A Day Full of Firsts

Today's Q101.1 Warped Tour Day at Six Flags was a day full of firsts. It was my first trip to Great America. From First to Last was my first interview of the day. I ate Dippin' Dots for the first time: "it's the ice cream of the future, and the future is now!" It was my first real taste of how nasty the Edens construction can be: two hours up, three to get back. And, my favorite first: my man rode his very first roller coaster! We rode Whizzer together, and Paul enjoyed it enough that he allowed me to drag him onto Demon, too. Many summer vacations in my youth involved roller coasters, from the Corkscrew at Rocky Point (RIP), to the Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, to Blue Streak, Magnum and Raptor at Cedar Point, the daddy of them all. I hadn't ridden a coaster in years, and I shrieked and screamed like... well, like a little girl. It was great.

Still... that Edens traffic was brutal, and the euphoria of the day has worn off. There are plenty of great memories that remain, though, and the promise of more roller coasters to come. Thanks to everyone who made it such a wonderful day!

WALL-E: A Review

Simply put: I loved WALL-E. It was beautiful, touching, funny and smart. There was a Message, but it was delivered with a light hand. (Well, a heavy hand, actually. You'll get it when you see it.) Here are a few observations:

• WALL-E might be the cutest animated character I've seen in a long time, but EVE, WALL-E's lady love, is just as awesome. She's a fiercely loyal badass - how often do you say that about a female lead? Their road to robot romance affected me more than any human coupling I've seen on screen in a long time.
  
• I really appreciate a movie that nods to both Hello, Dolly! and 2001: A Space Odyssey. We must all fear future HAL-wannabes, but if they are balanced out by robots who use hubcaps as props, things might be alright.
  
• Cockroaches and Twinkies: of COURSE they're still around 700 years in the future.
  
• Fred Willard makes movies better, even when he's only around for three minutes.
• Ben Burtt absolutely nailed the robots' voices and sounds. Absolute perfection - not surprising when you know that he's the man behind R2-D2. There's not a wealth of human dialogue, but I did love the line: "I don't want to survive, I want to live."
  
• Ok, so I almost cried at the end, and I sat through the credits to watch the "evolution of art" versions of WALL-E and friends. So? I'm still anti-robot. I am, I swear. ...yeah, I don't believe me either.
  

A Perfect Summer Weekend

Summer in Chicago is perfection. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Look at this weekend: the Taste, Pride Fest, Cubs and Sox - Wizard World is even in town. I'm going to the Taste tomorrow and Cubs/Sox Sunday, but I'm also going to find time to see WALL-E... PURELY for robot research, you see. I'm DEFINITELY not going because WALL-E is an adorable Pixar version of Johnny 5 and his big inquisitive eyes turn me into a puddle. Nope. No way.

ANYWHO. While reading about WALL-E, I discovered part of the pitch Pixar made to Disney about it: “what if mankind evacuated Earth and forgot to turn off the last remaining robot?” Hmm. That wouldn't have sold me on "fun family movie," I'll be honest. Paul and I decided to make a game out of "pitching" other Disney movies, because we're weird like that.

- So there's a little lion cub, and his dad is king of the jungle. Then his dad dies, so he gets banished from the jungle. Plus he meets a farting warthog!

- A young girl has to run away from home because her stepmom wants to kill her, and she ends up a maid for seven cranky old men. Then she eats some bad fruit!

- This mermaid, right, wants to be a human... and then she BECOMES a human! The end!

Now THIS is fun for the whole family. Give me more. I know you can do it. And have an awesome weekend!

Never Trust Robots

Advice for the ages. Thanks Bill.

Move Over Jay-Z...

I don't know if you've seen the new Chevy commercial where Lou and Ozzie rap together, but it's probably one of the finest examples of the genre since Shaq Diesel. (By genre, I don't mean rap; I mean "embarrassing musical efforts from sports figures.") Paul and I just took 10 minutes to decipher the lyrics from this masterpiece. It wasn't easy, and I'm not sure if the Ozzie parts are entirely accurate. Behold:

O: I'm a South Side guy!

L: I know, I can tell.

O: What's that mean? You can go to hell.

L: We play day ball at Addison and Clark.

O: At 35th and Shields, we ballin' after dark!

L: Sparks will fly from our Cubby bats.

O: You remind me of Minnesota Fats!

L: I'm a North Side guy!

O: I know, I can tell.

L: At least I ain't trapped in no South Side Cell!

O: Black and blue, that's what you're gonna be!

L: Oh yeah? It's the Crosstown Rivalry!


Imagine this performed with awkward arm flailing, a backwards hat perched on Ozzie's head, and Lou's hands shoved in his back pockets while he struts back and forth. Is it a coincidence that you see "LOL" repeated over and over again next to these lyrics? I think not.

Update: I knew it wouldn't be long until this masterpiece surfaced on YouTube:



Update #2: The Dugout guys are genius.

Crosstown Classic Time Again

Cubs. Sox. Both teams in first place. INSANITY. Rain has delayed the start of game #1 for a bit, but they should be getting started any second now. My favorite quote so far this week has been from (of course) Ozzie:

''Lou Piniella does two things better than me... managing and eating.''

OH SNAP. I mentioned this on the air yesterday, and casually suggested that people kill time before the game by thinking about what Ozzie might be better at than Lou. Fred from Schaumburg suggested that he berates the press and throws people the bus better than Lou. OH SNAP PART DEUX. Anybody else? Other things that Lou might excel at? Favorite Hawk-isms? Recipes? Hooray, baseball! :)

He's Just Too Cute

It's time to play my new favorite game:

Is it a couch cushion...

Or a sleeping kitty?

YOU make the call! (Can you tell that I'm enjoying being a mommy?)

Anything Is Possible

I'm a proud native New Englander, and my eyes filled with tears when the Celtics won their 17th NBA championship last night. I remember doing the morning show for my college radio station in 2000 and hearing my news anchor say that Paul Pierce had been stabbed. It was scary, and I wondered what would happen to him. I remember being at Floyd's in Bucktown last summer, seeing ESPN report that the KG trade went through and wondering what possibilities lay ahead for my hometown team. I also remember being a wee Electra, sitting waaaaaaay up high in the old Garden, almost close enough to touch those vaunted rafters (and King Rat, right Dad?), and being in awe of the parquet floor. Sports are about more than competition and athleticism for me. Sports connect me to my family, no matter how many different states we currently occupy. Sports unite communities in a way few other things can. I'm a proud Chicagoan now, and I support Chicago's teams, but I'm loyal to my roots.

And in the spirit of my love for the fine city I now call home, I believe that these NBA Finals mean that this guy...


...should no longer be mentioned in the same breath as this guy...


...because #23 would have done whatever it took to carry his team to a championship, like, for example, averaging WAY better than 25.7 points per game in the Finals. Maybe Kobe should think about wearing #22 from now on.

Congratulations, Celtics. Ubuntu.

The New Gunslinger

I've been swamped these past few days. Ticket drops for our Filter show and the concert itself have kept me pretty busy. The show was definitely a success. I heard some great stories from Richard Patrick backstage (some involving TRENT REZNOR OMG), and I met plenty of awesome people. I love getting out from behind the mic every once in a while... even when a certain band at Blues Bar tried to get me to sing "Like a Virgin" during karaoke. (I struck a pose, but I did not sing.)

But the best part of my weekend began yesterday and was finalized today, when I took home the new man in my life:




Say hello to Roland. He's a little over a year old, and he's currently hiding under my couch. Clearly, he is the best cat a girl could hope to have. True story: after playing with him at the shelter for ten minutes or so, I looked at him and asked, "do you want to come home with me, little guy?" The little guy leaned up and nuzzled my face. SWOON.

Top Chef Chicago: Go Stephanie!

I haven't mentioned much about my love for Top Chef Chicago on this blog - mostly because you already put up with my Lost blathering, and I don't want to torture you further. BUT: tonight is the finale, and I'm reeeeeally hoping that Stephanie Izard is the winner. I felt attached to Stephanie before I even watched the show. She's based out of Chicago, and I felt compelled to root for the hometown hero. Now that the finale is here, I'm even more enamored of her. Stephanie is insanely likable. She's sweet but not afraid to curse with reckless abandon. She's cool under pressure, creative, and smart. And of course, she's a great chef. I walked by Scylla (her old restaurant) a couple times before it closed, but never ate there. If she opens up a new place here - and it sounds like she will - it's sure to be amazing. Come on, just look at her:


Doesn't she look like someone who deserves $100,000 to turn her culinary dreams into reality? Go Stephanie!

P.S. - I will accept the outcome of the show if Richard wins, since he's a mohawked Alton Brown, and God knows I love Alton Brown. But if LISA wins, there will be a vicious and scathing e-mail written to the fine folks at Bravo. That letter will include the words "scowl," "bitchy," and "candelabra." Don't know how I would work that last word in there, but if I have to, I will.

Addendum, 10:01pm: Here's what happened in my living room just now: "Yeeeeeeeees!" *flings arms into the air, bounces out of chair, apologizes for ridiculously excited reaction* Congratulations, Stephanie - by the way, there's some wonderful restaurant space in the South Loop... wink wink, nudge nudge... HOORAY!

A Cedric Benson Haiku

In the wake of Cedric Benson's unceremonious departure from the Bears, I present to you a haiku that I just read on the air:

Hold out, injuries,
Arrests AND not enough yards
Add up to goodbye.*

I have to make use of my poetry degree sometimes. Welcome to the Matt Forte era!

*Also, seriously, did you have to grin like a dumbass in your second mugshot in a month? It doesn't really give the impression that you care about the consequences of your actions.

I Got the Call Today

Earlier today, one of the studio hotlines rang. It was close to 11am, when my dear friend Jill Carlson usually calls me to discuss Girls on Sports on Fridays. So I answered the phone: "Hello, Q101.1?" And to my surprise, the person on the other line said "Hi, it's Mark Cuban." I blinked a couple of times, swallowed, and said "Oh hi - let me connect you to the right person." Mark Cuban said "great, thanks." I then put the phone on hold and literally squeaked. I got starstruck over talking to Mark Cuban for two whole seconds. This confuses me. I don't even like Mark Cuban that much! Sure, he's a billionaire. Sure, he's a maverick NBA team owner. (Get it? Because he owns the... never mind) Sure, he has proudly invested in a company that makes heated toilet seats. I just never thought I was overly impressed by any of those things until today. Maybe hearing "Cuban" made me think about how delicious Cuban sandwiches are, and my stomach took over for my brain. Mmm, pork and mustard and pickles.

The call was for Alan Cox, by the way. The Morning Fix's interview with Mark Cuban will air on Monday morning.

Yes We Can Make Captions

Found this on Reddit today:


Hilarious. And awesome.

Movin On Up... to the South Side

Happy Monday! I spent my whole weekend packing, moving, and unpacking. I have bruises, scrapes, and very beat up hands. (Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, while one of the greatest innovations in modern cleaning, are corrosive to skin.) Many thanks to the Sauce and coffee: without you, this move would not have happened. Lou Malnati's provided pizza and salad for the first meal in the new place, which was eaten on plastic plates with plastic silverware and washed down with red wine in a plastic cup. Delish.

On the trip to Lou Mal's, I identified my new biggest pet peeve. Have you ever been at a stop light when it's about to turn green, and a pedestrian "hurries" across the street to make the light, but then he/she decides to walk halfway through (probably because he/she is all tuckered out) and holds up traffic? I saw three instances of this yesterday. It's not even real jogging - it's walking with elbow flourish. Please, stop holding up traffic. Stop crossing the street before the little white man in the little yellow box tells you it's acceptable. Stop making people scream out the window at you because you're making them late to get their yummy pizza. Thank you.