CHICAGO CARLESS

(Photo: Louis “Studs” Terkel, May 16, 1912 - October 31, 2008.)

Rest in peace, acclaimed Windy City author-activist-broadcast personality and media luminary Studs Terkel, who died today in his North Side home at the age of 96. A fellow former New Yorker, like me Studs never drove a car and once he got to Chicago never left, by dint of simple, deep love of this place and the people in it. This city–not to mention the Community Media Workshop Studs Terkel Awards–will never be the same without him.

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(Photo: What a difference–in downgraded hope–two years can make.)

During Election 2006, I had the good fortune to participate in 7 Days @ Minimum Wage, a video diary of working Americans struggling to keep their families afloat on minimum-wage pay. I interviewed Jessica, a single mom in Chicago. Her searing answers and barely contained sorrow made her, much to my surprise, the centerpiece of the entire project.

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The above ad, which speaks beautifully and mercilessly for itself, is why I early voted for Barack Obama. And why you should vote for him, too. You can also find the ad linked and described on this Huffington Post page.

Caribou Barbie, in the words of Columbia University professor xxxx xxxxxx you’re an “idiot wind”. You don’t have the experience or likely the intelligence to lead this country when (really, he’s ancient already, you know it’s when, not if) McCain drops dead in office. No matter how many times you wink and talk in circles to try and hide it.

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(Photo: Chicagoland’s best media guide, once again with words from Yours Truly!)

The following entry is cross-posted on my Huffington Post Chicago byline.

The media world as we know it has imploded in the past year, nowhere with a louder thud than right here in Chicago. Multiple bloodlettings at local print and broadcast outlets, not the least of which at the Chicago Tribune, have left the industry begging for mercy.

It’s into this maelstrom that Community Media Workshop, Chicago’s grassroots media-relations training shop (one of the few in the nation), this month releases the 18th edition of its annual media guide, Getting On the Air, Online & into Print.

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(Photo: The things your doctor doesn’t warn you about….)

There are many words that your doctor can probably go ahead and edit out of an oral report on your CT scan results. “Most likely benign” are not among them. Given the rigamarole and drang I went through that led up to the words being written, I felt I had earned hearing them.

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(Photo: I would risk an F5 for Karen Lim’s Little Hotties.)

Back in August, I discovered the best Asian hot wings in the city of Chicago, bar none. Namely, the ginger-garlic goodness of the lollipop-style “Little Hotties” at 18th Street’s Take Me Out. I sang their praises while running from a wall cloud. Then I mourned their closure after a major fire.

I have far happier news to report. Last week, Take Me Out co-owner Karen Lim emailed to to report the eatery will be back in business starting Saturday, October 18th. She’ll be celebrating by giving out free Little Hotties, and that’s reason enough to show up in my book. Read full coverage of Lim’s return in my recent Drive-Thru entry.

And if you havent ever had her wings, Saturday would be a great time to find out what you’ve been missing.

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(Photo: Intestinal health is nothing to sniff it.)

They say that with age comes wisdom. As a somewhat newly minted 38-year-old, I’d rather that someone had warned me about the constipation. It’s an open secret rarely considered by the young and guarded with glee by the over-40 set as they watch their age-advancing junior compatriots suffer through this startling realization: eventually, you’re only as young as your body lets you feel.

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