Personal-sized apple pie from Angel Food Bakery (photo by Joseph Storch)
As you fire up your grills, make your grocery list and check to see if you have enough gas to make back from the Indiana fireworks stores, don't forget about dessert, America.
Happy Birthday America. Let's eat some sweets.
Jul. 2, 2010
Nightclubbing: Silversun Pickups, FitzGerald's American Music Festival and more
Jul. 2, 2010You'd think that the July 4th holiday weekend would be prime time for concert-going, but whether it's a result of Lollapalooza and other festivals taking their toll in slowing down the rest of the city's music scene, or promoters writing the next couple of days off to people staying home and listening to tunes in their backyards as they fire up the grill, things are pretty slow -- with a few notable exceptions.
Alison Cuddy to fly solo as host of 'Eight Forty-Eight'
Jul. 2, 2010Robservations on the media beat:
Alison Cuddy
- Alison Cuddy has been named full-time solo host of "Eight Forty-Eight," the weekday morning newsmagazine on Chicago Public Media WBEZ-FM (91.5), effective Aug. 1. A nine-year veteran of the station, Cuddy most recently has been co-hosting "Eight Forty-Eight" with Richard Steele. She previously served as producer of "Chicago Matters" and "Odyssey." Steele will "continue to play a key role with 'Eight Forty-Eight' and WBEZ," according to Sally Eisele, managing editor of public affairs. Chicago Public Media also is the parent company of blogs.vocalo.org.
Top 5 Italian beefs in Chicago
Jul. 1, 2010
A grand (and St. Clair) parking garage
Jul. 1, 2010
(photo by Lee Bey)
I was near St. Clair and Grand yesterday when I spotted the above parking garage.
Album review: Wolf Parade, "Expo 86"
Jul. 1, 2010
Wolf Parade, "Expo 86" (Sub Pop) Rating: 3.5/4
Fans of Wolf Parade long have championed this indie-rock quartet from Montreal for pursuing a modern brand of melodically infectious but rhythmically challenging art-rock akin to the New Wave-era best from Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, and the Talking Heads (something similar, it could be noted, to what's being done by their champion and mentor Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse). I really didn't hear it amid all that lo-fi clatter on "Apologies to the Queen Mary" (2005) or "At Mount Zoomer" (2008), but Dan Boeckner, who shares songwriting and frontman duties with Spencer Krug, has been talking a lot in interviews about the group's attempts to be more focused this time around, and the effort certainly has paid off.
