Every time I tell anyone about the storm yesterday, they say, “oh, it passed quickly!” Tell that to the 300k still without power. Although in the Editorial meeting yesterday, someone threw out that Chicago has a 15-20k range of outages every day. It might not be weather related, but those are the numbers of people without power. I don’t know if that’s true, but someone with authority told me so I’m telling you.

Anyway, I put on FB our story about the power outages. And I got instant comments in return. It was fascinating to use FB this way. It was almost better than a news story: Here’s the screenshot:

If you are still without power, let us know.  And I hope your car didn’t get hit by a tree. 

B story: Apparently, NEXT restaurant was going to sell the next wave of tickets for their new Thai menu. They were going to do it at 4pm yesterday. There’s such high volume of interest that the web site was overwhelmed with traffic. It crashed and they had to postpone the ticket sale. That pissed off a ton of people, who demanded that they sell them at this time because they had to take so much time off of surfing somewhere else at work. Best comments ever. (especially one about whining kids)

C story: Steve Dahl made a big announcement that he doesn’t want to leave his basement. Who would? But, he might be the first who actually gets paid for it. Dahl wants to charge about 10 bucks a month for his podcast. That’s essentially what Sirius/XM costs, and you get rap music. So I have to ask, will Dahl offer up rap music?

It will be interesting to see if this model works. Not just for radio, but I’m sure some news sites and niche media are watching closely. Do they call it a paywall in radio? I, for one, am going to lobby the ole’ WBEZ bosses to get me a subscription.

D story: Collinsville, IL just banned saggy pants. Way to be relevant, Collinsville. I wonder if it’s not a youth problem and more of a senior citizen wardrobe issue. Oh, no - it’s youth.

I would like to see a ban on pants being to tight or high. No skinny jeans, no waists around the nipples.

Weather: What I like most about weather coverage in mainstream media is the absolute need to throw out weather trivia. Did you know the winds were hurricane strength? Do you know that this could be the biggest power outage since an ice storm in March 1998? Did you know we almost had a seiche (not Thai food, but a lake tsunami)? But I guess when you can’t get the weather forecast right, you have to fall back on something.

Sports: This is the worst time of year for sports. The All-Star break gives you a home run derby, AHL signings, women’s World Cup analysis and six year-old girls hitting hole-in-ones in Bloomington.

And still, no football. Oh, well, Noah is going to play for France in the European Championships. And Scalabrine is talking a big game about cheering on teammates in Europe. Hey, they need over-excited benchwarmers there too, right. 

Kicker: My WBEZ colleague Natalie Moore is prone to fasts. She did a financial fast (and blogged about it) last year and this year, she is taking on the food detox fast. I’m checking in with her on IM this week to make sure she hasn’t died or caved:

Justin:  So what are you doing? I read on Twitter you are starving yourself.

nataliemchicago:  No quite starvation…more like birdseed! Seriously, I’m doing a seven-day raw diet detox diet. not quite starvation…

me:  What’s the point? Is it to get super skinny? Or is it a dare?

nataliemchicago:  It’s not weight loss or a dare. It’s a mental exercise.

me:  aahhhh, got it.

nataliemchicago:  This means: no meat, animal products, alcohol or recreational drugs. That’s straight from the manual. It’s a group effort led by Raw Food Goddess Nwena Kai of Philly.

me:  So what can you eat?

nataliemchicago:  I’m also drinking detox cocktails like garlic and flaxseed. Lemon, sea salt and cayenne. I can’t eat hummus. Apparently chickpeas are boiled. I’ve been eating nuts, fruit, smoothies, salads, vegetables.

me:  Almost like a chipmunk! Sans the smoothies.

nataliemchicago:  I spent more money in Whole Foods this week than I normally do when I buy meat! This is a stretch for me. I’m a proud omnivore chick.

me:  You should do this detox at the same time that you do your next financial fast.

nataliemchicago:  I also routinely sing the praises of pork, specifically bacon. Financial fast and detox? Shoot me now.

me:  Okay, this is day 3 right? How are you feeling?

nataliemchicago:  I went to the 61st Street farmers market on Saturday - the day before i started. I asked the woman to show me the pork belly. Teasing myself. Today is Day 3. Can’t say that I feel any different. On the first day, I saw my neighbor with french fries and I wanted to tackle her. I also ate raw kale lime/chili chips. Disgusting. I had to slather in mango.

me:  that sounds pretty gross.

nataliemchicago:  I rarely eat breakfast. This is the first time I’ve made smoothies in the morning - or ever. I think I’ll keep this habit. I mix blueberries, almond milk, agave nectar and cinnamon. Delicious morning!

me:  That sounds good - did you slather that smoothie in mango?

nataliemchicago:  Nah…

me:  You should slather everything in mango. I just like the way that sounds.

nataliemchicago:  Mango can replace bacon.

me:  Oooooh, you are onto something! Okay - I’ll check in later this week and then write me something about your whole experience when you are done, cool?

nataliemchicago:  I have to say my fridge looks bright and colorful. cool.