Last call

Our Russian Friend-
back in Berlin:
to see his oldest daughter

Catastrophe Chicago-
my cargo collapses:
text him (maybe) I'll later

Hail Ryan

It didn't take long. There were all sorts of "The sky is falling" stories before they did it up. But even though it took two years, the redo of the Dan Ryan Expressway these last two years went peacefully by.

I love the Ryan. Living where I do, the revelation that it actually only takes 23, from the on ramp on Division to the off ramp on 111th takes only 23m- instead of my previous practice of crasahing on peoples floors or catching the first 4am bus out of the station. Now I loved crashing on frenz floors and that 3am ride on the Red line south was always peaceful- tonnes of homeless sleeping people, and me. But 23m......... wow.......

So, I'm used to the Ryan now. Know the inns and outs. Sox game? Take the express past 35th. Backed up north of 31st and going to Russia or Rainbo or etc...? LSD till Monroe, cut acrooss the Loop, and get on Kennedy. So I use it a lot.

But I was smart. Almost never did I try to take it during any sorta stress time. Went on off hours. Took the express lan when it was good to navigate the closings, take the local when it was best to.

And now it's back- and tuff as hell. It's been expanded by a lane in both directions, so with anyforesight, all trips on the Ryan are now wide open. Now, I haven't taken it @ rush, but even then I bet its not bad.

Drunxx

I wonder what North Side Irish says about this....

from Irish Republican Army Z

riters rite

I love wwhat i rote herr. i love what i rite

Boring recitation of what I did today

This was Veterans Day, so I did some wilde and crazy stuff. I decided to go to the Loop to buy Gf some expensive jewelry, and I didn’t want to drive the car. My plan was to drive to 95th and State and park the car near a park- free parking- and take the El in. However, I actually left early enough so that there was no traffic. That, and the fact that it was a holiday, led me to just drive the car to Chinatown, park it a few blocks from the El stop, take it to Chicago, and walk on all points south.

I stopped by Victoria’s S. first- they always have specials on thongs and stuff like that for Gf to wear- like 3 for $25. They had some fun stuff, but I passed; Marshalls instead. Although thongs of course were for her, they were in a sense more for me- if I wasn‘t totally happy, pass fer sure. Then I went to the jewelry shop and got a nice bracelet for a birthday or an anniversary of something like that. It was a long walk from Chicago and State to a Mr. Subs on 37 N. Wells- I had a 2-1 coupon and got double king subs for supper for four. Then to the Harold Washington Library to collect cinema- 3 DVD’s and 3 VCR cassettes. Then back down into the subway @ Harrison, to 22d Street, and walked back to the parked car. It was a lot of walking- maybe three miles. Good.

I had been thinking of stopping by a thrift store or two and do some shopping, but since the Dan Ryan was so open this day, I decided to do the unthinkable- take the expressway home @ rush hour. I won. It was clear- the holiday and the ending of repairs on the Ryan have really opened this expressway up. It was more the holiday that cleared it today, however.

I was so happy to get that done, and it was only half of the things to be done today- wood for the bookcases was to be bought as well. This mission failed- I could not find my ‘blueprints’ I had slaved over for two months to get just rite. This sunk that mission for the nite, but it opened up another- shopping for groceries!

Second time in two days I shop- yesterday Dominicks, today a local Fine Foods’ type place. I have been converted by GF into shopping in these sorta places- generally so cheap. I really like to shop for food, and when its @ a nice price, tant mieux pour nous.

Home: but not Free

What about this shit??

The building with the caved in roof

Gary Younge and all

The Guardian is one of my very favourites. I mite get the NYT, Trib, and Sun Times much much much more, but the Guardian is such a treat.

Gary Younge of the Guardian is one of my favourite columnists writing today. Loyal reader for 5-6 years now. My other favourite from the Guardian is the Parliament writer, Simon Hoggarth. When I'm in Britian or mainland Ireland, I always skupper under seats or out of trashcans beloved copies of this sheet. When I'm on my mothers island in Ireland (cut off from the mainland), I have the paper sent out especially for me so I can collect it from the shop ( has to be sailed in daily from the mainland).

I was flying out to Europe 3-4 years ago and I waited @ O'hare for an hour until two guys walked away from the copy of the Guardian that was under their chair in a waiting room. Maybe I should have asked and saved the time...

If Only There Were “Drink Slower” Challenges

written by Lazers
names edited by Hilts

addendum by Hilts

It was a quick and nondescript night of trivia at TC Pub. Benkowski was facing car troubles (and would receive a ride home from a J&Ber) and likely didn’t want a marathon session.

J&B represented by: Chemical man, Stix, Hilts, Dragon, Gf, the return of Joe Jokes, and Lazers.
Competition: Bar, Tight Pants, and Lucky Seven

TC Pub represented by: Earth Mother, with Newbie also in the house.

First Half: Sports/90s Music/Ads

1990 Cubs- catcher batted 8th on Opening Day?
Led 1989 Bears in scoring with 90 points?
Where Scottie Pippen ranks on the NBA all-time steals list (top 20)?
1986- Sox pitcher who threw a no-hitter?
1963 Bears beat which team to win the championship?

In a candidate for TC Pub trivia night’s most embarrassing moment, each team had a chance at that last question, and each team got it wrong.

For first half “throw the ball” tricks, an inside-out winter glove was used. Benkowski: “Pretend it’s a ball.”

J&B comes to the realization that its single biggest weakness is “drink faster” challenges. If I remember to do so, I plan on tracking the J&B record in such contests from here forward. With Lazers losing one last night, the stat-tracking begins at 0-1.

(Conversely, the “throw the ball” tricks are a J&B strength. I think Hilts was 2-for-2 last night. Stix got to “throw the glove” in the first half, but I don’t recall the result. If missed, I don’t think that should reflect negatively on the team’s overall “throw the ball” abilities.)

Scores at the half: Lucky Seven 1300 J&B 1270 Bar 710 Tight Pants 630

Second Half: Disney/80s & 00s Music/Very Mixed Up

From “Beauty and the Beast”- the beauty’s name?
Year that Walt Disney died?
Grafenberg’s discovery?

Controversy rears its ugly head in the second half when the Bar wants to use a “throw the ball” trick but Benkowski indicates they do not have any throws left. After a bit of back-and-forth, Benkowski: “Let me make a statement: The Bar has some qualities that are socially unacceptable…but they don’t cheat.” Benkowski allows them to throw.

Even if the Bar did not have any throws left, allowing them to throw anyway fits in with the rest of the night’s officiating, as I’m pretty certain both Lucky Seven and J&B each were allowed to violate the “no more than three correct answers in a row” rule on one occasion.

Surprisingly, Stix became gun-shy concerning the music category, mainly due to the 2000s element. However, that did not prevent him from pulling a good answer out of a music Hangman option.

Scores after two halves: J&B 2440 Bar 1660 Tight Pants 1540 Lucky Seven 1490

Choice of Final Category: Old School Drinks, In the News, Famous MaryAnns, or 1960s Entertainment.

Although Dragon once was a bartender, J&B narrows its selection to News and Entertainment. Both J&B and Lucky Seven select the 60s Entertainment category, while the other teams select News.

J&B wagers 881 (aka The Classic).

2 of 3 wins wager. All 3 wins 3000 bonus points.

1960s Entertainment:
Star of “The Cincinnati Kid”?
Song “Devil in Her Heart” appeared on their second album?
Played Dr. Kimball on “The Fugitive”?

News:
Biggest movie in North America for first weekend of November, with $46 million in sales?
Last Monday, ESPN2 showed 5 hours of “World Series of ______”?
6 words- show currently playing the Allstate Arena and soon to be in the United Center?

Though intriguing, the Famous MaryAnns questions remain unknown. I assume “Gilligan’s Island” would have been involved.

Gentlemen?

Part II

J&B guesses Steve McQueen, BeeGees, and David Janssen. J&B is not confident with its guess for the musical group.

First Half answers:
Joe Girardi
Neal Anderson
I think Benkowski gave answer as 4th, but NBA.com gives his place as 5th behind Stockton, Jordan, Payton and Cheeks. However, it may have been the team guessing 4th and had the leeway to be within one.
Joe Cowley
NY Giants

Second Half answers:
Belle
1966
The G-Spot (I hope nobody got this one wrong because I was unable to add the umlaut to Grafenberg’s name)

Final Question:

Lucky Seven- 1490- Entertainment- guesses Steve McQueen (correct), The Animals (no), Gregory Peck (no)- wagered it all- thanks for playing.

Tight Pants- 1540- News- guesses American Gangster (correct), Poker (correct), Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus (correct)- wagered it all- with bonus up to 6080.

Bar- 1660- News- guesses American Gangster (correct), Poker (correct), Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus (correct)- wagered only 1- with bonus up to 4661.

J&B- 2440- Entertainment- guesses Steve McQueen (correct), BeeGees (no), David Janssen (correct)- wagered 881- up to 3321.

J&B should have selected News as Tight Pants rises from the halftime ashes to win.

The only missing answer: The Beatles (further research expected from Stix).

The trivia gear is loaded up, and Hilts, Joe Jokes, and Benkowski lead Hilts’s dreadnaught into battle….

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the next trivia night will be in four weeks, on December 6th (I guess Benkowski doesn’t want to try to slide it in between football games on the Sunday after). I am “out”…

addemdum= Got there late after the dissapointing playoff loss for the Fire, and then the collection of the joking one. Joe Jokes got so plastered that on the final question- who was the Fugitive- he had to be told three times that it couldn't be Harrison Ford because it was a 60's question. I believe that Pat's answer of the Beatles could be classed under "Bullshit". Nope, I just checked, and they do have the song on their second LP- the English one. Whatever. I know that Pat helps out the non regular teams from time to time. It's ok. Next month.

five-out-of-every-six-times

Five times out of every six

tired boy signs out for nite w/ scraps fwd by frenz

to-nite

yesterday

the day before

and, under the title "this suxx"

Playoff soccer and trivia are on tap for t-nite, and I gotta go. I'm near the Morrissey concert bio (you tube and shit comes into play, and lazyness, but I wrote up lots of notes on the 3 weeks ago show), and will have a recap of the game- hopefully it'll be fun and not a elegy, a la Bolo. Lazers will have the recap of the winning J and B. game to-nite.

parasailing I am taking up

so I can fly forever...
this from Gozzasey

Return of the Space Coupons/ Wednesday.1

Gf and I went out to eat for lunch. I had no school this day- I'm on a run of three weeks where I have no full week in- and she got out @ 1400h, so we decided to eat @ B.J. McMaons. had the burger, three crowns, and a 3-0 manchester United win over Dynamo Kiev in ........ Champions League.

Meet the Puppets/ Wednesday.2

Went to see the super rockers The Meat Puppets @ Double Door last nite. I was never the biggest MP fan- not that I didn't like them, just that I never really went the extra yard. I went to the show last nite on another of my "Don't be a lazy fucker and miss yet another show- Smokey Treats got the tix, just hit reply and tell'm y want one."

So, even though I'm not the biggest fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I can't go, but they are playing to-nite and .... I wanna. Sound was beyond great. Guitars, bass, drums, singing- all perfect. I had lots of people taping the shows in various media= Smoky treats had the most elaborate setup- Mr. Fancy Smokey Pants laptop hooked into the sound board ( Y'd expect anything less that that from him??), Rocky camering his goodsongs and taping them all ona sound recorded clipped to his glasses. And X- Ray made a deeply surprising appearance- deeply gentle man who spend most of his time outside of Chicago, but always a hero's welcome when he returns.

Returns? What about the hippy section in the front row. Wow, we'd forgotten. For a minute, I was thinking I was going out w/ Madonna again and a lot of her college buddies suddenly showed up. It was good to see the yippies.

And others=

Guitars, Gunners, and Curtis

Chartman, Snowden, and .....now, who am I forgetting??

Final thing. Except for one. I was very surprised about how many songs I was actually familiar with. I'd say I knew about half of them. Funny= although I was never that into the Meat Puppets that much, evidently my frenz were plenty.

Link to Rocky's report.

and

Thanks, Rocky, for the pixxer.

look what I bought