I’m back ya’ll! Though I wish I was camping and familiarizing myself with a new park, I’m home, in the Windy City.
[embedded content]
My favorite new release this week is “Monster,” by Half Moon Run. They have been on my #RADAR for a while, progressively getting better with each and every single. “Monster” is a glorious slice of emotional pop music.
[embedded content]
Runner up is The Regrettes, “I Love Us.” They are new to me and I like the sound of this female-fronted outfit that reminds me of Sylvan Esso at times. I’ll be keeping an eye on them.
[embedded content]
Father John Misty returns with a slow-burner, and, holy cow, another remix of “Dark Days?” Unbelievable how this track by the Local Natives continues to have legs.
[embedded content]
It started with Nina Persson singing on the original version back in 2016. Then, randomly, in 2020, it got a makeover with Sylvan Esso singing the female lead. Now, of all bands, Foals has remixed the song, adding some new darkness to it. Pretty incredible the journey this tune has had.
[embedded content]
Lewis Del Mar continues painting their masterpiece on “Do You Need Me.”
[embedded content]
While Joey Bada$$ shows us his grillwork on “Shine.” I never really understood the “grill” phase, but I love Joey Bada$$, especially his Mr. Robot reboot!
[embedded content]
Several Bob Marley remixes are surfacing and I’m shocked to see “Sun Is Shining,” circa 1971, as one of them. What a peculiar song, but a cool one. BTW, what’s that weird instrument that you hear in the background?
[embedded content]
Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Robin Schulz says, “It is an absolute honor to be chosen to do this remix. Bob Marley is a true legend. It is a privilege and a highlight of my career to have the opportunity to add my individual note to this magnificent song. I am really looking forward to the release.”
[embedded content]
Boy Pablo releases another great song, “Honey,” and Faded Paper Figures gives us that new sound we didn’t know we were looking for on “Count It Out.”
[embedded content]
Who’s ready for a mission to Mars? Here’s your jazz clip of the week.
Show Me Chicago previews, reviews and expresses opinions on what’s happening in Chicago from Blockbuster Theater, to what’s new in dining, arts, and the neighborhoods.
This morning, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled limited edition bobbleheads of 2020 Presidential candidates, Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Kanye West. The bobbleheads feature the three candidates on star-shaped bases with a replica yard sign bearing each candidate’s name. They’re available for order at the museum’s website.
Show Me Chicago previews, reviews and expresses opinions on what’s happening in Chicago from Blockbuster Theater, to what’s new in dining, arts, and the neighborhoods.
Last week, I blogged about the end of the world surely being upon us, since the Vienna Beef Factory and Store closed its doors. While the store and restaurant did indeed close at their current location, the Vienna Beef company is still very much around and so is Hot Dog Univeristy – in fact, they are thriving in these Covid-19 times.
I had an opportunity to speak with Hot Dog University Professor Mark Reitman, PHD (Professor of Hot Dogs), recently, and he spoke about enrollments being on the upswing – what with a deep discount on tuition for distance learning, and people reinventing themselves in the hot dog business.
“Depression Dogs” became a great, cheap meal in the Thirties – and now the skids are being greased for the same need, especially for Americans. Vienna thrived then. They are thriving again.
“We’re way busier now than we were before,” Reitman said. “We were very lucky that we had no layoffs and no sickness, and we’re in a new building at the Kinzie Industrial Corridor, on 2501 W. Fulton Street, and things are going well.”
Ah, what a sense of relief this was. But what about the old restaurant in the store? Reitman simply pointed out that there are 600 carts and 400 restaurant trailers serving Vienna Beef hot dogs. If you’re in Chicago (and even out of town) there are places you can get your fix and your fill of the juicy and snappy. The 40,000 square foot property on Fulton will be more than enough space to keep producing Chicago’s most beloved and historic dog.
How has the hot dog business adjusted with Covid-19 in the picture? In some rather creative ways, as it turns out. Apart from people taking the vacuous Ivanka Trump’s “Let Them Eat Cake” style edict to “Find Something New,” some go-getters are doing just that, by enrolling in Hot Dog University.
Reitman provides learning modules that students can do remotely. You get the shirt, the hat, and the apron, as well as a series of videos and some hard-to-come-by inside information on cart setup and operations. It all can be yours as a student at Hot Dog University, backed by a very supportive Vienna Beef structure. Reitman compares it to “getting a franchise without paying a franchise fee.”
One recent grad of Hot Dog University noticed a lot full of truckers at rest stops. She set up a drive-up hot dog business there. Truckers are usually good for purchasing multiple dogs, and they have the benefit of not having to look for truck stops that are shut down. They have begun to look for the food truck and plan for lunch there.
Another enterprising hot dog trailer owner set up shop near a stream of cars waiting to get tested for Covid-19. This has also proven to be successful. It’s American ingenuity at its most basic – find a need and meet it, just like the early purveyors. It’s an idea catching on nationally. Reitman recently offered the course of instruction in Florida.
As we propel headlong into a major recession and probably another major depression, what better time could there be to bring back the classic “Depression Dog?”
As a former theater critic for the North Loop News and a reviewer of local bars for Timeout Chicago, as well as an occasional beer writer for the Tribune Redeye, I love Chicago for all its quirky, out-of-the-way places, and its character — not to mention its characters. And hot dog stands. I’ve been a reporter, a dock worker, an advertising copywriter, an English teacher, and now — a hot dog blogger. Who would have figured? My partner in this endeavor is Hot-C, also a teacher — and a great wife. Get in touch: [email protected].
Show Me Chicago previews, reviews and expresses opinions on what’s happening in Chicago from Blockbuster Theater, to what’s new in dining, arts, and the neighborhoods.
During the pandemic, Jon Minnis built his own squat rack outside his house in Macomb. (Jon Minnis photo via Twitter)
Jon Minnis has owned his own athletic training business in Iowa, served in the Navy overseas and grew up in a small town in his home state.
Now, he’s back in Macomb for the second time.
Minnis, who has a master’s degree in kinesiology from WIU, returned in March to take over as the school’s director of strength and conditioning. He works closely with the football program and has a staff of three graduate assistants. During the pandemic, he built a squat rack in his backyard to enhance his own workouts while working virtually with WIU athletes.
Jon Minnis
In this edition of Prairie State Pigskin’s Moving the Chains, Minnis discusses how a Rocky movie help shape his career, the best attributes of his hometown of Morning Sun, Iowa, and the foods he would like all of his athletes to eat on a regular basis.
As a student, you earned your master’s degree at WIU. What drew you to Western and Macomb?
I’m from the Iowa City area and I knew about Western growing up and that they had a good football program. After the military, (I knew) Western had good veteran benefits and they work well with veterans. That appealed to me very much. Western’s kinesiology program is top notch.
What was attractive about coming back to Western as a strength and conditioning professional?
When I was here as a (graduate assistant coach), I absolutely loved it. The football coaching staff and the other staffs I worked with – women’s soccer, track and field, and men’s basketball – always made me feel like part of a family when I was here. It was so close knit and easy to get along with everybody. When the director position opened up and Coach (Jared) Elliott gave me a call, he asked me if I was interested. I said, ‘I’ll be there tomorrow.’ (Laughs) I was ready to go. This was absolutely where I wanted to be.
What are the most exciting things to do in your hometown of Morning Sun, Iowa?
Probably the most exciting thing is cow tipping. (Laughs) Morning Sun is a very small community. They’ve shut down their high school, which used to have a wrestling program that was absolutely top notch. For how small they were, they were a powerhouse in the state. Because of it’s size, everybody knows everybody. The big thing there is the Fourth of July celebrations. Come Fourth of July, the size of that town is 10 times what it normally is. Everybody comes back – the families, the school alumni. There’s a parade and fireworks. It’s a huge celebration.
My dad still lives there. He was actually the mayor there for a long time. He grew up there and has lived there all of his life.
During this unique time in college athletics with the COVID-19 pandemic, what have the challenges been in terms of keeping athletes on track with their workouts?
This is a whole new realm for every strength coach. I had the football team for a week, then we went on spring break and all of this happened. Luckily, I had a relationship with the majority of the team already. Some guys have full home gyms with everything they need, and other guys have nothing. So I put out a program of everything that we’d be doing in the weight room. I also sent out an alternate home program with body weight stuff (for guys with) minimal equipment. I made them as close as I could to each other. That was the biggest challenge. We didn’t want to overstimulate them to wear their immune system down. That’s a whole other challenge.
Between myself and my three assistants, we did weekly calls with everyone. We wanted to know how they were doing (with the program) and how their mental health was. That’s a big thing because it’s a stressful time. We also need to know about nutrition. Are they eating OK? We’ve learned from it.
Within the strength and conditioning community, networking has opened up like I’ve never seen. It’s very easy to reach out to other coaches at bigger and smaller schools and ask them what they’re doing. We’re all learning from each other. A lot of us are learning from Division III programs because they don’t get their players during the summer. It has opened up some new knowledge bases.
I played just about any sport I could figure out how to play. I was big into Little League baseball as a kid. In high school, I played football and I wrestled. I played baseball. Because Iowa (high schools) play baseball in the summer, I ran track for a couple of years (in the spring). I went on to college at played baseball (at NAIA Culver-Stockton College). I was a middle infielder, kind of a utility guy who played anywhere and everywhere they needed me.
How did your interest in strength and conditioning start?
That was a weird route. I grew up in the 1990s and it wasn’t as well known as it is now. I’ve always been infatuated with the process. A lot of strength coaches I know go back to the movie Rocky IV and the training montage. That’s something I remember as a kid. I always loved watching that stuff. It wasn’t about the big game. It was everything they were doing up to that moment – the training. I loved watching documentaries about that. When I first went into college, I didn’t know about the strength and conditioning field. When I was at Culver-Stockton, we had a football coach who did strength and conditioning, and I would peek in and shadow what he was doing. That got me interested.
Also during that time, the 9-11 terrorist attacks happened. So I made the decision to join the military and did some deployments. I continued to follow developments in strength and conditioning. I got out of the military in 2009 and just went from there.
I started out wanting to be a personal trainer. Then I wanted to train high school athletes. I was working for a high school as a strength coach and a wrestling coach. I opened my own facility (in Keokuk, Iowa) about 45 minutes from Macomb. It slowly evolved into getting my master’s degree and being a graduate assistant.
What did your time in the Navy teach you?
I learned a lot. There were basic things like the discipline to do things that need to be done and to deal with challenges. Obviously, there were different challenges on deployment and stateside, whether it was personal or as a unit. That’s the biggest one. From the lessons I’ve learned from my parents and being in the military, you take 5 minutes to cry about (a challenge) or whatever, and then you move on. Things that I pass on to athletes are things like being able to push yourself through physical roadblocks. When they’re training, you say, ‘I know it’s hard, but you can keep going and do the things you need to do.’
What are the three best foods for athletes to eat?
I’m a big red meat guy. I think red meat – whether it’s quality ground beef or steak – has to be in an athlete’s diet. You get certain vitamins and minerals from meat, along with protein. For a carb source, there’s white rice, which is very easily digested, or sweet potatoes. I absolutely love sweet potatoes. To be honest, I think that salt needs to be a priority. Not just table salt, but pink Himalayan salt or sea salt. It has electrolytes and sodium that you need.
What are three of the worst foods you don’t want your athletes to eat?
I tell my athletes, ‘Don’t eat what I usually eat.’ (laughs) I try not to demonize any foods because I think foods have their place. With a higher-level athlete, they can get away with eating some McDonald’s here and there or a Snickers bar. You look at (Olympic swimmer) Michael Phelps and his (highly publicized) diet. He was swimming six hours a day and burning all these calories. A lot of these athletes are doing the same thing. With college athletes, it’s hard enough to get them to eat in general, so I try not to demonize too many foods.
In every sport your staff works with, how different are the workouts?
We try to differ the workouts to some extent. One of the big reasons I like to do that is it makes each sport and those athletes feel special about their workout. You can train an athlete very similar. It’s what we call general physical preparation.
We want to make them stronger. We want to make them faster. We want to make them more explosive. You can do that in so many different ways. I want my assistants to have their own thought process.
Everything is based on whether they’re in season, out of season, or if they’re right after the season. We can also individualize it based on if a person is coming back from an injury. We have a base model and then it’s individualized beyond that.
What are your favorite spots on WIU’s campus?
I love Hanson Field. I love the way it’s set up. When I was a graduate student, I was a big fan of Malpass Library. It feels very homey. At that time, I lived 45 minutes away. So when I came to campus, I would just stay there for the day. It was easy for me to go to the library and find a nice, quiet spot. They had comfortable chairs, places with a lot of light and some places that were darker. I’d sit and study or listen to a podcast. That was a special place for me.
Who are the most inspirational people in your life?
My parents (Teresa and Bill) have always supported me in everything that I do. My dad helped me set up my business. My parents were 100% behind me when I went into the military. If it wasn’t for those two being behind me all the time — from the time I was a little kid and had some wild ideas … . They challenged me but were always behind me.
When you walk around campus, what’s playing in your headphones?
I’m not a big music guy, but I am a big podcast guy. There are a ton of good podcasts that I listen to. I like listening to (comedian) Joe Rogan’s podcast. (Retired Navy officer and author) Jocko Willink has a really good one that I like to listen to. When I was in the military, I was fortunate enough that we knew each other pretty well. There are a lot of good strength and conditioning podcasts as well. I try to be learning as much as I can while I’m relaxing.
What’s the biggest reward you get from your job?
Just helping the kids progress, whether that’s on the field or off the field. I’ve been involved with high school sports for the last 10 years, and then college as well.
As a high school wrestling coach, I had a couple of guys go Division I, which was fun. But it’s also the guys that go to technical school and bettered themselves and now are making great money and supporting their families (that I enjoy). I had several of my former athletes go into the military and are doing great things. It’s having the opportunity to guide them to something better in their lives. That’s the biggest reward for me.
Blog co-authors Barry Bottino and Dan Verdun bring years of experience covering collegiate athletics. Barry has covered college athletes for more than two decades in his “On Campus” column, which is published weekly by Shaw Media. Dan has written four books about the state’s football programs–“NIU Huskies Football” (released in 2013), “EIU Panthers Football (2014), “ISU Redbirds” (2016) and “SIU Salukis Football” (2017).
Show Me Chicago previews, reviews and expresses opinions on what’s happening in Chicago from Blockbuster Theater, to what’s new in dining, arts, and the neighborhoods.
I’m always interested in news about language. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has an intriguing newsletter called News Daily which occasionally looks at language in various subject headings. Today (July 17) it’s in Worklife, and the story (dated May 24, but in today’s newsletter) is “Why we’ve created new language for coronavirus.”(For the whole story, click here.)
It’s not all coining new words, as writer Christine Ro points out; it’s mostly using older words in a new light or just getting them out into that light. Still, all the new usage has been enough to cause an uscheduled update to the Oxford English Dictionary.
The only new word among all those new definitions and usages, Ro’s story notes, is COVID-19 itself.
Somewhere in the Imaginary Writers’ Room in my mind, I can hear a warm Scots voice saying “Elementary.”
I moved to Chicago from the south suburbs in 1986. I have diverse interests, but I love writing about what I’m interested in. Whether it’s a personal interest or part of my career, the correct words to get the idea across are important to me. I love words and languages — French and Scottish words enrich my American English. My career has included years as a journalist and years working in museums, and the two phases were united by telling stories. I’m serious about words and stories. So here I am, ready to tell stories about words and their languages.
Show Me Chicago previews, reviews and expresses opinions on what’s happening in Chicago from Blockbuster Theater, to what’s new in dining, arts, and the neighborhoods.
If you’ve ever seen Chicago ensemble Chandeliers, you’ve seen Scott McGaughey hunched behind a bunch of black boxes and patch cords. Chandeliers have long taken an ecumenical approach to electronic music, weaving together clattering drum programs, squelchy funk punctuations, and long, proggy melodies; the closest they get to a rule is that hardware, not software, determines the sounds. Synthesizers are also the dominant sound source on McGaughey’s first solo LP, but he’s swapped Chandeliers’ frequently lengthy jams for carefully layered constructions that sneak hints of complicated emotions into their catchy tunes. Jaunty piano stabs challenge the bubbly wistfulness of “Glass Bottom Boat,” and the slowed-down voices and sandwich-thick low notes of “DVD Menu” sink through ascending swirls like guilty memories of an afternoon that could’ve been spent more productively than clutching a remote control on the couch. “Passport” seems to accumulate force as one sequence of blips overtakes another and fading echoes spiral away from the core groove, so that the track’s development feels like a traveler picking up resolve with every step of a journey. Listening to You Don’t Need a Key to Leave is a bit like leafing through a stranger’s diary: it feels quite personal, but since the writer didn’t need to spell out all the action, you’re left guessing as to just what it’s about. v
Born in London to a Jamaican mother and a Greek father, singer and guitarist Lianne La Havas takes inspiration from both branches of her family tree and beyond, finessing diverse influences into charming, sophisticated, and often heady alt-pop. She made her full-length debut with 2012’s acoustic guitar-driven Is Your Love Big Enough? and then slipped into something more electric on her 2015 follow-up, Green & Gold. Her new self-titled album is the first she’s produced on her own with her band, and its songs of love, loss, and personal growth continue her eclectic pop streak–it’s accessible yet hard to pin down. On a synth-soaked cover of Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes,” watery keys break into an a cappella bridge, and the music builds into blissful alt-rock topped with La Havas’s hearty vocals. “Please Don’t Make Me Cry” channels 90s R&B with its slick, cinematic sound, moving between minimalist drums and sepia-toned acoustic guitar and waves of lushly layered vocal harmonies. On the breakup tale “Seven Times,” La Havas pairs danceable grooves with delicate, folky guitar and deceptively light-sounding lyrics about nonstop crying and praying. But by the record’s final track, “Sour Flour,” she’s overcome her heartbreak–its airy, complex instrumental rhythms and hand claps and her own little laugh signal that she’s moving into a new chapter of her life. v
ChicagoBulls (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
One of the latest reports regarding Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen and the new front office should have fans worried.
What a year for the Chicago Bulls. The entire NBA world was the first sport to be rocked by COVID-19 and thus the shutdowns began. But, for the Bulls, it’s been an especially eventful year.
The big changes came when both John Paxson and Gar Forman were forced out of their roles as vice president and general manager, respectively.
In came Arturas Karnisovas from the Denver Nuggets to take over Paxson’s role. He would be the main man in charge of basketball decisions going forward, and soon brought in Marc Eversley of the Philadelphia 76ers to be his GM.
The changes brought a breath of fresh air and positivity for fans who had endured the GarPax era for far too long. Finally, there was a sense of hope — hope for a different direction. Under Karnisovas, the Bulls could build a competitive team in the near future. After all, his specialty is in international scouting and also helped the Nuggets land a talent like Nikola Jokic.
The next step, ideally, would be for Karnisovas to find a new head coach. In fact, reports swirled for months that Jim Boylen was going to be replaced. There were even several outlets reporting the Bulls were interested in guys like Adrian Griffin and Ime Udoka as their front-runners.
But, what if all of this talk is for nothing? What if Karnisovas decides to roll with Boylen for next season and at least give him a shot?
RELATED PRODUCT
Chicago Bulls Reclining Chair Ornament
We have laughed at the rumors of Boylen believing he might stick around, but in his recent public comments regarding the new front office, we may have reason to be worried.
Jim Boylen believes the bond he’s forming with the #Bulls new front office is going really well
“I just like the fact that we have a relationship already. It’s never perfect. Nothing’s perfect. You just work at it. Tell the truth.” @WGNNewshttps://t.co/jf4TOepOhx
Boylen seems to think the relationship is “going really well” so far. As Bulls fans, we love to laugh at comments like this because Boylen just seems like a guy who is in his own world and really has no clue about what’s actually going on.
On the other hand, maybe we don’t really know what’s going on. After all, everything on fans’ minds is just speculation at this point. We don’t know what’s going on behind those closed doors. If Boylen’s words are to be trusted, though, fans should be a little worried.
“We communicate every day. I think they understand where we were, what we’re trying to get to. They’ve been very supportive and collaborative. It’s a process to build this team into what it can be. I just like the fact that we have a relationship already. It’s never perfect. Nothing’s perfect. You just work at it. Tell the truth. You get your guys to play hard. That’s what we’re trying to do.” (h/t NBC Sports)
By all accounts, this looks like a budding, healthy, professional relationship. But, how long will it last? The players clearly lost trust in Boylen and it was evident on the court; specifically Zach LaVine on multiple occasions.
If Boylen gets the keys to the car going forward, things are going to get worse before they get better. There is a very real world where Boylen coaches the Bulls for the 2020-2021 season, the team ends up with a top-five pick in the draft and Boylen gets canned.
If that’s the end game, and the Bulls also have a ton of money to spend in free agency on a max deal next summer, maybe fans can live with it. But, enduring Boylen for one more season is going to be yet another year of frustration and eye rolls.
1 comment