Miscellaneous: August 2009 Archives

We can certainly understand Billy Dec pimping himself out for Chicago 2016 Committee to perhaps help speed through his next liquor license application or to have the chance to kick it with some beach volleyball players. And it's certainly no surprise to see the likes of Roe Conn, Steve Dahl, and even (actually, especially) Mike Ditka jump on board for the Olympic bid. But Quentin Tarantino? Conan O'Brien? Appearing in the cheesiest video we've seen since sitting through corporate training sessions in our first job out of college? Our cold, shriveled hearts just got a little bit blacker.

         

On Saturday, Chicagoist decided to play tourist and take some photos of life in the Loop. Our favorite subject of the day was this man (pictured), who with CD player in hand and dance moves in motion turned a N. Michigan Ave. median strip into his own stage from which to entertain pedestrians and traffic. We don't know your name or your mission, Mr. Dancer, but your moxie makes you our new hero.

          

We took a short tour through the Southeast side of Chicago and Northwest, Indiana on a recent weekend, a not-often seen look at a part of the city that is as much the essence of modern Chicago as it is isolated from it.

August may be coming to a cooler-than-usual finish, but there's no denying the abundant sunshine we've seen over the past two days. It was a welcome change after last week's rain and today will be no different than yesterday. High temps will be in the upper 60s, reaching towards 70, under long stretches of blue sky. It's a good day to eat lunch outside. Or skip work altogether. Lows tonight will be chilly, in the mid-40s.

This past week's announcement that Friday's episode of Reading Rainbow was its last caught most of us by surprise. We remember LeVar Burton - before he got Star Trekked out - as the guy who encouraged us to keep reading.

       

_

Yesterday turned out to be much nicer than anticipated and today is looking to be pretty dang sweet in its own right. It's still a bit cool for late August as far as we're concerned, but the copious amounts of sunshine we'll see today will make up for it. Highs will reach the upper 60s and there'll be lots of sun sun sun. Lows overnight will get downright chilly, though, sinking into mid-40s (a chance at record lows for the date).

I mentioned earlier connections between Chicago and Katrina. This video has no connection. But it's damn funny and indicative of the sense of humor that Louisianans are known for, even in the face of the apocalypse. Oh, and there is a Kanye reference late in the vid, so...sure! Chicago!

       

_

Wow, this is not what we expected the weekend before Labor Day. Overcast skies and highs in the upper 60s with a chance of a passing shower or two after lunch? And it only gets weirder as lows dip into the mid 50s.

                    

Someone's pockets are $40 million lighter this morning, and if the unnamed buyer of the old Post Office, straddling the Eisenhower, has any buyers remorse, they're not telling anyone. For the rest of us, all we can do is watch the calendar and wait for this anonymous developer to roll up the bulldozers and truck in the slot machines. (If, that is, the inevitable Chicago casino doesn't go to Navy Pier - both scenarios lay even odds with the Chicagoist bookmakers.)

We all know how iconic the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off is for the city of Chicago. The exploits of the potential felon truant student and his pals is a comedy we'll always remember, especially given the recent death of John Hughes. But...is everything the trio did in a day really possible? One of our favorite sports columnists, ESPN's Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy, posed that very question in his most recent mailbag.

          

_

Yesterday, a day after accusing Wrigley Field fans as being racist, Milton Bradley went out and did...nothing to silence his non-racist critics, going 0-for-5 in the Cubs 5-4 loss to the worst team in baseball. For the 2009 season, Bradley's stats are .255 Avg/ 11 HR/ 35 RBIs in 106 games played. Sure, it's slightly better than the stat line of departed OF Felix Pie (hitting .261/5 HR/18 RBIs in 81 games played in Baltimore), but Pie's contract for 2009 is also $9.5 million less than Bradley's. ANYWAY. Bradley also addressed his comments from the day before, telling the Sun-Times:

...Guess I'm gonna give up.

Jay Mariotti still scares us, so we've tried our best to avoid him since he departed our local rag's pages. Which explains why we missed his latest WTF moment until the boys at NQTC pointed it out. That we knew what was coming didn't dull the mystification of reading Mariotti's words. He really does just jump right from Cubs spending money now that they've been sold to the fact that Joe Ricketts' daughter is a lesbian.

     

The man shot dead by police during the incident in the Loop yesterday afternoon has been identified as 45-year-old Jacob Paul Stolarz. After yesterday's flurry of unconfirmed reports, here's what we now know:

So as we prepare to bid adieu to August next week, we realize we lost August long ago. Like a bad episode of "Intervention." There's still a chance of rain as the morning continues but the chance lessens by lunch. Otherwise, it'll be cloudy and cool and damp, with highs in the upper 60s. We imagine this year's weather will inspire a new WGN special entitled, "The Year Without A Summer," in which some children track down Tom Skilling on Mt. Weather and find out he's given up on summer after listening to everyone bitch at him about the snow during winter. It's up to those children to convince Tom that YES! we DO want a summer here and if only he'd let us have one, we'd learn our lesson, that there are four seasons and he'd learn to love again. There you go, WGN, yall can send us the check in the mail for this brilliant idea caused by lack of sunlight.

Does a bear scat in the woods? Not if he's made of cardboard.

"You see, Malia, we're White Sox fans. We can't take a vacation from that. Our team is still technically in the pennant race as long as Jose Contreras is sitting on the bench."

          

_

Last night we were messing around with Google Books, in search of something new to read. We were delighted to find more than 15,000 Chicago-oriented titles available for download - ranging from treatises on the history of the Chicago police force (through 1887) to articles pushing tax increment financing as an economic solution.

Seriously, this is not what late summer should be about. Clouds, rain, and cool, clammy temps below 75? Dubya. Tee. Eff. Last night's rain has left things damp and occasional rain showers today might keep it that way. Highs will nudge right up to around 70. The dreary conditions continue into evening when lows fall into the lower 60s. We might as well have a laugh and wish Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee Herman, a happy birthday. Now go rescue those snakes.

The famous walk-through heart at The Museum of Science and Industry has gotten a much needed upgrade. This week, technicians put the finishing touches on its replacement: a new, three-dimensional animated heart that stands 14-feet-tall. Occupying the balcony of the museum’s North Court, the new heart not only shows the inner and outer workings of the organ through full-color animated projections, but it also matches the pulses of visitors through a pair of hand grips in front of the exhibit, and then displays their heartbeat.

Saturday is the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As one might guess, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this anniversary and my thoughts are with my old city and my friends and family still there. But knowing that Steven Seagal is there, out for justice to protect them*, I'm able to sleep a little bit better at night, knowing if they're under siege, he's not letting criminals get above the law.

At this point in his career Roger Ebert has earned the right to write about whatever subject that strikes his fancy, and he does so with eloquence, wit, passion and keenly honed journalistic instincts. Ebert also cut his teeth in newspapers when reporters and columnists had a reputation for hard-drinking and late night war story sessions at the Billy Goat; Ebert has said on many occasions that this is what newspapermen did.

          

_

Polynesian Pop expert James Teitelbaum is looking ahead at the same time he's looking back. His previous book, Tiki Road Trip 2, has proved invaluable for scouting out tropical vibes no matter where we happen to be. Thanks to Teitelbam's advice, during a recent trip we spent a wonderful evening at Los Angeles' legendary Tiki Ti (an upcoming Properly Sauced post will feature a facsimile of a drink we imbibed there.)

Actually, not a whole heck of a lot, for now. It seems that the new owners of Wrigley Field, as well as the Cubs (pending MLB owners' approval), have plans but they're a ways off. Which is understandable, given the boat-load of money they just dropped to buy the stadium and team (and a 25 percent stake in Comcast Sports Net Chicago). Sources familiar with the plans tell Crain's that any work to the stadium won't happen for four or five years and that even then the undertaking won't be as massive as the Tribune Company's renovation plans for the ballpark were; the Ricketts are aiming to spend around $250 million as opposed to the TribCo's $450 million-$600 million range.

Well. Summer was nice while it lasted, no? Those overnight showers that many in the northern part of the area saw aren't exactly a thing of the past: they're still around this morning and the NWS says we still have a 60 percent chance of rain today. Highs might top out in the mid-70s and a look at the extended forecast shows that today might provide the highest temps we'll see for a few days. So...Late August is the new Late September? A chance of showers is likely into the night-time hours with lows in the mid-60s. But in a summer where the Cubs get spanked by one of the worst franchises in baseball, what else can you really expect, people?

...but I like it.

Our pals at the Chicago Reader are now under new management. New York-based hedge fund Atalaya Capital Management bought the Reader's parent company Creative Loafing for $5 million. Atalaya managing partner Michael Bogdan told the Reader's Michael Miner, "It's absolutely our intention to run it. The Reader's a great publication and we want to make it even better." Whet Moser has more and Miner also spoke to former Tribune managing editor Jim O'Shea who will likely play a role under the new management.

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. Wearing a deceased comedian’s mask may fall around fifth or sixth. Regardless, Groucho Marx may have reiterated “humor is reason gone made,” when 4,000+ Chicagoans donned his famous nose and glasses mask en route to a Guinness World Record. Last month citizens gathered in Grant Park to pay homage to one of the great comedians of our time, sporting the classic Groucho mask during a showing of the Marx Brothers’ comedy, “Duck Soup.” The Guinness-verified 4,436 wearing the masks beat the previous record of 4,077, which was set on July 9, 2007, in Missouri.

This is the most bizarre futuristic beat-boxing-related video we've ever seen. And we dig it.

There are several runners on staff here at Chicagoist, a few of whom have actually run some marathons. But what we've accomplished ins nothing compared to the feat completed by 30-year-old Canadian Paula Stephanson: she has completed swimming across all of the Great Lakes. She completed the 35-mile swim across Lake Michigan, from Chicago to Michigan City, last night. The undertaking began in 1996. [Sun-Times, NBC 5]

  

Chipotle Mexican Grill launched an iPhone application today that allows users to locate a location and place online orders. We've been putting it through its paces on our iPhone and like what we're getting out of it so far.

          

_

Today's weather is gonna feel like late August. Sunny skies, brisk south winds, rising humidities...too bad this could be summer's last hurrah? Well, probably not as we typically see plenty of warm spells but a glance at the rest of the week shows cloudy and cool in the forecast. ANYWAY. Today. Yes. It will be nice and warm with highs in the upper 80s. Overnight, lows drop into the upper 60s and a chance of storms as the night wears on, especially towards the north burbs.

• Michael Jackson's death has been ruled a homicide.
• It was a clout-y first day of the Fall 2009 term at the University of Illinois today.
• Bensenville's village president has conceded the fight against O'Hare expansion but is still expressing concern for effects on the city's maintenance.

Speaking of The Beatles, hats off to Andrew "Fletch" Huff over at Gapers Block (via Coudal) for pointing out this wicked awesome Budweiser ad shot predominantly along the city's Brown Line. It appears as if the ad was shot for European markets, but thanks to the power of YouTube, we can all enjoy it.

You may say that it's still a bit too early to be talking about things like zombies and other horror-related subjects. (You might have said something similar when we sat down with the Horrorbles folks back in March.) You might posit that we're not even out of summer yet and people are already rushing to get to Halloween. We offer these three examples to prove that it is absolutely not too early to start thinking about ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night: Halloween candy is starting to populate the shelves, Oriental Trading is starting its holiday advertising blitz, and Chicagoist hashed out a number of Zombie Hideouts last week.

This weekend, someone started telling us about a mid-80s action movie starring John Stamos, Vanity, and featuring Gene Simmons as a transvestite villain named Ragnar. Sure enough, it's the camp classic Never Too Young To Die and it's making our Monday much more enjoyable.

For the times that you want to go and bust rhymes real slow...

President Obama is off on vacation this week in Martha's Vineyard with the family and while he looks to be spending some time early on making like Tiger Woods, he also packed a few books to flip through while taking a breather. What exactly did he pack? Harry Potter and The Goblet of Health Care Reform didn't make the cut, but, according to media reports, these did:

          

_

         

Chicagoist Flickr Pool contributor Curtis Locke (a.k.a. Find a City To Live In) captured and shared some great shots of street art in the city's Lower West Side.

If you're like us, you need to ease into the work week with that first cup of coffee. What could make it go down smoother? How about this ridonkulous Lego video made by a pair of Swedes that pays tribute to old school video games? WARNING: The music that kicks-off the video is REALLY LOUD, so if you're still half asleep or using speakers at the office, turn it down before pressing play. [via]

There's some pretty rad weather for us to start off the work week with...too bad so many of us will be inside for most of it. Sunny skies are in order as are high temps around 80. If that's not perfect weather for calling in sick and skipping school, we don't know what is. Though we don't condone such behavior. Officially, anyway. Tonight, skies remain clear and lows will be in the mid 60s. Another day of warming up tomorrow, but cooler, cloudier conditions could be on the way later in the week.

Stephen Colbert's worst nightmare: bears up among us and they're playing our winter sports. [via]

       

_

In a Soldier Field full of fans anxious to see our prized new quarterback, Bears fans got quite a show on Saturday night. Jay Cutler led the team to scores on each of the three posessions he played, and the Bears defeated the New York Giants 17-3. On the field for 25 offensive plays, Cutler completed 8 of 13 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown -- a passer rating of 117.8. Now that's the Cutler we hoped to see! On the team's first drive of the evening, Cutler found Earl Bennett, Devin Hester and Greg Olsen for completions while driving the team into field goal range for Robbie Gould. Matt Forte capped an 80 yard drive with a 32 yard TD run. On his final drive, Cutler connected with Desmond Clark on a one yard pass, set up by a 38 yarder to Devin Aromashodu, to finish off a 10 play, 92 yard drive.

Today is looking pretty damn spectacular, even more so because the calendar claims it's still August. Partly cloudy skies and temps in the low 70s with little humidity make it feel positively spring-like during The Summer That Wasn't. Fair conditions continue into the evening hours and temps fall into the upper 50s. The week ahead looks like a quick spike in heat early on before falling again by next weekend. We'd be remiss in not wishing former Bears QB Rex Grossman a happy birthday.

Ben Stiller tries to explain Twitter to Mickey Rooney. Hilarity ensues.

       

_

It's more like late-September or early-October than mid-August outside. Unseasonably cool temps are the story of the weekend, just two weeks removed from one scorcher of a Lollapalooza weekend. The forecast today calls for mostly cloudy skies, but if conditions at the Chicagoist HQ at around 9 a.m. this morning are any indication, there aren't a whole heckuva lot of clouds around. Highs should top out around 70 and lows tonight, under partly cloudy skies, will be in the mid-50s. Oh, and happy birthday, GZA!

According to a UBS report (via The Economist), it seems that Chicago is at the top of purchasing power. Along with workers in Toronto and Tokyo, it only takes the average Chicago worker 12 minutes at their job to earn enough money to buy a Big Mac.

       

It's not just the weather lately that's got us bummed out. Daley stopped being funny and started being a real jag a few months ago, and Tankboy won't stop playing that new Waaves album over and over and over. Stolpman won't hush about Rick Bayless and Anthony's been hitting the cooking sherry again. But then, this morning, along came something special to brighten our day: a window washer swinging just outside of the Chicagoist office. While Marcus was brushing his pet unicorn for comfort and Chuck was attending to the pork he's curing in the staff breakroom, I grabbed my second-hand SLR and snapped a few shots of this aerial acrobat.

As Chicago prepares for another pre-season appearance from the CutlerChrist tomorrow night, the Flashback Desk is taking us back to 1989, when the Bears were in the midst of another QB changeover. Would it be Jim McMahon? Mike Tomczak? Jim Harbaugh? Mike Ditka announced the quarterback free-for-all before the season and it was anyone's guess who would end up helming the team.

          

_

      

Flickr user John McNab shared some great old-time Chicago photos that he found via the Library of Congress American Memory website. On a gloomy Friday morning, they're a welcome step back into the past.

First got it when he was six, didn't know any tricks...

Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano looked good in a single-A level rehab start last night for the Peoria Chiefs, pitching five shut-out innings. Said Big Z on his 74-pitch outing: "I felt good...My slider was a little flat, but I have to settle back, do my rehab, work on my pitches and have some fun and get ready for my start on Tuesday." Z even had a clever response to the Sun-Times' Carol Slezak, who took Zambrano to task this week after the pitcher admitted to being lazy. From ESPNChicago:

And just like that, Summer is over. It feels more like May (or late September) out there today. Clouds roil overhead and temps are in the mid 60s. They won't budge much higher, topping out around 71, and there's even a 60 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1 pm. Not exactly the kind of weather we were thinking of for late August. A slight chance of rain continues into tonight when lows will dip into the mid 50s. Also, it was 50 years ago today that Hawaii became the 50th state admitted to the United States as President Eisenhower signed a proclamation making it so. We're sure President Obama would celebrate such an anniversary, if only he were really born there...

A charming (we're suckers, we admit!) short film that answers the question, "How do abandoned shopping carts end up where they do?"

          

_

                     

It's time for our monthly check-in with Chicago's Commander-in-Chief who's had a rough several weeks. Photos courtesy of the White House Flickr stream.

Round and round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows...

We've already gone through another round of rain this morning and there's possibly more where that came from. Eventually the clouds break and the sun will peek out - indeed, there's already blue sky over the Chicagoist office - giving rise to temps and maybe even a little humidity. But another round of storms could fire up this afternoon and some of those could, like yesterday, be heavy at times, though the chance of rain decreases as the day wears on. We're also looking at a cloudy and cool start to the weekend tomorrow, but Saturday and Sunday are looking pretty nice.

All those public appearance fees and book profits may be for naught for former governor Rod Blagojevich. A new law just signed by Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday would prevent convicted public officials from making any sort of profit from crimes. If Blago's convicted, according to the Tribune:

At one time or another, we've all gotten fed up with the shenanigans down at City Hall. Sure, some are content to post their anti-clout rants on a storefront window, but a few fine men have channeled all that rage and put it into song.

          

_

              

This summer, the University of Chicago approved the renovations of the reading rooms in Harper Memorial Library and Stuart Hall. John Boyer, Dean of the College, said, “Our goal is to restore this beautiful space to its deserved splendor. There will be new lighting, new furniture, new carpet, better technology—everything needed to make the space as useable, contemporary and welcoming as possible, while ensuring the history remains intact.” The renovated reading rooms, closed in June, will reopen in September. Chicagoist reader/Flickr pool contributor Avi Schwab got a peek earlier this summer at the beginning of the renovations and shared his gorgeous shots with us.

Oh, Summer, you got here just in time to make us realize you'll soon be gone...

We hate being yelled at by the Traffic Management ladies in yellow vests for stepping out into a crosswalk too early. Of course, if you're Lou Piniella, yelling won't really phase you. A week after Chicago White Sox GM Kenny Williams was ticketed for jaywalking in Seattle, Cubs manager Sweet Lou nearly got the same in San Diego. So is Chicago's baseball elite just that disrespectful of the law or are those Left Coasters just that vigilant? Lou got off with just a warning, which is good to him. Said Lou, "Kenny can afford it more than me." Of course, if we had the bullpen issues that Lou does, you'd be pretty likely to find us randomly roaming the streets of whatever city we were stuck in, mumbling incoherently to ourselves, too. [Tribune]

There's sunshine this morning, but it won't be around all day. As Wednesday wears on, clouds will move in and by late afternoon, we'll the the humidity level and the chance of rain increases as we move throughout the late afternoon and into the night. Highs today will be in the lower 80s. Speaking of tonight, that's when the rain will start coming down and continue into Thursday, with lows around 70. And Happy Birthday, John Stamos!

Residents of the NFC North, one of the People We Just Wish Would Go Away is back. Even the non-Bears fans among us have circled November 29 and December 28 on our calendars.

While Fate gave the Cubs another goggled punch in the gut last night, Mother Nature smiled upon the White Sox. As soon as the rainbow disappeared, Scott Podsednik appeared riding on the back of a unicorn. Benjy and Chuck tell me this is further proof of why I root for the "wrong" team.

After yesterday's beautiful diversion (which we can't stop rewatching), we're back to...this. I don't even know where to begin. British humor is weird. But fascinating. [via]

Even though vampires are the terror du jour, zombies still have a strong foothold in the popular psyche - the multitude of Zombie Pub Crawls and Thriller recreations will tell you that. With the release of a Canadian study questioning humanity's survival in the face of a zombie invasion floating around the internets today, we're posing the following question:

          

_

If you see a lot of No. 6 Bears jerseys around town these days, there's a good reason: the Bears QB has the top-selling NFL jersey right now. Crain's cites Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Daily as saying Cutler is the tops in players - with fellow Bears Brian Urlacher and Devin Hester at numbers 19 and 20, respectively - and the Bears are the second most popular team behind the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. We'll see if those numbers still hold up come late October.

          

It's been a while since we've read a good, old fashioned anti-government manifesto. Luckily for us, reader Katie Scully was kind enough to share these pics, displaying a lengthy anti-Daley/Parking Meter/Taxes/2016 Olympics manifesto posted earlier this month in the front window of String A Strand in Lincoln Square. At first, we were going to have a little fun, but then we realized the rant could easily double for anything either we or our pals over at the Reader have written in the last six months.

A professional sports team is leaving its city digs for a spot in the suburbs. No, don't worry, the Bears aren't going to start playing at Ryan Field. Chicago's WNBA team, the Chicago Sky, is packing up and leaving the UIC Pavilion, their current home, and relocating to the Allstate Arena in Rosemont starting with the 2010 season. Why? The team itself says it's all about growing. Sky President and CEO Margaret Stender said in a statement, “The Sky has developed from an expansion team into one of the WNBA’s most formidable teams with fabulous young talent and a very bright future. The Allstate Arena is a great choice for our team and our fans as we enter our next stage of growth. The central location and benefits of our new home will help our Sky family continue to expand."

"It's impossible to find a job in this town." We've heard that over and over again from friends and family who have lost their jobs in this economic downturn (and not just the journalism school grads, either). According to a new survey measuring job market competition put together by job site Indeed.com (via TechCrunch), Chicago is one of the worst cities in America when it comes to getting a new job. It's not exactly the most scientific of surveys: Indeed measured the number of unemployed people in the city versus the number of job postings on its site and BAM! you have your index. For example, Washington, D.C. is apparently the easiest place to get a job with a ratio of six job postings for each unemployed person.

Now that all that (much needed) rain has moved on, it looks like we'll see more of the sun today. Conditions should be pretty okay for mid-August with the clouds breaking as the day goes on and highs reaching the low-to-mid 80s. Humidity levels should also be a bit lower than yesterday and there's still just the slightest chance of some passing showers. Tonight, skies will be partly cloudy with a low around 60. And, hey, it was 51 years ago today that Lolita was published.

We know Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane have been dominating the hockey headlines lately, but there's reason for Blackhawks fans to rejoice: single game tickets went on sale earlier today. Skate on by and pick some up.

We know we usually keep it goofy with our diversions, but sometimes even we need something more...life affirming. Take, for example, this beautiful four minute short film from WNYC's Radiolab, directed by Will Hoffman and featuring the music of Icelandic band Parachutes (pals of Sigur Ros).

A peach a day keeps the birthers/angry town hall attendees away?

          

_

   

Reader Amy M. was out for a Sunday stroll when she happened upon this interesting scene near Division and Honore. We think the note pretty much sums it up. Here's hoping no one was hurt in the accident.

There was a lot going on this weekend so we can understand if you didn't have a chance to peruse the site. And we're sure you're already cracking at work, so here are some helpful links from our weekend coverage that might help you catch up on what you missed.

Remember the great frenzy over Swine Flu H1N1 Influenza A? Well, it's going to start up again as we move into the school year and the colder fall and winter months, so we might as well have some fun with it, right? Enter The Great Flu, a game that "Dutch researchers" have created that challenges the users to fight a global pandemic. WBBM has more on the game.

All that rain from overnight has carried into today and while we'll see a few breaks, we'll see some more rain as well. With all the rain over the past 24 hours or so, be on the look out for a bit of flooding in some areas as well. And it'll be kind of muggy with all that moisture in the air. Highs will top out in the low-to-mid 80s under the cloudy, rainy skies. Lows tonight fall into the upper 60s as the rain moves out but clouds remain. And an early peek at the weekend shows some cool, sunny conditions are in order.

Our love of this clip is, in fact, proof we are total nerds.

       

_

Today promises to be much like yesterday, though the ante will be upped with a chance of rain. In fact, it looks like we'll have at least a slight chance of rain over the next several days, rain we could use. Highs will reach into the mid-to-upper 80s this afternoon and we'll have a 50/50 shot at showers or storms, a threat that'll continue overnight - with lows around 70 - and into tomorrow. Don't look now because summer just got here, but at least one forecast mentions the phrase "hint of fall" by later in the week.

Sure, it's been a week since we attended Sweatapalooza '09 and we've put this year's fest to bed, but we came across this badass time lapse of this year's fest and had to share it.

Health officials in McHenry County are urging caution among residents as 13 rabid bats have been identified so far this year. It's nothing new for McHenry residents as their county had the most rabid bats reported in 2008 with 23 and the current tally of 13 also leads the state so far this year. According to a WBBM report, "Statewide, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 37 as of August 3rd. August is typically a very active month for bats, the release said." The WBBM story has several precautions to help protect you and prevent rabies as well as what you can do if a bat makes its way into your house. We also recommend the "Business School" episode of The Office (available here, for now).

       

_

Okay, not the most original description, but considering some of the wet, foggy air and water show weekends of years past, it's going to be pretty dang nice out there today. Partly cloudy skies and temps near 90 will make for great weather on the beach to check out all the air & water show action or whatever outdoor plans your Saturday has in store. If anything, it'll be a little hazy. It'll still be muggy tonight with partly cloudy skies and lows around 70.

According to the blog Uptown Update, there's all kinds of craziness that's been going on this week at the corner of Leland and Sheridan. Here's some video:

          

_

Rod "The Gift To Comedy Writers That Keeps On Giving" Blagojevich might be getting passé to you, me, and everyone else in town. However, the slightly-more-detached writers of the Daily Show rolled out their newest segment last night, documenting his Quest for Rock Bottom. Grab your shovels, kids - we're lookin' for bedrock! (Hey - remember when they only made fun of him a little bit on the Daily Show?)

Proving that a 10-year-old could do the same job as half the TV anchors, Damon Weaver, the youngster who made headlines for his interview with then-Senator (and now VP) Joe Biden a few months back, finally lands the big fish, President Barack Obama.

  

The White Sox were off yesterday as the traveled the Left Coast from Seattle to Oakland where they begin a weekend series tonight at 9:05 p.m. (WGN). You can check our recap of yesterday's Cubs-Phillies game here and, luckily for the Cubs, the Pirates come to town for a weekend set starting today at 1:20 p.m. (WGN).