have been looking for it. NewCity only comes out once a week.
so, i'm to understand you guys now go and play the trivial pursuit *every* thursday? interesante ...