Month: July 2009

Some Musings on Goings-On in Chicago

On July 31, 2009

In Books, Local, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture

Some musings from Chicago, where much is happening.
First of all, Harry Belafonte is in town tomorrow night (Saturday, August 1^st) at the Gene Siskel Theater in honor of a Film Noir fifties movie he made many years ago. How cool is that?
Second, the Chicago Cinema is planning a “salute” to Quentin Tarantino for fall. He will bring his misspelled movie (Inglourious Basterds) to Chicago and there will be a film montage of his more famous films. Only problem is the cost, which, at the low end, is $50 for the film alone and at the higher end is about 3 times that for the complete social night out.

Third, a review by Art Winslow of a book entitled Methland by Nick Reding (Bloomsbury, 255 pages, $25) is set in Oelwein, Iowa, 12 miles from my old hometown. The title of the section 3 article on Thursday, July 30 in the Chicago Tribune was “How Drugs Destroyed an American Community.” I’ve ordered the book, so I’ll report more on it in the future.

Fourth, apparently The Dead Weather, the new Jack White (The White Stripes) band, played here at the Vic just a few nights ago. Those who want to know more about this band, made up from members of The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, and, of course, the White Stripes, can access my comments on their new CD, “Horehound” and on their first ever concert in New York in April by going to it on www.associatedcontent.com.

KDK Trolley Tour, Chicago, July 23, 2009

By Connie Wilson

On July 25, 2009

In Local

Four restaurants in 3 hours for $50. Four drinks, four signature dishes. One birthday celebration. No parking woes (a trolley for 30).

Restaurant Number One: Gioco’s in the South Loop at 1312 S. Wabash (Ph 312-939-3870). Check out their sunday brunch and their home-made Italian ices.

Restaurant Number Two: The Red Light (Asian/fusion) at 820 W. Randolph (Ph 312-733-8880). Try the signature martini.

Restaurant Number Three: Marche (French/American) at 833 W. Randolph (Ph 312-226-8399).

Restaurant Number Four: Opera (Chinese/Asian) at 1301 S. Wabash (Ph 312-461-0161). Try their Italian ices and the crystal prawns. Tonight’s offering: shish-ka-bob of shrimp, beef and chicken with a signature drink.

One well-fed birthday group and no parking woes.

Quad City Names in the Chicago News

By Connie Wilson

On July 25, 2009

In Local, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Television

This is a “good news/bad news” update for Quad City readers.

First, the good news.

On the front page of July 25, 2009’s Chicago Tribune is a story entitled “Top Pols Snub Clout Panel.” The gist of the article is that an investigative committee that is investigating legislative abuses by members of the House or Senate in using undue influence to get special treatment for their friends or relatives had been snubbed by some who were asked to testify, including Mike Madigan (House Speaker), John Cullerton (Senate President), and House Minority Leader Tom Cross. The “good” news for Quad Citians is that our Representative, Mike Boland of East Moline, nont only did not refuse to appear, but made an appearance last Monday during which it was determined that he had NO instances of trying to use his influence to gain admission for the children of friends or relatives. Of 9 names asked to testify, Boalnd was the only one who had appeared. Yes, you heard me right. The ONLY one who has appeared. And it was determined that he had NO instances of asking for “special treatment” for admission to the University of Illinois. This may stand in contrast to some local articles in the (Moline, IL) Daily Dispatch that reported on all the loyal contributors whose children he had helped to scholarships…some of them quite deserving, some of them (perhaps) not quite so deserving, if their parents are, say, lawyers and well-paid teachers, but nevermind about that! At this time, in this issue of the Chicago Tribune, the ONLY legislator who has (a) appeared, to date and (b) had it determined that he had not asked U. of IL officials to let a deserving nephew or son or contributor’s child in, despite their failure to meet the standfards of the school, is nil. NONE, said the front page.

The others listed in the article, with accompanying head shots were: Mike Madigan (admissions requests made 43; 27 known admissions); Senate President John Cullerton (8 admissions requests made; 7 admitted); House Minority Leader Tom Cross (13 admissions requests made; 9 admitted.) These 3 have declined to testify.

In the middle set were Senator Chris Lauzen, who has made 1 request and had none admitted. He will appear next week. Next, smack dab in the middle, is Representative Mike Boland (former Glenview Junior High School teacher), who has made NO requests and testified last week. Listed as “uncertain” were Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, with 4 requests and 3 admissions who, it said, had made no decision on whether to testify or not; Representatigve James Brosnahan, with 17 requests and 12 admissions, who had not made a decision yet; Senator Ed Maloney, who was unavailable for comment, but had made 17 requests and had 11 of those requests admitted and Representative Angelo “skip” Saviano, who had made 22 requests with 7 admissions and was also unavailable for comment.

Nice to see Mike Boland on the NONE listed as the only one of the nine who has currently testified at all.

BAD NEWS:

The “bad news” for local Quad Citians is that former WHBF-TV reporter Mike Barz has been off the air from Chicago station WFLD while there is a probe of alleged misconduct during an off-site party for reporter Margaret Shortridge, who was leaving the station after her contract was not renewed by WFLD, Channel 32.

Barz had been co-anchor of the Fox-owned station’s show “Good Day Chicago” and was a former WGN Channel 9 sportcaster, who came to Channel 32 in 2007 from ABC’s “Good Morning, America.”

But, along the way to “Good Morning, America” and, evidently, “Good Day Chicago”, Barz put in time as a feature reporter and anchor at WLUK in Green Bay, as an anchor for WHBF-TV in Rock island, and as a producer for Intersport Television.

No specifics of the party where there were “allegations of misconduct” in Barz’s interaction with a fellow employee at the party. (This from the HR department at WFLD.) “The station confirmed an investigation but not its substance or findgins, citing privacy issues. Barz decllined comment.”

So, all we former Quad City fans of WHBF’s ex-anchor can know, for sure, is that it must have been one heck of a send-off party for Margaret Shortridge.

The beneficiary of this “bad news” would seem to be former Channel 32 morning co-anchor David Novarro, who is now co-anchoring the stations’ 10 p.m. newscast. He is seen as the front-runner to replace Barz, although Patrick Elwood, who has been substituting for Barz, is also in the running. Just when David Novarro was expected to leave Channel 32’s air waves after 9 years on the job is that, because some people seem to have had too good a time at a going-away party, he now may well stay past September, the time he was expected to leave the station.

Tim Stop Trio Plays at “Market” in Chicago on 7/22

By Connie Wilson

On July 24, 2009

In Local, Music, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

The Tim Stop Trio (www.timstoptrio.com) played Market, a trendy new tri-level restaurant/bar that opened May 1^st. The restaurant at 1113 W. Randolph is the brainchild of White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams and partner of Mod Construction, and features a 2,500 outdoor garden seating area, an inner dining area with 20 flat screen TVs, and an upstairs roof garden, which is where Tim Stopulus and his Trio held forth on July 22, 2009.

The restaurant offers American cuisine, some served in unique ways. The popcorn shrimp appetizer is served in a look-alike popcorn box, and you can order cotton candy for dessert. The ribs were great, although the side dishes for the ribs (Peruvian corn; gack) were not. I had a girl from Columbia and a girl from El Salvador with me this night, and none of us recognized the Peruvian corn as anything even remotely like “corn.” It tasted mealy, like lima beans. On the bright side, the build-your-own pizza was very good. Waitress Brittany worked very hard to get our table done by the time the band started at 9 p.m. She cannot be faulted.

As mentioned in online reviews, it is noisy inside, so, if the weather is nice, try for the outdoor garden seating or the tables in front of the establishment. [A layer of acoustic ceiling tile might help.] When I called in the afternoon to try to make reservations for four people at 7 p.m. on a Wednesday night, whoever answered the phone said they did not take reservations, which, later, turned out to be incorrect. That person also did not know if there was any entertainment that evening. In fact, after arrival, when we asked our server about the band, she had to seek out a manager to find out that, yes, the Tim Stop Trio and a second entertainer, Chris Buehrle, a very good one-man band, would be playing that night on the rooftop. I had been told on the phone that no food was served on the rooftop but that patrons were welcome to bring a drink to the roof. This last bit of information turned out to be totally incorrect. When I attempted to take a full Diet Coke (in a glass) and a half-full Mojita (excellent) to the roof, a large bouncer outside the elevator refused to allow me (us) to take drinks from the ground floor to the roof, unless the drinks were in a plastic container. The bar said it had run out of plastic entertainers. A four-story walk upstairs was the solution (doors to the roof in front), which was not a bad idea as the elevator may be the slowest elevator in the city of Chicago. (I’ve experienced an elevator this slow once before, but it was in Paris on L’Isle de la Cite and appeared to be at least 75 years old.)

The group is touring behind this released statement: “With all these questions swirling around about Obama’s Economic Stimulus Package and its effectiveness, we, the Tim Stop Trio, decided that maybe it’s time we did our part in boosting the economy. Sometimes, you can’t wait for your elected officials to do the right thing.

In that spirit, the Tim Stop Trio has been proud to announce a series of live free shows across the Midwest, beginning in Iowa City at the Piano Lounge on Wednesday, July 15 and continuing on to the Voodoo Lounge in Cedar Falls, Iowa on July 16 and July 17. On Saturday, July 18, the group performed at Headliners in Ames, Iowa, before moving on to Chicago for the rooftop show at Market on Wednesday, July 22^nd.

Said the release, “We are tired of hearing about people missing concerts due to lack of funds. Live music is not a luxury, my friends; it’s a necessity. Like food, clean water, and SUV’s. We’ve left you no excuse. It’s time to set things right in America, and it starts here.” Brave words! And clever ones.

Group members Seville Lillie (always excellent) on keyboards, Tim Stopulus on guitar and vocals and Justin Hooke on percussion delivered enjoyable background music to a full house. It was difficult to understand the patter in between songs, however. The songs were great, but the talking was hard to hear or understand, if you could hear it.

Among those in the audience were all age groups, enjoying the excellent mojitas and a variety of other signature drinks. The crowd seemed largely to be an affluent group, attired in casual to dressy clothing and it was very much a place to meet and greet.

The songs were often original compositions by group leader Tim Stopulus, a Wake Forest graduate, who said, “Our whole goal right now is to just play as much as possible and make the best music we possibly can.” Later in the evening, a very weird band played on Jimmy Kimmel’s television show. The Tim Stop Trio (especially when the full band is involved) was at least ten times better than the strange guy in the Mohawk with the silver crap on his right cheek who sang in a voice an octave higher than Michael Jackson in his youth on live TV later that night. (Jimmy Kimmel scouts: listen up!)

The group was moving on to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Mo’s Irish Pub for the weekend of July 24 and July 25 saying: “Remember, these are all free shows. In fact, we went to take it one step further. As many of you know, my last name is Stopulus. We cut off the last half of that name (‘ulos’) because nobody could spell it. Well, this week, we’re bringing it back, and we’re dropping the ‘Stop.’ After all, we want you to go see music, not stop. And since we are doing this in the name of the economy, we will be known as the Economic Timulos Package for the remainder of the tour.”

As the group says, “If you love freedom, cone see the Economic Timulos Package in the next few weeks. It’s going to be awesome. And you can take that to the bank.”

You can read up on the band at www.timstoptrio.com and on http://www.facebook.com/timstoptrio. As we walked away…listening, in the distance, to the strains the Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There”, one of the few covers of the night (along with ‘If I Ruled the World,” we all remarked on a totally pleasant and enjoyable musical evening, with a fantastic view of the city from the rooftop venue.

Bull News from Pamplona

By Connie Wilson

On July 11, 2009

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, travel, Uncategorized

From “the running of the bulls” in Pamplona comes the news that a charging bull gored a young Spanish man to death Friday at the San Fermin festival. It was the first such fatality in nearly 15 years. Nine other people were also injured, but 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno Romero from Alcala de Henares (outside Madrid), who was vacationing with his parents and girlfriend, will not be running with the bulls—or anything else—ever again. He was gored in the neck and lungs by a rogue bull named Capuchino which separated from the pack. The festival ends tuesday.

Chicago Cemetery Scandal at Burr Oak

By Connie Wilson

On July 10, 2009

In Local, News, Uncategorized

A huge flap arose in Chicago, Illinois on July 10th over Burr Oak Cemetery, which had been double-selling burial, plots and, often digging up buried corpses and simply dumping them in a field. The cemetery was owned by absentee owners who live in Texas, (according to Channel 7, ABC affiliate, whose reporter, Paul Meincke, once reported in the Quad Cities for Channel 4, the CBS affiliate…actually the Channel 7 source said Arizona, but it appears that Texas is accurate). The Tribune reported that the owner since 2001 was Melvin Bryant of Richardson, Texas, President of Perpetual Holdings of Illinois, but his part in the sale was downplayed on the news, with blame falling more at the local level. Two famous people buried in the cemetery were civil rights martyr Emmet Till and singer Dinah Washington.

The four people who have been arrested and charged and are being held on large bonds ($250,000 and $200,000). They include the woman who ran the cemetery and 3 employees: Keith Nicks, Terrence Nicks and Maurice Daily. Former cemetery manager Carolyn Towns, 49, foreman Keith Nicks, 45, and dump-truck operator Terrence Nicks, 39, are all of Chicago, and back-hoe operator Maurice Dailey, 59, is from Robbins. They were each charged with dismembering a human body, a Class X felony and face up to 30 years in prison.(www.chicagobreakingnews.com). Other news reports indicate that it appears that 2 other employees of the cemetery alerted authorities to the crimes being indicated; they are identified only as Employee “A” and Employee “B”.

The images on the evening news were of distraught relatives of those buried in the cemetery showing up in droves, wandering about trying to find evidence of their deceased loved ones. One African American woman showed a small postcard she had received, which, she said, notified her that a second body had been buried atop her mother’s casket in the same grave plot. (Apparently, this did not ring an alarm bell for the grieving relative.)

A hot line was set up for inquiries from out-of-state. In fact, on television, a request was made that relatives not show up at the cemetery at all, as the situation is so uncertain, with potentially more than 300 bodies missing, that it will take months, (if not longer), to sift through the remains of previously buried people whose remnants are being found in a variety of unmarked mass graves with remains even found alongside the roadside of the remote field. Experts who helped identify skeletal remains in mass graves in the Balkans were being brought in to try to help identify the bodies.

A Fond Look Back at Senator Franken’s Des Moines Appearance

By Connie Wilson

On July 2, 2009

In Politics, Pop Culture

(*Note: In honor of Al Franken’s victory for the Minnesota Senate seat, I have reprinted here a piece that ran on www.blogforiowa,com during the 2004 campaign, and a piece which still makes me laugh. ENJOY! And congratulations to Senator Franken, whom I supported with front-row tickets in Chicago at the Chicago Theater when he was mulling a run. I am so delighted that we will have an intelligent person in the Senate who also has a well-developed sense of humor.]

Connie Wilson: Jefferson/Jackson Democratic Dinner in Des Moines

by Linda Thieman on Mon 18 Oct 2004 08:39 AM CDT | Permanent Link | Cosmos

Jefferson/Jackson Democratic Dinner in Des Moines

By Connie Wilson

Keynote Speaker – Al Franken

AND YOU ARE THERE!

Or

”A Mush Mute, a Big Hat and a Plum”

Just a few comments about the October 16th Jefferson/Jackson annual Democratic dinner at Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines.

1) The acoustics at Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium suck.

2) Because the acoustics suck, the large TV screens have captioning. The captioning must be done by a machine. This can lead to much merriment. Especially if you have made it your goal, after at least three hours of waiting, to obtain and consume a minimum of three glasses of white zinfandel prior to Al Franken’s appearance.

Connie and Al Franken, the camera lens no
doubt covered in white wine (see below).

3)   “Ed is the Governor of Pencil.” I think the machine MEANT to say that Ed is or was the Governor of Pennsylvania.

4)   The word “Dear” is listed as “Deer.”

5)   The machine cannot make up its mind whether the choir of Gospel Singers is from the Maple or Elm Street Missionary Baptist Church Choir. At this point, the machine is introducing various tree types. Things are very confused.

6)   We are asked to join hands with the person next to us. The person next to me, on my right, is Thomas Fischermann, Economic Correspondent for the German weekly “Die Zeit.” I tell Tom that holding hands in this fashion in America means that we are now legally married. Tom tells me that he knows this isn’t true, as he was raised Catholic. I admit that I lied (which is more than I can say for George W. Bush). Tom turns out to be a delightful seat-mate for the dinner, which we are not eating.

7)   At one point, after the droning of fully two dozen would-be Democratic candidates, none of whom any of us knows, Tom says he might have to go back to his hotel room and watch Al (Franken) on TV. (He doesn’t.) He is disappointed that Sharon Stone isn’t going to appear (aren’t we all?) I ask Tom whether he thinks Vanessa Kerry is wearing nylons. He is too much of a gentleman to comment. Oh, those European men. Especially those who had English teachers from Wisconsin.

8)   After about 2 hours of the droning and bellowing (the sound system is REALLY bad), I say that it is going to be my goal to drink three glasses of white zinfandel before Franken takes the stage. I am actually doubting that Franken will EVER take the stage. This turns out to be a really bad plan. Why? I have taken my college roommate as photographer-in-residence, and, when I put my camera and the wine glasses (small plastic cups at $5 a pop) on the floor, she accidentally kicks a glass of white zinfandel over my camera and it completely soaks it. Thomas rescues the camera from the ever-widening pool of wine. The strap is soaked and the lens is “cloudy.” I do not get one single usable picture from my trusty Canon after the unfortunate wine incident, henceforth known as “Zinfandel-gate.” As I did manage to secure two glasses of zinfandel prior to Zinfandel-gate, I don’t care. Later, I will rue the day. Or night.

9)   To my extreme left is “Jane,” correspondent for “People” magazine. She is covering the candidate’s children for a story. Jane is very nice. She is dressed in black. She would like some food. We do not get any food. We would not get anything to drink, either, if I hadn’t made the infamous “Zinfandel-gate” run. (*Kids: Take note! Do NOT try this at home!)

10)   Other errors on the sub-title machine that amuse me: “Fill” for a candidate whose first name is “Phil.” “He is a man of grass.” (This may actually be accurate; we don’t know. Perhaps he meant that “W” is an *ss? Or a man of *ss? Very confusing. Don’t know; can’t tell you.)

11)   When someone says, “The future of this country is at stake. The future of the world is at stake,” Thomas leans over and says, “The sky is falling.” I laugh. Perhaps I should write this down? Again, don’t know; can’t tell you.

12)   More machine sub-title errors: for “pirate suit,” (which is connected to Al Franken’s remarks about George W. Bush wearing a ridiculous flight suit with a huge cod-piece on his now-infamous “Mission Accomplished” battleship appearance). The machine spells out: “pie rat.” Perhaps this machine is smarter than anyone realizes.

13)   Other errors that I cannot explain, from the sub-titling machine: “sash and acute” (?) “A mush mute, a big hat and a plum.”

14)   I enjoyed Al Franken’s remark that, after 9/11, the country was very united. “My college roommate even got out an old T-shirt to wear that touted America. Of course, it took him four hours to white-out ‘sucks.’”

15)   What have I learned from this experience? Never trust sub-titling machines. Always trust the German correspondent for “Die Zeit.” He is very knowledgable, very handsome, and we chat at great length about the Diebolt voting machines and the potential for voter fraud in the upcoming election. Please give Thomas a raise; I think he likes Vanessa Kerry, and he will need it to win her heart.

16)   Never try to drink three glasses of white zinfandel while simultaneously shooting film and taking notes. But it’s ok to laugh. A lot.