Chicagoist Week In Review: Dibs On The Last Red Streak Edition

By Scott Smith in Miscellaneous on Dec 26, 2005 2:00PM

Last week, as the first major snowfall melted just in time for Christmukkah, questions were raised and points were argued on the nature of dibs, what really constitutes journalism, and the evergreen topic of smoking.

Like mayors named Daley, the bleachers at Wrigley and drunks at the South Side Irish parade, dibs is a uniquely Chicago tradition that infuriates as many people as it comforts. Whether the solution is “dibsarchy” as some have suggested or an official dibs marker (perhaps with a picture of Ditka?), look to City Hall for the official word on when dibs ends or risk an ice-covered car.

While dibs certainly gets people hot under the collar, so do questions of linguistics as a debate erupted in the same post over whether it’s proper to call a certain grocery store “the Jewel”, “Jewels” or just plain old “Jewel.” (Question: if everyone you’re related to shops there, is it proper to call it “The Family Jewels”?)

Speaking of which, last week Red Streak folded and, as expected, there were plenty of people looking to kick ‘em in the nuts as they went down. But more importantly, it spawned a discussion on journalism vs. reporting vs. blogging and where the lines are drawn (and whether they should be drawn in pencil).

And then there’s the Stroger-proposed cigarette tax increase, which led to some people saying smoking was awesome and some people to say it sucked. We’d have put on our surprised faces but we couldn’t find them anywhere, darn it.

Of course, the week’s most pleasant surprise was the outpouring of love for Lou Rawls. We hope your good thing never ends, Lou. Other “woah” moments included the revelation that we aren’t paid shills for the Topinka For Governor campaign, photographic evidence that Pat Robertson suffers from irritable bowel syndrome, and—thanks to commenter Brian Wolf—the news that Cook County Comissioner Michael Quigley is a dead ringer for Mayor Quimby

Now that we've recycled last week's news, be sure to put it in a blue bag before you set it by the curb.