Archive for the ‘My Kind of Town’ Category

Supporting Local Business…Sort Of

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

[via]

For more information on Toby Jones’s other businesses, such as Jones’ Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage, and Jones’ Good Ass BBQ & Foot Massage, please visit his site at http://jonesbigasstruckrentalandstorage.com/ where you can view his other commercials and order a T-shirt! And to correct any inaccurate statements that may have been made in any of his commercials, Toby Jones has issued a public statement you can view here.

I AM a Windy Citizen

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

I was very surprised to learn earlier that the photo I posted yesterday was chosen as one of “Today’s Photos” on Windy Citizen, Today’s Best Chicago News, picked by Chicagoans. It’s even the first one on the list of “Today’s Photos”! I know I’ve posted this on Twitter and Facebook already and I’m sorry to continue tooting my own horn, but…not really. :-D It was just so unexpected and exciting!

Talk Like Shakespeare Day???

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

According to Second City Cop, Da
Mayor, that droning, motley-minded nut-
hook, hath proclaimeth Thursday nigh,
be “Speaketh Like Shakespeare Day.”

And, pray tell, why wouldst we doeth this?

Willis Tower, Overpriced Meters: What the HELL is Happening to this City?

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

First of all, what’s all this crap about changing the name of the Sears Tower to the “Willis Tower” or whatever the fuck the new owners want to change it to? Pfft. That’s like renaming Wrigley Field, know what I’m saying?

And get this — the other day Brian and I had lunch in The Neighborhood, where a quarter gets you an hour at a parking meter. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that now, an hour costs 4 quarters! WTF. It’s even more expensive in other neighborhoods. Christ. Apparently, Da Mayor leased the meters to some company for the next 75 years. You read right: 75 years, and I’m not shitting you. Oh, but get this — parking ticket fines still go to the City!

I’m not even going to go into how bad the streets are with some serious potholes from this past winter, and that it seems like nothing’s being done about them. Or any time soon, at least. Bad enough the City took forever plowing the snow.

You know what’s happening to this City? I’ll tell you what’s happening: it’s going to be the end of the Daley Dynasty, that’s what.

“This Will Be a Day Long Remembered”

Monday, December 15th, 2008

Not because “It has seen the end of Kenobi,” but because Brian and I finally, finally, FINALLY got to eat at Hot Doug’s! We’ve driven past it over the years as it’s only a couple of miles away. It looks like your typical corner hot dog joint, except their sign contains words like “sausage emporium” and “encased meats.” So I figured they also sold like, those really long links of sausage wrapped around a rod near the counter or something, like at a deli. Yuck. Who’d want to eat there and have to look at that?

This past summer a friend in Arkansas asked if we’d ever eaten there. I was like, “uh…no.” I asked how she’d heard of it because it isn’t a chain, like Gold Coast Dogs. Well, she saw a segment about it on the Travel Channel! And she was like, “Yeah, it’s supposed to be really good.” :?: :!:

So Brian and I went that weekend. OMFG. The line went out the door, around the corner, and halfway down the block. You’d think it was the hottest new club, except that it was about 2 in the afternoon, not in the morning. The place closes at 4, so we couldn’t have dinner there.

I figured our best bet would be to go on a weekday while everyone else is at work. So we tried again this past fall, on a day Brian had off. We went about 1pm and there was still a line out the door! I didn’t realize that the electric company has a plant nearby and people were probably on their lunch hour. Finally, today, in 8° frickin’ Fahrenheit weather, we achieved our goal!

It was packed, and there was a long line inside, but at least it wasn’t out the door. I realized that all this “sausage” and “encasing” on the sign business was because they serve not just hot dogs, but chicken sausages and whatnot. One of today’s specials was rabbit sausage infused with brandy (WTF does that even mean?) with all these fancy trimmings like foie gras mousse and raspberry mayo. Yuck.

Me, I had the mandarin orange/teriyaki chicken sausage with some kind of cheese I never heard of; I passed on the fancy “dijonnaise” that went with it — not a fan of mustard. It was good. There were bits of orange inside the sausage but it didn’t taste very teriyaki. The cheese (Esrom) was good, mild. Overall, my choice was a bit bland, so I’m thinking I should’ve been brave and went with the dijonnaise, which probably would’ve given it more taste.

Brian’s was better. He had the “Cristobal Huet,” which I should’ve ordered just on principle, but I was scared off by the seaweed. I tried it and it was awesome! The sausage was way more spicy than the menu’s description of merely “spicy.” Yum! Brian actually refilled his drink three times! Seriously!

Both of our orders were from the specials menu, which changes each day. I don’t even know if they ever have the same one twice! But anyway, the whole point is that we finally got to eat there!