Robert Feder

Sep. 27, 2010

The trials and tribulations of Randy Michaels & Co.

Sep. 27, 2010

You can't blame Randy Michaels for wanting to bask in some of Orion Samuelson's reflected glory. There was the embattled Tribune Co. chief executive officer posing with WGN-AM (720) radio pals at a dinner last week honoring Radio Hall of Famer Samuelson on his 50th‚ anniversary as the voice of agriculture and business at the news/talk station.


Orion Samuelson and friends

This photo, first posted on WGN's website, features (from left): WGN general manager Tom Langmyer; Samuelson; agribusiness reporter Max Armstrong; WGN program director Kevin Metheny; midday personality John Williams, and Michaels. I wasn't invited, but I heard from those who were there that it was quite the shindig.

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Mission Amy KR

Sep. 24, 2010

#42c What else is there but love?

Sep. 24, 2010

Standing on my now ledge, here is what I most want to share with you this very moment: these two small but mighty gems.  I hope you'll watch both--they're magnificent.

I'm going to let these short videos do the talking today, so this is me signing off until Monday and wishing you a succession of satisfying and savored nows until then.

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Steve Dolinsky

Sep. 24, 2010

Friday Foodie Forecast: dinner, drinks and a "sweet" movie

Sep. 24, 2010

This week, do dinner, a drink and a movie: dine at Mercadito for their anniversary $1 menu or splurge on a multicourse degustation menu at this year's Toque benefit event. Then, head to Smith & Wollensky for their National Wine Week specials, and finish it all off with the premiere of Kings of Pastry, a documentary film about two of Chicago's best pastry chefs.
 


Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer prepares to be judged in Kings of Pastry

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Achy Obejas

Sep. 24, 2010

One year later: Where are the kids from the Derrion Albert beating now?

Sep. 24, 2010

Room 702 at the courthouse at 26th and California has a panoramic view of Cook County jail facilities: block brick buildings, guard posts, barbed wire in circles. On the wet, grey morning of September 16, lawyers mill about casually, occasionally joking, flipping through papers. A couple of Derrion Albert’s family members sit on the west end of the third bench from the front, with lawyers coming and going before them, giving them updates on the day’s wrangling.

But for them, the courtroom is quiet and spare, with less than a score of spectators. Inevitably, they walk out to the hallway, look out the windows at the end of hall to the broad expanse of white clouds and penitentiary, then idle back inside.

After almost two hours of whispers and lolling, the judge appears and five teenage boys are brought before him. They wear Department of Correction uniforms, hold their hands in front of their bodies, fingers laced in submission.

One of them, Silvonus Shannon, cranes his neck to look at out at the courtroom, perhaps hoping for recognition or connection. He walks standing straight and without pause.

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Anne Elizabeth Moore

Sep. 24, 2010

Revision Street: Voices from Whittier Elementary School Field House -- Monica, 9

Sep. 24, 2010

Monica is a sweet young girl in a pink knit pancho. Her hair is tied back into a ponytail and she is shy. I’m making her speak in English for the interview. She’s comfortable in the language, clearly—but she’d be even more comfortable if we were speaking Spanish. Her mom stands off to the side, coaxing her in her native language: It’s OK, just tell her what you think. The mom doesn’t speak any English, and when I thank her for letting me talk to her daughter—unthinkingly—in my native language, someone translates. Gracias.


(photo by Sarah Jane Rhee)

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Robert Feder

Sep. 24, 2010

With Myles to go, WLS-FM steers Jones to mornings

Sep. 24, 2010

Marti Jones

Listeners to Dave Fogel's morning show on oldies WLS-FM (94.7) will hear a new but recognizable voice doing news, traffic and weather, starting Monday.

Marti Jones, who's been a news and traffic reporter on a variety of Chicago outlets for 13 years, has been hired full-time by the Citadel Broadcasting station.

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Lee Bey

Sep. 24, 2010

Chicago architecture goes underground....in hip-hop videos

Sep. 24, 2010

I remain impressed by the way Chicago rap artists unashamedly use the city's architecture in their videos.

Last time I spoke on the subject, I showed videos by top tier acts like Common and Kanye West. Today we kick it off with an underground track, "Spit that Fire" by ILL Clicks Militia, featuring Big Hook & Lay Low. The lyrics are not for younger or more sensitive listeners, but the use of architecture in the video is the business. Mies van der Rohe's 860/880 Lake Shore Drive, the Lake Street EL, the highrises of River North, Willis Tower, Wrigley Building, the LaSalle Street canyon, Trump Tower and more whiz by amid the beats and the rhyme.

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Steve Dolinsky

Sep. 24, 2010

Chicago Gourmet, round 3

Sep. 24, 2010

This weekend, city officials and the Illinois Restaurant Association are welcoming dozens of food luminaries from around the country to Millennium Park, for what they hope will be a new-and-improved "Chicago Gourmet." ‚ I've been asked by more than a few people over the past week if it's worth it. ‚ If it's just waiting in line to graze on an amuse-sized nibble from our city's top chefs - and then sample amazing wines all day - I would say probably not. ‚ However, each year organizers manage to raise the stakes a bit, adding more features and making this festival-in-progress slightly more attractive.

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