Daley vs. Obama: Who will have the better VIP shindig?

Daley vs. Obama: Who will have the better VIP shindig?
Daley vs. Obama: Who will have the better VIP shindig?

Daley vs. Obama: Who will have the better VIP shindig?

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Top story: Tonight, President Obama will be in Chicago to kick off his campaign for reelection in 2012. He will be here at Navy Pier for a big fundraiser tonight. Opposite that fundraiser, Mayor Daley will be attending the “I Love Chicago. I Love Mayor Daley” party in River North.

The parties couldn’t be any different. Rahm Emanuel will be with Obama. But the Walter E. Smithe Bros will be with Daley. There’s a rumor that Derrick Rose and President Obama may play a quick pickup game of basketball. There is also a rumor that Mayor Daley may be entertained by a certain 53rd Ward alderman named Bus.

The end result of this party will be a new Walter E. Smithe commercial, slated to hit the airwaves right around the time Mayor Daley makes his grand exit in mid-May. I can’t confirm, nor will I deny that Alderman Ed Bus will make an appearance. I haven’t been able to get a hold of him as the Ed Bus Chophouse phone just keeps ringing. He might be sleeping at the bar.

Regardless of Bus and this ground breaking appearance, it is an interesting event, one that does shed light on what the business community thinks of our departing mayor. The big love is in stark contrast to some of the media coverage in recent history, talking about Daley’s legacy and what the city’s financial situation might mean for that legacy. 

But that’s for someone who wants to do research. Not this blogger. I just want to do jokes. And to do a couple in front of the mayor of Chicago while playing a fictitious alderman that pokes fun at the Chicago machine? Hit the button. Game over.

B story: News broke this week that the infamous Flip camera will stop production, signaling an end to the mini-video camera phase of our lives. With still cameras and cell phones being able to capture the same quality video, the Flip had to go. And I am shedding a nostalgic tear. We got our first Flip right before the Democratic National Convenction in 2008. I took it with me to cover both political conventions and just used the hell out of it. I went online to find those videos and there are 62 uploads, all from the Flip. They include interviews with politicians, wide shots of the Obama and McCain celebrations and Kaufmann shenanigans with celebrities and fellow reporters. It’s also the little camera that snagged the then-Governor Blagojevich/Speaker Madigan hug heard round the world. This was a couple months before Blago was arrested. It’s a shaky video, but it did capture the essence of that moment. That is what Flip did. I think I am going to decommission the Flip soon. We have much better HD quality video equipment on the web site now. I will either put the Flip in the plastic bag with my minidisc and DAT players, or I will have a proper burial…at sea (well, Lake Michigan).  Or maybe I’ll set it on fire like Joan of Arc. Whatever it is, it will be big. Anyway, in honor of the Flip, I give you video of Sammy Hagar from the RNC, doing a version of the hit song “Right Now,” but tailoring it for McCain/Palin:

C story: Blagojevich held a press conference outside his house yesterday. Lazy.

Weather: It’s still nice. When it’s nice like this, I think “sudden snowstorm.” But that’s just me.

Sports: The Bulls end the regular season on a high note by becoming the overall #1 team in the NBA playoffs. This ultimately means that if the Bulls get to the NBA Finals, they will have a potential four games at home instead of three. So that’s pretty cool, especially if there’s a NBA Finals Game 7. It would be in Chicago.

The Hawks take the second story even though it was a playoff game. They were listless against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the NHL Playoffs. Granted, the Canucks are the #1 team in hockey. They played like it, skating faster and playing with more muscle than the winded Hawks. Now it’s just one game and honestly, I don’t know hockey that well, but it did seem like the Stanley Cup champs were outmatched. And on a side note, I can’t tell if the Hawks and Canucks are chippy becuase they don’t like each other or because that’s just hockey. Everytime a whistle blew, a skirmish would break out. If that’s just hockey being hockey, I can’t wait to enroll my son in pee-wee leagues. 

Kicker: TODAY. 5:15pm at the Belmont/Clark intersection - Amy Krouse Rosenthal and her band of merry revelers will cheer on commuters in marathon fashion. It’s the latest mission from Mission Amy KR and I love it! I can’t go because I’ll be hobnobbing with Mayor Daley and company, but you should. Even if you have other plans, just get off the train at Belmont, cheer on a few commuters and then hop back on the train before your transfer expires.