Tag / Chicago Tribune

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200 Things To Do In Illinois – The Second City

Illinois celebrated its bicentennial as a state in December of 2018.  To celebrate, the Chicago Tribune published the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, celebrating the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  With the state still shut down due to the corona virus outbreak, I figured this was the second-best time to look through this collection and cover the ones I’ve done/eaten/seen.

We continue things this week with one of the entries from the Culture category: The Second City, from Chicago, IL.

Profoundly influential in American comedy, this nearly 60-year-old theater retains its edge by putting on a regular schedule of new, sketch-based shows that skewer politics and contemporary life.

It’s like Saturday Night Live, but right in front of you, and with sketches that know how to end.

I made my one and (so far) only trip to The Second City on November 4, 2017, in the midst of what turned out to be one of the worst weekends of my life.  Without getting too much into the drama of the beginning of the end of (at least what I thought was) an important friendship, a night out with my college friends was a nice respite from everything else that was swirling around me at the time.  I’d certainly like to go back sometime, perhaps to see what they make of this whole shelter-in-place craziness.

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200 Things To Do In Illinois – Ravinia

Illinois celebrated its bicentennial as a state in December of 2018.  To celebrate, the Chicago Tribune published the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, celebrating the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  With the state still shut down due to the corona virus outbreak, I figured this was the second-best time to look through this collection and cover the ones I’ve done/eaten/seen.

We kick things off with one of the entries from the Culture category: Ravinia, from Highland Park, IL.

 

The oldest outdoor music festival in North America draws 600,000 listeners each summer – many touting picnic baskets, blankets, and lawn chairs to stake their claim on the manicured grounds of the 36-acre park.

Performers across a panoply of musical genres have graced the pavilion stage at this summer crib of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Ravinia is a summer tradition for people on the North Shore.  Growing up on the south side, it really didn’t enter my consciousness at all, at least until I started working up north after college.  Even then, I managed to avoid going for 20 years.  Until Garbage and Blondie came to town in 2017 for their Rage and Rapture Tour.  This was my 6th Garbage show, and the first outdoors.  Shirley Manson and the boys did not disappoint, putting together a strong set and overcoming a crowd that seemed more interested in sitting down and relaxing than rocking out.  We abandoned the pavilion for Blondie’s portion of the show, roaming the grounds before eventually heading back to the train for the ride back in to Chicago.  I’m sure I’ll go back again someday, but nothing has drawn me up north just yet.

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200 Things To Do In Illinois – Chicago Sports Museum

Illinois celebrated its bicentennial as a state in December of 2018.  To celebrate, the Chicago Tribune published the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, celebrating the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  With the state still shut down due to the corona virus outbreak, I figured this was the second-best time to look through this collection and cover the ones I’ve done/eaten/seen.

We continue things this week with one of the entries from the Sports category: Chicago Sports Museum, from Chicago, IL.

Take a break from the sport of shopping to check out this museum on the seventh floor of Water Tower Place.  Peruse an impressive collection of Cubs 2016 World Series memorabilia, including Grandpa Rossy’s Game 7 catcher’s gear.

All of the city’s major sports teams are represented in interactive exhibits and virtual reality games, where you can shoot hoops with Scottie Pippen and do a quarterback challenge with Richard Dent.

On July 5, 2018, the family headed down to the city to see Heartbreak Hotel at the Broadway Playhouse.  Before the show, we ate dinner at Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch, which is connected to the Chicago Sports Museum on the 7th level of Water Tower Place.  While there were some interesting pieces in the museum, including Steve Stone’s Cy Young Award and Sammy Sosa’s corked bat, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a must-do attraction.  If you’re looking to kill time while in the mall, sure, but it isn’t somewhere I feel the need to visit again.

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200 Things To Do In Illinois – Superman

Illinois celebrated its bicentennial as a state in December of 2018.  To celebrate, the Chicago Tribune published the Bicentennial Bucket List: 200 Things To Do In Illinois, celebrating the best the state has to offer in history, food, architecture, culture, sports, nature, drink, and oddities.  With the state shutting down tonight due to the corona virus outbreak, I figured this was the second-best time to look through this collection and cover the ones I’ve done/eaten/seen.

We kick things off with one of the entries from the Oddities category: Superman, from Metropolis, IL.

DC Comics proclaimed this small town with a big statue the official home of Superman in 1972, and Metropolis isn’t about to let you forget it.  A 15-foot-tall bronze Man of Steel overlooks Superman Square, where you’ll also find the Super Museum packed with toys and props, amassed by Superman super fan Jim Hambrick.  This town on the banks of the Ohio River – from here, you can practically throw a chunk of Kryptonite into Kentucky – hosts an annual four-day Superman Celebration.

My one trip to Metropolis occurred in 2015, as part of a Mother’s Day Elvis trip.  On our way home from Tupelo, Mississippi, we decided to make a detour towards Metropolis, IL to see the symbolic home of Superman and, at least according to the travel guide we picked up at a rest station along the way, the world’s largest Dippin’ Dots store.  Sadly, the Dippin’ Dots store had closed and was replaced by a gift shop filled with DC merchandise and a cooler in the corner that did supply said Dippin’ Dots.  In the center of town, we found the giant Superman statue and posed for pictures.  We decided against going through the museum, which was probably the correct call.

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2019: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_22158 different people starred in the 89 movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide which populated the early days of my database), and a whopping 9 of them were in more than 1 film. Those 9 thespians are:

Films Per Actor Per Year
Actor Name Films
Liam Neeson 3
Sandra Bullock 2
Tom Cruise 2
Samuel L. Jackson 2
James McAvoy 2
Melissa McCarthy 2
Ryan Reynolds 2
Kiernan Shipka 2
Bruce Willis 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2019, following up on last Friday’s post.

The Silence (2019)
A very similar tale to A Quiet Place, but apparently based on a book which pre-dates last year’s hit movie.

Eighth Grade (2018)
A coming of age story for a young girl trying to navigate the last year of middle school and the social pressures therein.

The Captive (2014)
A father suspected of killing his young daughter continue to look for her years later, and eventually finds her.

A Simple Favor (2018)
A woman befriends another mother at her child’s school and finds herself drawn into mystery and intrigue.

Can You Keep A Secret? (2019)
A woman starts dating her boss after accidentally telling him all of her secrets on a flight.

Broken Star (2018)
A woman under house arrest has an interesting neighbor.

The Curerd (2018)
When a cure is found for a zombie outbreak, not everyone is willing to forgive and forget.

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
A high school girl becomes popular after “maturing”, but her new friends start dropping like flies.

Horns (2014)
Based on the book by Joe Hill, a man grows horns and gains powers when his girlfriend is murdered and everyone assumes he did it.

Free Solo (2018)
A documentary about a crazy man who likes to climb mountains by himself without ropes. Continue reading →

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Book 27 (of 52) – Doxology

Doxology – Nell Zink

Nell Zink’s fifth novel, Doxology, is basically two inter-connected stories with a tragedy separating them.  The first half is the tale of a punk adjacent couple and their friend who somehow becomes a pop sensation.  When the World Trade Center is attacked on 9/11, the couple bring their daughter to Washington DC, leaving her with her grandparents, and the story follows her life, through high school, college, and the 2016 Presidential campaign, which leaves her pregnant and, in a twist of fate, headed back to New York and her parents.

I picked this book up after seeing a review in the Chicago Tribune calling it the “Gen-X novel of the year.”  I don’t know if I’m willing to go that far, but I enjoyed the work.  The first half more than the second, as the story of Pam and Daniel, and how the attacks of 9/11 changed their world, resonated a little more than the coming of age of Flora, who wants to save the world and works for the Jill Stein campaign.  I haven’t come into contact with Zink’s work before this, so I may keep a look out and see what else she has to offer.

 

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2018: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_2298 different people starred in the 55 movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide which populated the early days of my database), and a whopping 10 of them were in more than 1 film. Those 10 thespians are:

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Elizabeth Banks 3
Tom Cruise 3
Emily Blunt 2
Jessica Chastain 2
Olivia Cooke 2
Lucy Hale 2
Dwayne Johnson 2
Anna Kendrick 2
Rachel McAdams 2
Mark Wahlberg 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2018, following up on last Thursday’s post.

Miss Sloane (2016)
A lobbyist trades her career for the passage of a gun control bill.

Annihilation (2018)
I literally have no idea what this was about.  Plus, I think I fell asleep for the ending.

Man On A Ledge (2012)
A former cop escapes from prison and commits multiple felonies to prove that he didn’t commit the crime that he is accused of.

Unforgettable (2017)
Katherine Heigl plays a scorned woman who has a hard time letting go.

Wishmaster 3: Beyond The Gates Of Hell (2001)
A demon comes to life and threatens a college.

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2017: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_22139 different people starred in the movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide which populated the early days of my database), and a whopping 17 of them were in more than 1 film.  Those 17 thespians are:

Name Films
Tom Hanks 4
Anna Kendrick 4
Imogen Poots 3
Elizabeth Banks 2
Abigail Breslin 2
Matt Damon 2
Zac Efron 2
Domhnall Gleeson 2
Tom Hiddleston 2
Melissa McCarthy 2
Ellen Page 2
Chris Pratt 2
Ryan Reynolds 2
Julia Roberts 2
Saoirse Ronan 2
Anya Taylor-Joy 2
Allison Williams 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2017, following up on last Thursday’s post.

The Edge Of Seventeen (2016)
A teenager feels her world going crazy when her best friend starts dating her brother.

Logan (2017)
The latest, and best, Wolverine solo film.

The Princess Bride (1987)
A modern day fairy tale that everyone in my generation saw years ago.

American Made (2017)
Tom Cruise plays the CIA and drug cartels against one another to line his pockets with cash.

The Babysitter (2017)
A young kid fights back when he finds out his babysitter is part of a satanic cult.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
The Kingsman return and team up with their American counterparts.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Thor and Loki team up to save Asgard from their sister.

The Big Sick (2017)
Continue reading →

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You Ought To Be In (31) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1st.

Today, we finish things off with the actor that has starred in the most movies, 31, that I have seen.

Bruce Willis

The actor that I have seen in the most films is Bruce Willis, who has a four picture lead over his closest competitors.  I first saw him in 1985’s Moonlighting, the pilot to the television show that introduced him to America.  His first screen work that I saw was 1988’s Die Hard.  His greatest streak was 4 years from 1995 through 1998.  He is only up one over the last 3 years, adding Red 2 later in 2014, making that the 7th year that I’ve seen multiple films starring Willis.

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You Ought To Be In (27) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1st.

Today, we have our penultimate look at the actor that has starred in 27 movies that I have seen, a mark not seen when we did this 3 years ago.

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage can also point to special circumstances behind his high film total: real estate issues and IRS trouble.  After being accused of owing the government over $6.5 million in unpaid taxes and losing millions in bad real estate deals, Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit against his business manager and started taking any and every role offered to him.  6 of his films that I have seen have come since, including 4 in 2010 alone.  My first exposure to a starring Cage role was likely 1987’s Raising Arizona.  There have been 8 years since where I have seen multiple Cage films.  After a 5 year absence from my screen, Cage returned earlier this year with Pay The Ghost.