aka The Windy City, Second City, Chi-Town, the ChIll, The Big Onion
I’ll be the first to admit I couldn’t really care less about celebrity culture. The only time I really keep up with celebrity news is when someone dies and it hits a mainstream media outlet like the local newspaper or CNN. Or when it’s a slow news day and one of those outlets posts breakup news. But a recent TV commercial caught my attention — another rarity outside Superbowl Sunday. Read More
Earworms only come around for me once every so often. When I listen to a new album for the first time, I make sure to listen to it all the way through, even when I can tell there are one or two really standout songs that will get a heavier rotation. Otherwise it’s lights out and I will only play that song until I am sick of it, then usually forget about the rest of the album. Read More
HBO might not be TV, but it shouldn’t sell itself short when it produces movies — documentaries at least. Read More
It’s a funny thing when you hear people making fun of hipsters for making fun of bands for making it big and getting mainstream attention. It never really effects the band’s sound, just how many people are hearing it. But, judging on the first few episodes from the current season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, it’s apparent that success has changed the format of the show. Read More
If a beer lover were to pass by Jimmy Greens in the South Loop on any given Sunday — or any time a Chicago sports team was playing, for that matter — they’d miss out on one of the more interesting gems in the city. Read More
I haven’t owned a videogame console since the first Playstation system, so I’m not quite in touch with what’s going on in the industry. I do love dropping in at a friend’s house and playing a little Modern Warfare, but I get called a newb if I ever jump online and try to hang. So I can’t really provide much useful input on how multiplayer gaming can be improved. Read More
I don’t see NASCAR changing a whole lot, although I have read that attendance is down. NASCAR doesn’t really have much of a following in my circles in and around Chicago, but I know it’s popular in some of the more red state-ish, blue collar areas to the south of the city. But I see absolutely zero interest in it with my friends now, and, for that matter, anyone I’ve ever known growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. If anyone has any interest in car racing that I have known, it’s usually street racing and import cars, or if it’s professional racing, Formula One.
Though Nascar is immensely popular, I personally see it as a perfect example of Americans taking something beautiful and skilled, something that’s as much an art as a sport (hairpin turns at breakneck speed in F1) and dumbing it down to appeal to the masses (many cars driving in a circle, crashes).
Make no mistake, TV will continue to migrate online and on-demand. Read More
Celebrity today can be judged based on how many followers your Twitter and/or Tumblr has — which is off-putting. There are various scales of celebrity. While someone in movies or on TV who is followed constantly by the paparazzi would unquestionably be a celebrity, social media and the online generation has given birth to the term “internet famous.” At times the label fits, but is often given as a derogatory label for people who have an inflated sense of self-worth. Blogging is a mind-boggling thing. There are reporters who write for prestigious news outlets and cover some of the most important topics in current events who would barely register a blip on the celebrity scale, and then you have kids like YouTube’s Fred, a chipmunk on crack whose videos have been watched nearly a half-billion times. Read More
I often brag that I don’t watch much TV. The longest stretch I’ll spend in front of the tube is on Sunday evenings when my shows are in-season. Most of them can all be found on HBO, but starting this month I’ll actually have to change the channel. Why? “Breaking Bad” is back. Read More