If you have ever gone to Lollapalooza, attended a concert at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion or simply strolled through its elegant gardens, you should consider joining Lawrence Okrent and the Friends of Downtown this Thursday, December 2, for a brown-bag luncheon presentation about the origins and rich history of Grant Park.

Urban planning and zoning expert Okrent (who prefers to be called Larry) has more than forty years experience navigating the history and peculiarities of Chicago land development. Not to mention that over his career, Okrent has amassed an extensive archive of aerial and historical photographs of Chicago. Who better then to illustrate the complex history of Grant Park.

Okrent can tell you, for example, that the land that is now Grant Park was once just a gap of water standing between the natural Lake Michigan shoreline and the elevated Illinois Trestle just to the east. And you might be interested to learn that that little water gap was first filled in with rubble from the Great Fire or that the park didn’t attain its characteristic landscaping until the 1920’s and thirties. Read the rest of this entry »

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Physicist Stephen Hawking believes it would be dangerous to get in touch with extraterrestrial creatures. “If aliens visit us,” he says, “the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” Those who’ve studied the teeming evidence for UFOs would say that Hawking’s warning is too late. Some mysterious non-human intelligence has been here for a long time, and the fact that we are still around proves they’re no Spanish conquistadors. Aside from that, though, let’s marvel at the stupidity of Hawking’s lame advice. As any mildly wise person knows, exploring the unknown is not only an aid to our mental and spiritual health—it’s a prerequisite. That’ll be especially true for you Aries in the coming weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s biggest gainers:

1
Mark Kirk
OK, Mr. Moderate Republican Senator-elect, let’s see you moderate.

2
Lovie Smith
We believe. At least this week. Read the rest of this entry »

Shop Local. It’s a simple sentiment, one which we’ve been encouraging (and practicing) for years. Not only does it make holiday shopping a pleasure instead of a chore, but it does your city, your neighborhood, your friends a world of good, as dollars spent at locally owned merchants tend to stay in the local economy. This year, we’ve taken it a step further. Not only are we highlighting local as we always do, but this time we’re focusing on locally crafted items, whether food, or toys or other gifts. Not only will you be able to give a gift you can be proud of, but you can share the story of its maker; heck, feel free to tear out this page (or print it out online) and wrap it in your gift box. Your offering may not be expensive, but it will sure be rich. Read the rest of this entry »

If urban woodsman chic and the enduring popularity of raw lofts has shown us anything, it is the extent to which aesthetic tastes run back to the rough elegance of primitive design. And thanks to one local artisan, there is no reason that your carefully “un-furbished” interior-decorating scheme need not extend to your childrens’ toys.

After getting his degree in fine arts from Columbia College, Eric Siegel was looking for a project. When his wife became pregnant with their first child, his mind turned to all things baby and soon enough he had the idea to start his Tree Hopper line of infant and toddler toys.

“We were on a road trip out west and we stopped by this toy store in San Francisco and they had some cool wood toys and that just got me thinking. And when I came back and looked into it more and looked around at toy stores, I saw that there would be a niche for these kinds of toys.”

The hallmark of Tree Hopper is Siegel’s wooden block sets, which can be built into a wide array of configurations with their connecting rods. Siegel says that the idea for the product came about when he wanted to make something for his nephew’s Christmas gift last year. Read the rest of this entry »

Greeting cards are brimming with sappy epistles unfit for sober consumption, and if the inside isn’t a drag, the outside is. The Chicago-Centric series from Third Coast Collection might solve those gift-card woes with hometown pride: neighborhood names and boundary streets, zip codes, bus and El routes, (312) and (773). Fit for host or hostess, sister or brother, girlfriend or boyfriend, these cards balance easily between masculine and feminine.

“They’re clever, not cheesy,” says Kara Underwood Gordon, Chicago-based designer and Third Coast founder. “A single guy can give this card to his single guy friend and not be embarrassed.”

The gender-neutral colors and sharp, bold designs emanated from a simple quest for a thank-you card. Gordon ransacked her favorite stationery stores in the Chicago area but could not find that ideal blend of “not feminine, not cheesy, not a Hallmark card” for her male cousin to send to his graduate-school interviewer. Read the rest of this entry »

While plush toys are traditionally thought of as children’s playthings, the bizarre stuffed monsters of Luisa Castellanos’ handmade designer toy line, Pock-it Palz, make quirky gifts for lighthearted people of all ages.

Castellanos is a remarkable entrepreneur not only for the high quality and inventiveness of her products, but for her young age. A senior at York High School in Elmhurst, Castellanos is 17 now, and has been making Pock-it Palz since she was 11.

At first all of Castellanos’ creations were made via hand-stitching, but the fabric toy maven has since moved on to plying her great-grandmother’s sewing machine in the basement workshop of her suburban home.

Castellanos says she learned to sew in Girl Scouts and picked up some more tips from her grandmother. Her inspiration for Pock-it Palz, however, came out of a treasured childhood pastime. “When I was a kid,” she explains, “I would doodle weird little creatures. And I decided it was a different way to express my art, with sewing monsters and making them three-dimensional.” Read the rest of this entry »

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Should you rely on hard facts or soft feelings? Would it be advisable to trust your tried-and-true medicine or else a potion brewed from the tongue of a snake, the feather of a crow and a mandrake root? Can you get better results by mingling with staunch allies or with rebel upstarts who have a knack for shaking things up? Only you can decide on these matters, Aries. My opinion? You’ll probably generate more interesting developments by going with the feelings, the mandrake root and the upstarts. Read the rest of this entry »

The gymnasium of Edgewater’s Alternatives, Inc. on a Tuesday night buzzes with happy activity. Off to the sides of the room, kids play ping-pong, get help with homework or work on their DJ skills at a live spin station. Meanwhile, on the floor, small clusters of young people in sweats and sneakers form a number of separate break-dance circles. They practice routines one at a time, giving each other feedback and teaching new moves.

The open gym is a production of Connect Force, a program which combines hip-hop culture with social justice, providing education and positive lifestyle alternatives to kids in this at-risk community where gangs like the Stones and Vice Lords actively recruit. Started by Justin Grey in 2003, Connect Force operates an afterschool program twice a week, offering mentoring and life-skills classes.

The cornerstone of Connect Force, however, is its hip-hop training, which encourages kids to participate in different aspects of the culture, such as break-dancing, music production, graff-art (graffiti and murals) and verse writing. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s biggest gainers:

1
Lovie Smith
What’s the theme to “Against All Odds” again?

2
Terry Mazany
Wonder if the “kids” will take advantage of a CPS chief “sub.” Read the rest of this entry »