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The headlines these days seem to be filled with endless commentary about health care and budget cuts. And if you’re like me you can only take so much of that news before it begins driving you crazy. Don’t get me wrong, these issues are of the utmost importance, but sometimes it’s nice to sit back and enjoy the more ludicrous things that are happening around Chicago.
We’ve all had to cancel a gym membership at one point in our lives, and it usually goes something like this. I remember one gym in particular made me show them my proof of residency in Italy to cancel my membership, and I have refused to join another one since then. But when local artist Lucy Knisley attempted to quit her gym a couple weeks ago, she discovered that a written letter stating her intent to cancel her membership was required. While most of us would have typed up “Please cancel my membership,” signed it, and sent it off, Lucy took a slightly different approach.
Just in case you couldn’t muster up the will to walk down the block to the nearest McDonald’s, the downtown “restaurant” at 233 N. Michigan has begun delivering and catering. The catering manager said, “It’s not like a lot of the fast-food restaurants in the building that say they cater.” So it really is a nice opportunity for them. The only questions that remains unanswered is whether or not there’s actually a demand for McDonald’s to cater your company’s meetings.
Yeah, he’s still on television. This week our former governor asked a professional chef if he knew how to turn on a computer. Apparently the guy that we elected (twice) was never taught or took the initiative to learn how to use a computer. Oh, and he didn’t get fired. So stay tuned next week for more electoral regret.
The headlines these days seem to be filled with endless commentary about health care and budget cuts. And if you’re like me you can only take so much of that news before it begins driving you crazy. Don’t get me wrong, these issues are of the utmost importance, but sometimes it’s nice to sit back and enjoy the more ludicrous things that are happening around Chicago. So here are the five most ridiculous things that have happened in Chicago in the past week:
Mayor Daley’s Twitter Account
Earlier this month Mayor Daley joined Twitter, and started tweeting about what’s going on around Chicago. Call me a skeptic, but the chances that this is actually the mayor tweeting is about the same as the chances of the Spire being built sometime soon. Why do I say that? The first tweet is about the city’s new website, leading me to believe that this is a promotional tool of the city’s marketing team. But given the slim chance this is actually the mayor, here are the three things I want him to tweet about:
Oh, and he’s not following either /Chicago or /CityOfChicago. C’mon!
“Balloons are good in politics, that’s all I can say.”
Blagojevich has been vying to be the next Apprentice for two weeks now. I admittedly never watch The Apprentice, but I have been glued to it this season because the cameramen caught some of Blagojevich’s best moments. Each week Chicagoist has a roundup of the five best Blagojevich quotes. This week’s gems include a very expletive conversation he had with one of his lawyers. Oh Chicago, aren’t you just so proud of the electoral decisions we make?
All of us occasionally encounter a funeral procession. And no matter how late we are for something, or how much of a hurry we’re in, we all have the common courtesy to stand still for a few minutes and wait for the procession to pass.
An off-duty cop had another idea, as she allegedly cut into the procession, causing the mourners to become obviously upset. When the mourners allegedly began shouting and throwing things at her, other cops got involved and pulled the procession over at gunpoint, causing them to be late for the burial. What a day that must have been.
Most people aim to set records by running long distances, or eating hot dogs by the dozens. Darryl Marlow has another record in mind – getting arrested as many times as possible. This time Mr. Marlow was arrested for “aggressively touching” people outside of a Gold Coast restaurant. There’s no word on how long he’ll be locked up for, but I’m wondering what this guy has planned for his 243rd arrest.
Now I am not going to say that having Blagojevich speak at a Northwestern is a bad move. However I will say that having this guy speak on ethics in politics is utterly hysterical. The campus leader must think so after scheduling Blago. He probably called his friends saying, “You’ll never guess who I got to speak about ethics! Blah Ha ha!”
That is like asking Chris Brown to speak about loving households. The whole point to inviting people to speak at universities is “freedom of thought.” That means bringing in both the popular and unpopular folks. That means bringing in those that defend the truth and those that perpetuate lies. Blago’s appearance at Northwestern accomplished exactly what was intended; it stimulated discussion and thought. The unruly Northwestern students laughed and yelled stuff like “Shame”, and Blagojevich would raise his voice and say, “Why don’t you at least give me the benefit of the doubt and let me prove myself in a court of law?” He asked.
I suppose “poor ole Blago” deserves his day in court. It is the American way. He is a very cunning and sly speaker. I suppose one would have to be that way in order to be a governor of a tremendously busy state such as Illinois. However, there was no way he was going to tell these students about proper ethical behavior. The point was to inform students about a current state and national issue by allowing a forum for discussion. Students were not told to appreciate corruption. The arbitrator and panelists were very clear to make obvious all the problems with Blagojevich’s conduct and they held him completely accountable for his alleged actions.
Absolutely no one there was defending the man, except Blagojevich himself. Well if this trial doesn’t go in favor for Blago, at least he still has his hair. Cue in some Saturday Night Fever music (you can tell by the way use my walk, I’m a woman’s man, No time for talk). “Ma, I work hard on my hair and he hits my hair.” What do you think about Blago at Northwestern University? Comment and let me know!