Erick Williams of mk dishing it out at last year's "Taste of the Nation" (photo: Deja Views)
Today's giveaway of two tickets to the upcoming "Taste of the Nation" (a $190 value) is a tough one. As you know, there will be some 40 chefs, plus another 15 pastry chefs and approximately a half-dozen mixologists at the Aragon Ballroom on Aug. 12th, all hoping to raise money to fight childhood hunger in our area. Here's today's challenge:
Okay, remember all those random words, phrases and‚ gestures you sent in last Wednesday? Remember how I promised to string them together and "perform" it at--make that, thrust it upon--unsuspecting audience at a conference I was speaking at last week?
Well, here's how it shook down people...
That was fun for me. Was it fun for you?
Happy Wednesday, all. And please keep those phenomenal six-word memoirs pouring in.
amy
(photo by Lee Bey)
Is there is a Chicago-area building better sited than the Baha'i House of Worship?
NoMI's tomato garden (photo: Joseph Storch)
Christophe David has been running the kitchen at NoMI for the past five years; he made big news this week when he announced that his last day at the Park Hyatt will be August 14th. He's moving to Switzerland to be with his girlfriend, who found a great job there. But over the past few weeks, he's been tending to a special urban garden seven floors above ground.
Best Coast, "Crazy for You" (Mexican Summer/Wichita) Rating: 3.5/4
The debut album by the L.A.-based indie-pop trio Best Coast arrives like a cool breeze off the lake on the most oppressive day of the summer—and as such, the occasional moments of cloying sweetness, the deafening hipster buzz (based both on front woman Bethany Cosentino’s pedigree as a former member of the more spacey Pocahaunted and her current status dating Nathan Williams of Wavves), and most of all that obnoxiously cute album cover (the adventures of Cosentino’s cat Snacks are documented in-depth along with a wide range of other topics on her Twitter account) all are easily forgiven in the face of the irresistible pleasures.
“When I’m with you/I have fun,” Cosentino coos in the closing track.
Robservations on the media beat:
A former punk enthusiast, Office Eric Jones was a new member of the Chicago police force when I first met him a few years ago. One of the first interviews I conducted for this project, Eric remains an intriguing character: a friend of a friend, who happened to also be a cop. He lives in Albany Park and patrols the area around Humboldt Park.
(photo by Lee Bey)
The former R.V. Kunka pharmacy hasn't filled a prescription since February 2009; a nearby CVS takes care of that now. But look at what's been left behind: a totally modern and streamlined 1930s storefront--relatively rare in Chicago, especially in this good of a condition-- composed of metal panels, a unique color scheme and a typeface cool enough to grace the opening credits of an RKO Pictures movie. The storefront is the ground floor of an occupied, circa 1900 apartment building on a six-corner intersection at Archer, Loomis and Fuller in the 11th ward. Here's a photo I took of the facade about four years ago when the pharmacy was still in business.
