Just a brief podcast this time to let you know about some upcoming events. . .
REMOTE PUBCAST Phil Clark of The Brit and Yankee has organized a pretty cool event in which a number of us from the Chicago Area Podcasters Network will descend upon The Globe Pub, 1934 W. Irving Park Road, to create simultaneous shows at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, as part of what he calls "an experiment in live, raw, new media in action."
Located in Chicago's entertainment- and restaurant-rich Northcenter neighborhood, The Globe is ground zero for soccer fans and the official pub of the Chicago Fire. "This place serves up a wonderful taste of home," says Phil, who had long planned on featuring the establishment on "The Brit & Yankee" -- but then asked the rest of us in the Podcasters Network to join in the fun.
In addition to Phil and Mike from "The Brit & Yankee," participating podcasters include Tammy Green and Bridget Houlihan of "Chicago Bites", Tom Kim of "Gamasutra" and yours truly. We'll offer our perspectives on The Globe's history, its management, patrons, soccer (aka "football"), darts -- and on the unique beers and cuisine offered.
In addition, Phil has persuaded Chicago band Beatnik Turtle to present a live acoustic performance at the pub. He's hoping that folks from Weird Chicago will drop in, as well.
We'd also like to invite anybody interested in podcasting to drop by, too. "Most folks think that creating and distributing their own podcast would be complex and costly, but podcasting actually can be a fairly inexpensive, straightforward process," Phil says. A variety of podcasting equipment will be on display, and all of us veteran podcasters (meaning anybody who's been doing it for more than a couple of months) will be happy to share our experience with newcomers.
Hope to see you there!
FARMERS ALMANACS In this brief podcast, I also give you a preview of an upcoming show in which Leah, Dick and I review several farmers almanacs and talk about why these annual publications can still be of use to Chicago city-dwellers.
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Lest anybody think my critical focus is too selective in pointing out Five Chicago Sculptures That Really Suck, I present evidence that problematic public art is no stranger to the suburbs.
I'm frequently at the Arlington Heights train station and often walk past a piece of public art that looks like a latter-day British phone booth. It's nicely styled, painted bright red, and looks inviting to anybody looking to have a private cellphone conversation. Last week, I needed to call my podcast cohorts, who were meeting me at the station. Lured by the visual promise of privacy, I took out my cellphone and stepped inside the booth.
To my surprise, this structure turned out to be a piece of public art that's designed to make you feel miserable. It's called "Cell Phone Booth," and a plaque next to it details the feelings of its creator, artist Ed Francis:
"Cell Phone Booth" is my somewhat cynical reaction to the proliferation and overuse of the cell phone. I made "Cell Phone Booth" attractive by painting it bright red and filling it with gleaming glass tiles. The glass tiles actually contain ugly and somewhat intimidating faces staring in at you. There is no place to sit and be comfortable as there is in a real phone booth. Openings between the bars prevent any feeling of privacy inside the booth. "Cell Phone Booth" is intended to feel like a jail once you are inside.
OK, let me get this straight: Mr. Francis, who apparently has a problem with rude people who use cellphones, created a phone booth designed to reduce the comfort level of considerate cellphone users who are mindful of others' privacy?
And please don't tell me that my negative reaction is Mr. Francis' way of making a point, because he actually fails to make his point. "Cell Phone Booth" is structurally and visually a nice piece of art, but imagine how much more positive a reaction Mr. Francis could have gotten if the glass faces were smiling, the openings between the bars eliminated, and his manifesto read:
"Cell Phone Booth" is my reaction to the proliferation and overuse of the cell phone. I made "Cell Phone Booth" attractive by painting it bright red and filling it with gleaming glass tiles. The glass tiles actually contain happy, smiling faces staring in at you. There is no place to sit and be comfortable as there is in a real phone booth, but there is a modicum of seclusion. "Cell Phone Booth" is intended to feel like a tiny oasis in our busy, noisy world.
Clearly that's not what Mr. Francis had in mind, so the result is that an artistically accomplished piece of work devolves into a simplistic political statement.
This isn't ChicagoScope's first difference of opinion about the situation at Arlington Heights' train station. About this time last year, we took note of just how unfriendly the station can be.
It's that time of year again. Halloween. More than ever before, adults as well as kids are going gaga for the holiday.
Even municipalities are getting into the celebration, big time. In the photo here, Chicago's Daley Center has been decorated with a haunted house as part of Chicagoween and orange dye has been poured into the fountain.
This store gets to be a madhouse the closer it gets to October 31. Better hurry on down there now if you want this guaranteed crowd-pleaser: Happy Halloweenie Costume, whose catalog blurb declares, "Size DOES matter. Impress the ladies with the Happy Halloweenie Costume. Complete 3 piece set, for standard adult size."
This time out, our culinary expedition journeys to Long Grove for a taste of Victoria's Mexican Grill. We liked the food and loved the salsa, but felt everything could have had a bit more oomph.
CONTACT INFO FOR RESTAURANT Victoria's Mexican Grill, 410 Robert Parker Coffin Road (Building 42), Long Grove. (847) 634-3772.
At the last meeting of the Chicago Area Podcasters Network Meetup, I had the pleasure of meeting Shane and Amy Bugbee, a couple who are committing a year of their lives to a podcast version of the Lucy and Desi "Long, Long Trailer" thing. Shane and Amy's project, "A Year at the Wheel," gets into gear here in Chicago on November 4, hits the road and then concludes November 5 next year -- just in time for the Big Election.
During their 365-day journey across America, they'll be creating audio podcasts, video podcasts, publishing a newspaper -- and generally doing the kind of Charles Kuralt-style coverage that the mainstream media too often neglect to do.
They've attracted some heavyweight attention -- namely, podcasting pioneer Adam Curry, who's scheduled to appear at a kick-off event for Shane and Amy on November 4 at The Empty Bottle.
I'm especially dee-lited by Shane and Amy's creative approach to fundraising. Visit A Year at the Wheel and see what I mean. One example of their out-of-the-box thinking is a video (see frame grab above) in which Shane demonstrates how to build your own inexpensive version of the Fig Rig. Shane's version costs considerably less than the original, which lists for $295 at B&H.
So, check out Shane and Amy's site and give them a hand in their journalistic odyssey. I know I'm looking forward to some vicarious thrills, as well as some high-quality journalism.
(Disclosure: I've donated a digital recorder to A Year at the Wheel.)
"The Mike and Jeff Show" has been one of my favorite podcasts ever since I first listened to it last year. This simple, elegantly produced show features two guys discussing their lives with brutal honesty.
They've been funny, off-color, outrageous ... and insightful. But their latest show left me speechless. You've got to listen to this one. I dare anybody to do so and not conclude that our criminal justice system needs to be seriously overhauled.
Recently I Googled "Clutch Cargo" to determine how to spell the series' famous Syncro-Vox system, which I remembered more for its use in Alex Toth's "Space Angel." As I was perusing the Wikipedia entry for Monsieur Le Cargo, the thought hit me like a ton of bricks: Clutch Cargo and Barack Obama were separated at birth! Just to make sure I wasn't imagining things, I showed both images to about a dozen folks and they all agreed with me.
Of course, not everybody sees the similarity. My friend _______ says Barack and Clutch look nothing alike, but that's to be expected, since he also claims that the classic John Singleton Copley portrait (detail shown at right) of Paul Revere looks nothing like Bob Hope.
Each year, I eagerly anticipate one of the most amusing events of the season. I'm not talking about our nation's efforts to turn Halloween into a full-tilt bacchanalia, which is now apparently second only to Christmas in popularity. No, I'm talking about the arrival at my local Jewel Food Store of a passel of little pumpkins pre-painted with cheery faces.
When I first noticed these fun-loving members of the gourd family about 10 years ago, the faces seemed to have been painted by hand. These decorated pumpkins looked so innocently happy and goofy that I figured they had to come from some sheltered workshop somewhere. I even bought one once for my cubicle at work.
Lately, however, I've noticed that although the pumpkins have the same goofy faces, the paint appears to have sprayed by a machine, rather than done by hand. Or maybe the pumpkins were painted by machine all along.
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About Me
I'm Leigh Hanlon, a writer and photographer in Chicago. Before moving to the Windy City, I worked at daily and weekly newspapers in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming. (Photo by Marty Larkin)
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Just a brief podcast this time to let you know about some upcoming events. . .
Lest anybody think my critical focus is too selective in pointing out 
It's that time of year again. Halloween. More than ever before, adults as well as kids are going gaga for the holiday.
This time out, our culinary expedition journeys to 
Of course, not everybody sees the similarity. My friend _______ says Barack and Clutch look nothing alike, but that's to be expected, since he also claims that the classic John Singleton Copley portrait (detail shown at right) of Paul Revere looks nothing like Bob Hope.
