This week’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

If no Bears, what’s the reason for the season?

The WISCH LIST

May 7, 2011

This past weekend at Soldier Field, people were sipping beers, scarfing down hot dogs and snapping more photographs than paparazzi at the annual Bears Expo. But this year, the Bears’ big offseason event featured a brand-new twist.

No Bears.

“It’s still cool being here,” 35-year-old Ruben Ledesema, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., said on Saturday as he relaxed in a 100-level seat at Soldier Field and watched kids – both little and adult-sized – run around stadium’s sun-splashed turf conducting football drills.

“But,” Ledesema continued, with a bit of a pained look, “this is the first time not seeing any of the current players here. This lockout is a bummer.”

Millions of pro football fans across the country – perhaps, including yourself – no doubt muttered the same thing this morning when they rolled out of bed knowing that the NFL’s labor drama is about to spill over into yet another week, with no clear end in sight.

The latest news this week was that a federal appeals court has agreed to a speeded-up schedule to hear the NFL’s appeal of the order that lifted the lockout last week. But that “speeded-up” schedule won’t even take a next step until June 3.

The speed of the legal system isn’t exactly like Devin Hester’s.

And as more and more weeks tumble off the calendar this spring and summer, the likelihood of a 2011 NFL season this fall becomes less and less certain.

So, last Saturday, with that distasteful prospect in mind, I took a trek down to Bears Expo, which did feature Bears legends such as Richard Dent and Dan Hampton and perhaps a future one in first-round pick Gabe Carimi, but showcased no current Monsters of the Midway.

My mission was to quiz Bears fans about what they’ll do to pass the time in the event of a pigskin Armageddon this fall. And what I discovered is that when it comes to the lockout, ignorance – much like a win over Green Bay – appears to be bliss.

“I honestly try not to pay attention to that stuff,” said Matt Swacina, 32, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who was dressed like a 1980s-era Mike Ditka, complete with the mustache, aviator sunglasses and blue-and-orange Bears sweater. “So, I really don’t know what’s going on with (the lockout). There’s just no sense in worrying about it.”

Although, I think my questions made “Da Coach” start doing just that.

“But there better be a season,” Swacina said. “I don’t even want to think about that not happening. If it did, I would probably spend a lot more time watching European soccer.”

Now, that’s no Bears fan’s goal, including Ledesema – such a big Chicago sports fan that he named his children Payton and Jordan – who also hadn’t done much thinking about how he’d pass the time if the NFL season is canceled. But he shuddered once did.

“I would probably work more,” Ledesema said with a laugh. “I’m the general manager at a Best Buy, but I have my Sundays off so I can watch football. I guess, though, I’d go into work instead.

“But it’s just un-American. You have baseball and you have football on Sundays. I might have to start following rugby.”

Meanwhile, Chicagoan Julie Hatmacher, who attended Saturday’s Bears Expo with her cousin, Kate, said the fall would simply be far less festive without pro football.

“We’d have less of a reason to drink,” she said, chuckling. “Really, it’s something I haven’t thought much about. But, wow, if there was no NFL season?

“Wisconsin and Illinois might actually have to get along.”

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Sports still reign over Chicago during wacky April

The WISCH LIST

April 30, 2011

After today, April is over.

Thank goodness.

Because, while peeking out from beneath umbrellas and behind windshield wipers, we’ve seen enough rainfall – and lack of sunshine – this month throughout Chicagoland to make Seattle blush.

The final numbers are still dripping in, but at Midway Airport, this has been the wettest April in at least 12 years and the sixth rainiest since the airport started measuring back in 1928. Beyond that, according to WGN-Ch. 9 meteorologist Tom Skilling, this has also been the cloudiest April that Chicago has experienced since sunshine observations started way back in 1893.

But, hey, you know what they say, April showers bring May flowers.

Like a (Derrick) Rose.

Hopefully, we’ll see the Chicago Bulls’ point guard fully bloom – along with, you know, the forecasts – during the next several weeks.

But, today, with Illinois wrapping up an interesting April (both for weather, and sports) and with the Bulls and Blackhawks having hogged the headlines lately, I thought I’d weigh in with a few thoughts about some of the occurrences involving our state’s other sports teams this month.

Richmond a ‘sure’ thing for NBA?

I don’t think that Jereme Richmond is ready for the NBA.

But the controversial former Fighting Illini is headed there after just one rocky season in Champaign. And, this week, one NBA scout I spoke told me that he’s “sure someone will take Richmond” in the first round of this summer’s NBA Draft.

I’m skeptical of that. But we’ll see come June.

As for where the slender, 6-foot-7 Richmond would play if he does make the NBA?

“He’s best as a mismatched three (small forward),” the scout told me. “He’d be able to post-up and play … and pass and rebound to facilitate for others. Shooting is the question mark offensively.”

Big cities, bad baseball

So far this season, baseball in Chicago has been something of a snooze with both the Cubs and the White Sox having gotten off to sluggish starts.

At best.

But, perhaps you can take solace in the fact that the Windy City is hardly the only major metropolitan area where the play on the diamonds was rough this month.

After Friday’s ballgames, mediocrity was the rule in the Major League’s major, two-team markets, with only the Angels (15-11), Dodgers (14-13) and Yankees (14-9) having winning records up to this point.
Collectively, L.A.’s two teams were 29-24, New York’s 25-24, San Francisco-Oakland’s 25-26, Washington-Baltimore’s 23-26 and Chicago’s 21-31.
OK, so maybe that won’t make you feel any better.

Bears Expo or bust?

The 2011 NFL season remains in flux. The 2011 Chicago Bears do, too. But, today, at the 2011 Bears Expo, it’s business as usual.

Well, sort of.

With chaos continuing to rule in the NFL thanks to the ongoing labor drama, no current Bears players are scheduled to appear today during the annual daylong Bears Expo at Soldier Field.

Instead, fans attending the Expo are supposed to get the chance to, um, mingle with the Hall of Fame busts of Bears greats Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, Red Grange, George Halas, Dan Hampton, Sid Luckman and Walter Payton, all shipped direct from Canton, Ohio.

And, they’ll also greeted by real-life Bears legends, including Hampton and Richard Dent as well as Neal Anderson, Doug Buffone, Jay Hilgenberg, Steve McMichael, Ed O’Bradovich.

I’m curious, however, if any active Bears players decide to buy a ticket today and crash the Expo party. With NFL commissioner Roger Goodell scheduled to join Bears fans via video conferencing for a Q & A seminar during the Expo, perhaps they could quiz him a bit themselves.

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Rose to the top: Basketball’s back in Chicago

The WISCH LIST

April 23, 2011

During the summer, Chicago is a baseball town. During the winter, it’s a football town. And, last spring, as the Blackhawks showered the city with postseason glory, it was most definitely a hockey town.

But it’s been a while since Chicago was a basketball town.

Thirteen years, to be exact.

The last time the Windy City was truly captivated by the Chicago Bulls was in 1998 when some bald-headed dude was sizing up his sixth NBA championship ring.

But since the Michael Jordan era ended, the White Sox have won a World Series, the Bears have been to a Super Bowl, the University of Illinois has reached a Final Four and the Blackhawks have hoisted a Stanley Cup.

Heck, even the Cubs have been to the playoffs four times.

As a result, Chicago’s collective interest in the Bulls has waned. However, the city’s fandom now appears to be resurrecting itself – fitting, I suppose, for Easter Weekend – thanks, mainly, to one kid.

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose …

For seven years during my 20s, I covered high school sports. And during that time, I saw more prep games than I can count, watching hundreds of kids shoot hoops in both cavernous big-city arenas as well as crackerbox gymnasiums in towns where many people probably didn’t even know there was a high school.

Or a town.

Most of the players I saw were average. Some were good. A few were even great. But only one of them was Derrick Rose.

Back in December 2004, I saw Rose for the first time when he was just a high school sophomore playing in the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. On that night, the wiry point guard from Chicago Simeon was as raw as could be — Rose committed eight turnovers in the game — but he also flashed athletic gifts beyond belief.

And pulled off a dunk even more unbelievable.

While on a one-on-one fast break with a smaller defender attached to his hip the entire way, Rose sprinted downcourt appearing that he’d go in for a contested layup – perhaps a difficult one-handed dunk. But, instead, as Rose reached the basket, he erupted off the floor for the most unexpected two-handed slam that I’ve ever seen.

In fact, so startled was the crowd at Pontiac High School that the entire gymnasium audibly gasped in unison.

I’ll never forget that sound.

Better than MJ?

Earlier this week, during an online discussion about Derrick Rose, a friend of mine posed this question to me: “Why aren’t more people saying he’s better than Jordan was at this point in his career? Because he is.”

But I begged to differ.

At 22, Rose might be better than Jordan was at that age. Maybe. (MJ, however, did average 28.2 points per game as a 21-year-old rookie before missing much of his second season with a broken foot). But it’s difficult to compare, because – thanks to AAU basketball and entering the NBA at age 19 – Rose has much more overall game experience than Jordan did at 22.

I feel more comfortable looking at their respective third seasons. And as a third-year pro, Jordan averaged 37.1 points, 4.6 assists and 2.9 steals per game for an eighth-seeded playoff team. Rose, by comparison, averaged 25.0, 7.7 and 1.0 with a superior supporting cast for this year’s No. 1 seed.

Rose should win MVP this year. But, by Jordan’s fourth year, he was named MVP and the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

At 22, Derrick Rose is truly great, but he’s not quite Michael Jordan.

Nevertheless, isn’t Chicago fortunate to even entertain such a debate?

Today’s newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Three playoff ‘wins’ in the Windy City

The WISCH LIST

April 16, 2011

Chicago is on a roll.

With seeds.

Postseason, that is. Not poppy.

Last spring, the Blackhawks snared the No. 2 seed in the NHL Western Conference Playoffs, and then skated to the Stanley Cup championship. This past winter, the Bears nabbed the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs, and then ended up with a home-field edge in the conference championship game.

(Let’s just not talk about who they lost to.)

And, now, this spring, the Bulls have upped the city’s vertical by securing the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs for the first time since Michael Jordan was winning rings.

The Bulls’ first-round series tips off this afternoon against the Pacers at the United Center, and come Sunday night, the Blackhawks (only an eight seed, guys?) will join in on the postseason fun at the UC with Game 3 vs. Vancouver.

So, with Playoff Fever (and Spring Fever) again sweeping Chicagoland, I thought I’d share with you a three-pointer’s – or hat trick’s – worth of fun city sports bars where you can get a unique taste of the postseason action over the next several weeks.

Hopefully, the Bulls’ and Blackhawks’ runs last that long.

Joe’s Bar
940 W. Weed St.

Visiting Joe’s on gameday – pretty much any gameday – is kind of like visiting a Best Buy that serves pizza, wings and beer.

There are that many TV sets in the place.

In fact, the 20,000-foot warehouse-style venue located just off North Avenue not far from the Chicago neighborhoods of Old Town and Lincoln Park (and the North/Clybourn CTA Red Line stop) boasts more than 110 plasma televisions and high-definition projector screens.

Joe’s, which calls itself home to the Chicago chapters of 14 different college alumni groups (including the University of Illinois), is always hopping and also features a spacious outdoor patio that includes a 20-foot-tall projector screen. Of course.

My tip: If you go on a weekend, get there early. And if you really want to pay attention to a game, grab a booth in the front room. They each feature their own personal flat-screen TVs.

For more information, visit joesbar.com.

Mother Hubbard’s
5 W. Hubbard St.

If you want to go old-school sports bar hopping in Chicago, then Mother Hubbard’s is your place.
Tucked downtown just west of the Mag Mile, the bar still offers a casual neighborhood feel on a street that’s now dominated by trendy River North nightspots.

The pub features more than 40 TVs, including several of the jumbo-sized variety, and is proud of its meaty menu (burgers and ribs are specialties), bragging that Mother Hubbard’s is the place “Where the cupboard is never bare.”

My tip: If you visit Mother Hubbard’s on the night of a playoff series clincher, venture down along Hubbard Street later on. Hawks or Bulls players could be out celebrating at one of the nearby clubs.

For more information, visit motherhubbardschicago.com.

West End
1326 W. Madison St.

Billing itself as “Chicago’s Official Partner of the Blackhawks,” West End – located in the West Loop (hence the name) – is about as good a seat as you’re going to get near the United Center without actually being inside the United Center.

Last spring, the upscale-but-casual bar – and its 32 plasma TVs – was considered by many Chicagoans to be the place to watch the Hawks’ Stanley Cup run. It’s also fun place to watch the Bears, although during a Sunday visit last fall I found far too many patrons bringing babies – and even strollers – into the bar, making for a somewhat awkward scene.

My tip: Don’t bring a baby.

For more information, visit westendwestloop.com.

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Will space history shuttle into Chicago?

The WISCH LIST

April 9, 2011

The Bulls are fighting for a top berth, the Blackhawks are fighting for any berth and the White Sox and Cubs have only just begun their 2011 seasons.

Along with perhaps a rash of 2,011 injuries.

But, even if you didn’t realize it, Chicago is already in the playoffs this month. And the championship series is about to blast off.

On Tuesday – the 30th anniversary of first space shuttle flight – NASA will reveal whether Chicago’s Adler Planetarium has been selected as one of the two museums out of 20 competitors to be awarded either Endeavour or Atlantis, the pair of retiring orbiters currently up for grabs.

In 2010, NASA announced that it was sifting through proposals from 21 institutions around the country that had expressed the willingness to raise the nearly $30 million needed to pay for shipping and assembly of one of the shuttles and additional money to construct a suitable exhibit area. NASA already has promised the oldest shuttle, Discovery, to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Last month, Adler unveiled an elaborate concept drawing of the kind of structure that it would build on a parking lot west of the planetarium to house a space shuttle and any exhibits related to it. Following the presentation, Adler president Paul Knappenberger made his final pitch for the Windy City saying, “Chicago is the best place in the Middle West for a shuttle.”

And while I might not agree with Knappenberger on the need to call our region the “Middle West” (seems to me Midwest works just fine), I do agree with him that Chicago – the biggest city between the Eastern and Western, err … East and West coasts – is an ideal spot to display such an important piece of space exploration history.

Chicago has the people. Chicago has the tourists. And, if last weekend was any indication, Chicago also has the interest to make it a success.

This past Sunday afternoon, I took a trip down to Alder – my first in many, many years – to check out the planetarium and see just how many people were still had an appetite for learning about space travel.

Back when I was growing up during the 1980s, that appetite for space exploration – along with moon boots, Tang and astronaut ice cream – was ravenous. Shuttle launches were televised, the Challenger explosion was an enormous national tragedy, and just about every kid I knew entertained dreams of one day taking a trip into space.

Or, they at least, liked to play with Space Legos.

Here in the 21st century, though, NASA doesn’t get the media coverage that it used to, and I just don’t hear much chatter about space. As a result, I questioned how much people still cared about astronauts and the like. But, last Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to find Adler absolutely packed and overflowing with kids and parents.

The planetarium’s proposal to win an orbiter has been aided by a space shuttle advisory committee headed up by Chicago-area resident and Apollo 13 astronaut James Lovell. And part of Adler’s plan, according to Knappenberger, would be to build a glass-walled shuttle pavilion atop an underground parking garage that would replace the museum’s current surface lot.

“In one direction, the shuttle would be framed looking out over Lake Michigan,” Knappenberger said. “And in the other direction, it would face Chicago’s beautiful skyline.”

Earlier this year, Discovery took its last space flight, and come this summer, Atlantis is supposed to close out the shuttle program.

If space was the Final Frontier for those shuttles, then could Chicago be one’s Final Destination?

We’ll find out soon enough.

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Spreading the (good) news in Chicagoland

The WISCH LIST

April 2, 2011

A Chicago woman is dead after she was knocked down a flight of stairs during an iPhone theft. A pool hall in north suburban Glenview has been caught selling alcohol – to a 12-year-old. And the Chicago Cubs’ are now in their 103rd at-bat and still hitless when it comes to winning a World Series championship.

Yes, wherever you look in Chicagoland, bad news abounds.

(I’m kidding about the Cubs … well, you know, sort of.)

But Chicagoan Sarah Jindra is working to offset that fact, at least a little bit, and in her own unique way.

“I just want people to realize that there are those in the community who are doing good things, fabulous things,” explained Jindra, a traffic reporter for Chicago Public Radio WBEZ-FM 91.5 and fill-in for WMAQ-Ch. 5.

And that was exactly why, in January 2010, Jindra launched her website INSPIREmechicago.com. She figured people throughout the greater Chicago area could use some good news – and that she was just the person to deliver it to them.

“Everyone always complains about only seeing bad news,” explained Jindra, a native of Westmont who graduated from the University of Illinois in 2004 and formerly worked as TV reporter for WCIA in Champaign. “But it’s not that good news isn’t out there or isn’t being reported by TV stations, newspapers and radio.

“It’s just that you have to search too hard to find those stories. So, I wanted to provide a resource to find it all in one place. Kind of fill a different niche.”

The niche that Jindra has carved out for herself and her readers at INSPIREmechicago.com – which features the tagline “Good News Only” – is filled with the kinds of uplifting stories that often seem to slip through the cracks or get overshadowed by more sobering reports.

“Serious news is very important, too,” Jindra said. “But when I was a TV reporter in Champaign, I really loved when I got a chance to tell positive stories, and not just miserable ones. I missed that.”

Just this week, Jindra made sure her readers didn’t miss the news about a 22-year-old Yale student from the Chicago projects who plans to move back home after she graduates in May so she can aid other kids growing up in low-income neighborhoods like she did.

She let readers know she that someone with ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” had discovered her site and called her, asking for help in finding inspiring families in the Chicago area to feature on the show.

And she shared news that “My Run,” a new film documenting one man’s powerful story about running an incredible 75 marathons in 75 consecutive days to raise cancer awareness was making its nationwide debut this week.

You don’t need a news flash to know that cancer is bad news. Anyone who has battled the disease or has had a loved one fight it knows that all too well. But, true to form, Jindra this spring is also working to generate good news about bad and has been chosen by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as one of 14 candidates for its 2011 “Man and Woman of the Year” campaign.

For 10 weeks, ending on May 21, she and the other candidates are competing to raise money to help support patient services and life-saving blood cancer research. Last year, the competition raised more than $647,000 – and Jindra currently is raising funds through a variety of fun Chicago events, including a Cubs rooftop party on Sunday.

Who knows, maybe she can bring them good news, too.

To learn more about Jindra’s “Woman of the Year” campaign, visit sarahjindraandfriends.blogspot.com.

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Chicago’s alive with the Soundtrack of Music

The WISCH LIST

March 26, 2011

Travel the country, and you’ll discover that Chicago is known for many things.

It’s known, of course, for its food (hot dogs, pizza and fine dining). It’s known, of course, for its architecture (Sears Tower, Willis Tower … whatever). It’s known, of course, for its sports teams (Da Bears, Da Bulls, Duh Cubs …). And it’s known, of course, for its corruption (Dillinger, Capone and, now, Blagojevich).

But Chicago also used to be known for its music.

These days, it isn’t as much. However, if a couple of Windy City music buffs named Casey Meehan (who you don’t know) and Rahm Emanuel (who you certainly do) have their way, it will be once again.

Early this month, during an interview on Chicago’s WXRT-FM, mayor-elect Emanuel brought up the idea of creating a music district in the city’s Uptown neighborhood.

“You have the Riv [Riviera Theatre], you have the Aragon [Ballroom],” Emanuel said, ticking off two of the legendary venues at the intersection of Broadway and Lawrence avenues. “We have a downtown theater district. Should there be an Uptown music district, given our history with labels as well as the club scene, which is truly, truly unique around the country?”

Once upon a time, Chicago’s Uptown was a Mecca for big-name musical acts, playing host to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. In more recent years, Bruce Springsteen, the Grateful Dead and others have appeared at venues in the neighborhood. And, these days, despite Uptown being quite edgy (read: pretty dangerous), the area still hosts high-profile shows.

“There are many longstanding institutions in the neighborhood that could serve as anchors for a music district – from the Green Mill, to the Aragon to the Rivieria to the Uptown,” Emanuel spokesman Ben LaBolt recently said, echoing his boss’ ideas (get used to that).

However, Uptown – even if it becomes Chicago’s designated music district – is hardly the only area of the city where concertgoers flock to hear live music. On any given night, shows are being held all across Chicago. And that’s where Casey Meehan enters the picture.

Meehan, a 32-year-old musician, moved from New Orleans to Chicago in 2001 and became connected with other local performers. In the years since, though, he has come to believe that something big is lacking in Chicago’s rock scene. It’s not the music – “Chicago’s is as good as any city’s out there,” Meehan said – but rather it’s the recognition.

“I felt like something massive needed to change,” Meehan said. “And it wasn’t about making a better record. It’s about finding ways to build an audience.”

To that end, Meehan launched an online record label named Rock Proper, which offers free album downloads and radio streaming at rockproper.com. The site drew big traffic, Meehan said, but on more of a widespread scale and didn’t attract as many local ears as he had hoped for.

So, this year, to better promote rising artists in Chicago – and connect fans to them – Meehan has launched chicagomixtape.com, a free subscription music service. On Monday or Tuesday of each week, subscribers receive an e-mail compilation of free high-quality MP3s of music from local artists who are performing in the city that week, as well as concert information.

For you, that means you can have fresh music for your iPod each week, as well as plenty of details and time to plan a visit to Chicago to check out a show during the coming weekend.

“I just really want Chicago to be a vibrant, connected music scene,” Meehan said. “There’s a lot here that falls under the radar.”

Less, though, when Chicagoans are working to put things on the map.

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Casting an Irish eye on Chicago

The WISCH LIST

March 12, 2011

Come this spring, Mayor Richard M. Daley will step down after 21 years of running the city of Chicago.

And come this afternoon, he’ll step down after 21 years of serving as honorary chairman for Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

I wonder which gig he’ll miss more.

At noon today, the 56th annual parade kicks off in Grant Park at Balbo Drive and Columbus Avenue noon and follows its route north up Columbus to Monroe. Now, if you’re reading this column in the newspaper, it’s probably too late for you to make it downtown in time to catch the parade. But that hardly means you have to miss out on all the St. Patrick’s Day fun going on in the city.

There’s plenty more happening through March 17.

You’re lucky.

St. Patrick’s Day Post-Parade Party

So, you might not be able to make it to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, but if you hustle you can probably arrive in time to enjoy the Post-Parade Party at the Hard Rock Café (63 W. Ontario St.).

From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today, the River North hotspot is holding its third annual post-parade bash which will feature live music, Irish dancers, bagpipers and even a Lucky Charms eating contest.

Now, that’s different.

There’s no cover charge, but any donations at the door will benefit the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to help the fight against childhood cancer.

Northwest Side Irish Parade

If you didn’t visit the city today, but are still itching to see some shamrock floats, the luck of the Irish is with you.

At noon on Sunday, the ninth annual Northwest Side Irish Parade will kick off at Onahan Elementary School (6634 W. Raven St.) in Norwood Park. The free event feature bagpipe and drumming troupe, the Emerald Society, as well as the Mullane Irish Dancers, Jesse White Tumblers and plenty more.

An after-party at Immaculate Conception Parish (6211 W. Talcott Ave.) from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. will also feature a corned beef and cabbage dinner, drinks, live music and kids’ activities ($10 admission fee, or $5 for kids under age 10). For more information, visit northwestsideirish.org.

World Kitchen: Cooking of the Green

On St. Patrick’s Day, anything green goes. And in Chicago’s Loop at the Gallery 37 Center for Arts (66 E. Randolph St.) that goes for the kitchen, too.

From 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. as part of its “World Kitchen” series, Gallery 37 is holding a “Cooking of the Green” culinary class during which attendees will learn how to cook up healthy dishes with green ingredients (think lots of veggies), as well as a few dishes with a decidedly Irish flavor.

The class costs $30 and requires pre-registration, which can be done by phone (312-742-TIXS) or you can visit ChicagoWorldKitchen.org for more information.

D4 Irish Pub & Cafe

It’s safe to say that every Irish pub in the city – and the state, for that matter – will be doing its fair share of celebrating this week. But you’ll be hard-pressed to find one doing as much as D4 Irish Pub & Cafe (345 E. Ohio St.) in Chicago’s Gold Coast.

D4 bill itself as “Chicago’s Premier Irish Address,” and it just might be considering all the events it has planned this week.
On Sunday, the bar will serve an Irish brunch featuring Irish pudding, rashers and sausages and corned beef hash. On Tuesday night, traditional Irish music and dance troupe Chicago Reel will perform. And on Wednesday evening, the 10-time World Champion Trinity Irish Dancers will dance a jig – or 10.

For more information, visit d4pub.com.

And have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

11 not the only chapter for Chicago bookstores

The WISCH LIST

March 5, 2011

I always have words on my mind.

But last weekend, I had books on it, too.

So, I went out and bought one.

You know, the real thing – actual wood-pulp-and-ink pages, not pixilated ones. And I even made my purchase at an actual bookstore.

I felt like a rebel.

And I also felt pretty good.

With the emergence of Apple’s iPad (which I own) and the spread of Amazon.com’s Kindle (which I don’t), the printed word during the past year has fallen under new assault. Not unlike newspapers before them, books – and, in turn, bookstores – have become endangered as consumers increasingly opt to use e-readers or order their print copies from the Internet while wearing pajamas.

However, last weekend the Chicago Tribune reported that a funny thing has happened on the way to the bargain bin: independent bookstores – once seemingly headed the way of the dodo – now actually appear more stable than big-box retailers such as Borders (in bankruptcy) and Barnes & Noble (reportedly for sale).

How’s that for writing a comeback story?

“They got through their own valley of death,” Scott Lubeck, executive director of the New York City-based Book Industry Study Group said about the nation’s approximately 1,500 surviving indie bookstores, down from a one-time high of 4,000. “I see many, many independent booksellers, and I think they’re going to continue to thrive. There’s no question about it: The bookstore is still the most powerful instrument to connect a reader with a book.”

That it is, and last weekend to reconnect this writer with a bookstore, I drove to Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood to visit The Book Cellar (4736 N. Lincoln Ave.), one of about 50 independent shops left in the city and suburbs.

It was inside the cozy shop – there’s even a wine bar – that I bought my latest book (“Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago,” by legendary newspaper columnist Mike Royko) and chatted up customers about the future of neighbhorhood bookstores, which can provide as much vibrance and sense of community as any corner restaurant or tavern.

“I’m one of those bookstore people who have refused to buy a Kindle,” 28-year-old Chicagoan Ingrid Payne told me as we stood among The Book Cellar’s stacks. “I have friends who have said to give it a try, that they’re addicted to their Kindle. But, for me, there’s just a certain nostalgia to bookstores.

“It’s the sensory experience of coming here. You can walk down the aisles, see the colors of the book covers, touch things, browse … But I think it’s a generational thing. I don’t think kids in high school today probably come to bookstores.”
Probably not. But that hardly means bookstores should go away. I can live with my local video rental store closing up, but if city bookstores were to completely vanish, well, that will be a sad day in Chicago.

And America.

Truth be told, I now buy more books for my iPad than my bookshelves, which have little space left to store anything. And I’ve found it surprisingly fun to read books electronically. As with newspapers, I embrace both print and digital and see beauty in each.

However, a bookstore is far more than just a building, it’s an experience. And while we may see fewer big retailers – I’m already missing the shuttered Borders along North Michigan Avenue – to know that indie shops are preserving a niche for word lovers the way vintage record shops provide haven for music buffs does warm this writer’s heart.

It’s a comforting to hear the rumor of every bookstores’ death has been greatly exaggerated, as Mark Twain might have said in this digital era.

Or, I suppose, tweeted it.

Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

In Chicago, mayoral history repeats itself

The WISCH LIST

Feb. 26, 2011

Meet Chicago’s new boss.

Same as the old boss?

Well, at least regarding his ease of election, Rahm Emanuel appears to be.

For the first time in two decades, the Windy City this week held a mayoral election without the name Richard M. Daley appearing on the ballot. But, you could hardly tell the difference.

Because, just like Daley – who could clear his throat and garner two-thirds of the city’s votes – Emanuel captured the city’s top job in a rout. Snaring 55 percent of the ballots cast, President Obama’s former Chief of Staff avoided a run-off against a single opponent (you know, a real election) and will assume office in May as the 55th mayor of Chicago.

Now, you likely already know plenty about the city’s new mayor-elect, but today I thought I’d share a few things that you might not about those who preceded him.

William Butler Ogden (1837-38)

In 1805, the city’s first mayor was born in Walton, N.Y., and didn’t reach Chicago until 30 years later when he traveled west to look over land purchased by his brother-in-law, Charles Butler, for $100,000. Unimpressed with the infant Chicago, Ogden informed Butler that he had “been guilty of the grossest folly. There is no such value in the land and won’t be for a generation.”

However, Ogden ended up recovering the $100,000 by selling off one-third of the property that Butler had bought and decided that he did like Chicago well enough after all to stick around and become its inaugural mayor.

Joseph Medill (1871-73)

Medill is best known as the legendary managing editor of the Chicago Tribune who helped nominate Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. presidency.

However, in 1864, Medill left the Tribune to enter politics himself. And after the Great Chicago Fire, he was elected mayor as a member of the temporary “Fireproof” party. Medill served for two years, creating Chicago’s first public library and reforming the police and fire departments. However, the stress of the job wore him down and in August 1873, Medill appointed Lester L. Bond as Acting Mayor for the remaining 3½ months of his term and departed for Europe on a convalescent tour.

Carter Harrison Sr. (1879-87, 1893)
& Carter Harrison Jr. (1897-1905, 1911-15)

Richard J. and Richard M. Daley weren’t the first father-and-son combo to serve as mayors of Chicago. Rather, that honor belonged to the Harrisons.

Initially, Carter Harrison Sr. served four terms as mayor before returning for a fifth in 1893, just before the World’s Columbian Exposition. However, on Oct. 28, 1893, three days before the close of the Exposition, Harrison murdered in his home by Patrick Eugene Prendergast. The delusional 26-year-old believed that Harrison would appoint him to public office upon his re-election – even though Harrison didn’t know who Prendergast was.

Carter Harrison Jr. was elected four years after his father’s death. And interestingly, as the city’s 30th mayor, he was actually the first to be born within the city limits.

Anton Cermak (1931-33)

Carter Harrison Sr. isn’t the only Chicago mayor to have been killed while in office. On Feb. 15, 1933, Mayor Anton Cermak was shaking hands with President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami when assassin Giuseppe Zangara shot him.

Roosevelt was the intended target of Zangara, who told police that he hated rich and powerful people, but not Roosevelt personally. However, rumors circulated after the shooting that Cermak had been the true target because his promise to clean up Chicago’s lawlessness posed a threat to Al Capone and his crime syndicate.

According to Roosevelt biographer Jean Edward Smith, though, there’s no proof for the theory. And, reportedly, just as Zangara fired, a woman hit his arm with her purse, spoiling his aim.