Editor's note: Robert Feder is off until July 13. While he's away, we're running "The Best of Feder. The following post originally appeared on Jan. 13, 2010:
Oprah Winfrey, 1984
It's a forgotten chapter in Chicago television history. But if things had worked out differently, we might have been saluting Oprah Winfrey on her 25th‚ year as a local news anchor last year instead of gearing up for the end of her talk show career here.
(photo by Lee Bey)
I went to to the African-Caribbean International Festival of Life last weekend in Washington Park.
Big Boi, "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty" (Purple Ribbon/Def Jam) Rating: 3/4
Antwan “Big Boi” Patton generally is portrayed as the more down-to-earth half of the multi-platinum-selling hip-hop duo Outkast, the streetwise rapper who balances the wiggy psychedelic excesses of “André 3000” Benjamin, who’s viewed as the real hitmaker of the team. But nothing ever is that simple with this gonzo pair.
Big Boi’s “Speakerboxxx” may have been the more traditional party disc compared to André 3000’s “The Love Below” (2003), but there still was plenty of weirdness on both halves of that double-disc release. While his counterpart gave us the immortal “Hey Ya!,” Big Boi proved he was more than capable of crafting a killer hit of his own with the 2005 single “Kryptonite (I’m on It).”
Editor's note: Robert Feder is off until July 13. While he's away, we're running "The Best of Feder." The following post originally appeared on Feb. 15, 2010:
Pam Zekman
For years, the seven most dreaded words in the English language were: "Mike Wallace is here to see you." So feared was the grand inquisitor of "60 Minutes" that mere mention of his name made corrupt politicians, crooked businessmen and other assorted scoundrels quake in their loafers.
Wallace, 91, is officially retired from "60 Minutes" now, and the interrogation style that he made famous is rarely seen on network television these days. But in Chicago, there's still one investigative reporter whose name evokes a similar reaction of abject panic. I'm referring to Pam Zekman, the diminutive dynamo of WBBM-Channel 2.
I’ve been asking Tom Shepherd, down in Pullman, how the new Wal-Mart will affect things in the area.
