I understand you based it on reader input but I wish you’d made all of the food categories more general. I don’t think that eating a hot dog at one of those places is a “ quintessential “ Chicago experience. But eating a Chicago style dog is. (I’d also argue deep dish pizza but I hadn’t thought about food when the original question was posed).
The argument againt the Mayor started off by saying it was a big mistake to replace Dr Arawady (now, apparently canonised) and morphed into HOW the decision was communicated. The mistake, if it was one, was indisputably the Mayor's to make, but the manner was, apparently, oafish and a legitimate source of criticism. Just look at how the two are mixed in the many adverse comments you list.
I think the pro-Vallas, anti-CTU, Illinois Policy Bureau forces were poised to beat the Mayor up on every issue they could. He has given them an opportunity.
By the way, it has been said that everything in America was about race or money and, often, both.
Seriously? And on what other issues, actions has the "pro-Vallas, anti-CTU, Illinois Policy Bureau" cabal beaten up Mayor Johnson in his first 100 days? Perhaps I haven't been paying attention.
I didn't realize they've been colluding with each other to tarnish the yeoman efforts of Mayor Johnson to govern the city.
Just look at their Facebook page, Illinois Policy. The IPI has “beaten up” Mayor Johnson on an alleged failure to put forth a “serious” crime reduction plan, alleged failure to improve pension liabilities, alleged failure to improve the schools, the budget, yada, yada, yada in his first 100 days. IPI is basically an arm of the Republican Party.
perhaps you didn't read closely what i or Mr Gorman said. he referred to, and i reiterated, 'pro-Vallas, anti-CTU, Illinois Policy Bureau forces'. i don't need to defend the IPI - your opinions are yours, and i respect them. but does IPI represent the universe of 'pro-Vallas, anti-CTU forces'? i believe mayor johnson can be subject to constructive criticism, irrespective of the underlying political beliefs of the critic.
Interesting that the Bud Billikens parade was not listed. It is huge, goes back a long way and is a very unique Chicago event.
It sort of signals the start of the school year for Chicago kids.
Also eating pineapple pizza?? I think every tourist tour pushes deep dish Chicago pizza as the Chicago thing to do.
Finally visiting “gangster locations” was not mentioned - I think Chicago folks want to forget that part of their history. When I first came to Chicago many years ago I was told to take a gangster tour - get to know the city.
I still haven't done the gangster tour but want to . . . I've lived within 3 miles of Capone's grave for 13 years and still haven't visited that either.
Great Visual ToTWs this week - I had a hard time picking between the winner and the R2D2/Musk one. I would have thought the "Quintessential Chicago Things to Do" would have higher percentages for some of the activities. What does "pineapple on pizza" have anything to do with Chicago? I noted particularly that none of your suggestions included "attending a Sox game" or "eating deep dish pizza". "Eating at Superdawg" and "eating at Weiner Circle" probably would necessarily include "eating a Chicago-Style Hot Dog", but that should have been a specific call out. Back when floor trading still existed, seeing floor trading at the CBOT or CBOE would have been on the list. (But I am dating myself.) Going to the Art Institute of Chicago not on the list?
I voted but was sorry the choice for attending Second City didn’t appear on my list as I would have chosen it. I agree with others that Chicago style pizza was missing, as were The Art Institute and the Museum of Science and Industry, and pineapple on pizza was a wasted option.
Definitely Museum of Science and Industry should be on the list. (BTW, I didn't know until this year - and haven't definitely confirmed - that the baby chicks that are hatched there each week are re-purposed as food for carnivores at the Lincoln Park Zoo!)
There are a ton of hot dog places that are just fine. Going to those 2 works if you happen to be near them, otherwise go to another one. As far as I'm concerned, the quintessential Chicago hot dog has anything but ketchup on it.
That’s a really interesting possibility. It’s easy to imagine it could be true or false. If true, it is very understandable that neither venue publicizes it.
My favorite Chicago experiences were spending the day on Promontory Point barbecuing and then watching the July fireworks, and dancing under the stars at the Chicago Summer Dance. But I don’t think either of them qualify as a quintessential Chicago experience.
Regarding Mayor Brandon Johnson’s firing of Dr. Alison Arwady... people need only look at the documentary “LOCAL 1: THE RISE OF AMERICA’S MOST POWERFUL TEACHERS UNION” to see CTU's work to create a mayor that won by 16K votes.
That movie was made by the Illinois Policy Institute, an extremely conservative policy institute which received financial support from charitable foundations associated with the Koch, Mercer, Uihlein, and Rauner families. Uihlein and Rauner both worked hard, unsuccessfully thank goodness, to make Illinois a low tax, low wage, anti-union “right-to-work” haven for billionaire entrepreneurs, like Indiana and Scott Walker’s Wisconsin. I think any “documentary” about a labor union produced by the Illinois Policy Institute should be taken with more than a grain of salt--more like a block of salt.
The film is worth a watch DancesWithDogs. Why should lefties watch a documentary produced by IPI? They should because it's about the battle over education & power between democrats. Conservatives don't make an appearance. This is the Duncan, Obama, Emmanuel, Lightfoot, etc. wing vs. the far left wing. It helps explain why CPS enrollment is dwindling, and why republicans continue to win elections despite being written off a few years ago.
The problem, just like most 'documentaries', is that it interviews a few people, then extrapolates. Most CPS teachers and parents are caught somewhere in the middle. It would have been less biased to include more of them.
I have yet to see a point-by-point rebuttal to this documentary, which my fellow Mincing Rascal Austin Berg at the Illinois Policy Institute had a hand in. It's not enough to huff that it's an IPI production and the IPI hates public sector unions and therefore their critiques aren't valid. That's lazy. There is certainly some good history in the documentary and, again, I"d be happy to post a link to a direct rebuttal if anyone knows of one.
I think it’s entirely appropriate to consider the source of any documentary. The Illinois Policy Institute is a far right conservative think tank. It’s not the Better Government Association. I wouldn’t expect a documentary produced by IPI to be a fair and balanced examination of the facts any more than I would expect fair and balanced reporting from one of Dan Proft’s fake newspapers. There’s a reason I subscribe to the Washington Post and not the Washington Times. Media Bias Fact Check gives the Illinois Policy Institute a rating between Right Center and Right and only a “Mostly Factual” rating, stating about media sources in its category, “These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using an appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information that may damage conservative causes.”
Eric should be ashamed of himself. The picture of the church with the caption about God is not funny and is offensive. I'm glad the church survived the fires. Now ask the people whose loved ones died and all the property owners that lost everything how they feel about the way they were treated by God. God had nothing to do with the saving of the church.
Yes, the point made by Betty Bowers, who posted the image, was that "thanking God for sparing you in a natural disaster is a bit like sending a thank you note to a serial killer for stabbing the family next door."
Traffic Court. "Picasso'" sliding. Goodman's 'Christmas Carol' & Christkindlmarket. Old Town School class/event ('Songs of Good Cheer'?). "Opa!" at Athena's or Greek Islands. Big lunch at Manny's or steam table at Valois. Jazz Showcase. Fried seafood under the Skyway at Calumet Fisheries. Berghoff and Italian Village....
Aug 22, 2023·edited Aug 22, 2023Liked by Eric Zorn
I misunderstood, thinking you wanted a list of what I have not done. Chicago has many quintessential experiences, many listed. Missing: drive Lake Shore Drive and drive Lower Wacker; neighborhoods; attend neighborhood festivals; enjoying ethnic food; Marshall Field's holiday windows; walk the Loop & Mag Mile when it's snowing; walk or bike the lakefront; ride the el; Frango Mints (or other favorite candy, which for me is Vosges); have a favorite local restaurant; Mario's Italian Lemonade; Manny's; Valois; bookstores in Hyde Park; holiday concerts; nitrates; gospel music. All Chicago's great museums combined, together with the performing arts, make up a huge part of what makes Chicago great. Reading a daily newspaper might have qualified once upon a time. I would not consider Lollapalooza, invented elsewhere, as quintessentially Chicago. And pineapple pizza? Did Zorn add that as a red herring just to see if people were actually reading?
I didn't add pineapple pizza.. several readers suggested it. I'd never had pineapple on a pizza until I came to Chicago. I do not consider it an abomination, nor is it my go-to order.
Pineapple on Pizza is NOT Chicagoan, it is Californian. Should not have been on the list. Instead what should have been was a Chicago style hot dog, Maxwell St, Polish, Italian Beef, a Deep Dish pizza restaurant,, and a Chicago style diner with the preceding dishes. There is a Milwaukee diner that advertises itself as a Chicago style diner serving all the Chicago dishes, plus bratwurst for the local folks.
I understand you based it on reader input but I wish you’d made all of the food categories more general. I don’t think that eating a hot dog at one of those places is a “ quintessential “ Chicago experience. But eating a Chicago style dog is. (I’d also argue deep dish pizza but I hadn’t thought about food when the original question was posed).
The argument againt the Mayor started off by saying it was a big mistake to replace Dr Arawady (now, apparently canonised) and morphed into HOW the decision was communicated. The mistake, if it was one, was indisputably the Mayor's to make, but the manner was, apparently, oafish and a legitimate source of criticism. Just look at how the two are mixed in the many adverse comments you list.
I think the pro-Vallas, anti-CTU, Illinois Policy Bureau forces were poised to beat the Mayor up on every issue they could. He has given them an opportunity.
By the way, it has been said that everything in America was about race or money and, often, both.
Seriously? And on what other issues, actions has the "pro-Vallas, anti-CTU, Illinois Policy Bureau" cabal beaten up Mayor Johnson in his first 100 days? Perhaps I haven't been paying attention.
I didn't realize they've been colluding with each other to tarnish the yeoman efforts of Mayor Johnson to govern the city.
Just look at their Facebook page, Illinois Policy. The IPI has “beaten up” Mayor Johnson on an alleged failure to put forth a “serious” crime reduction plan, alleged failure to improve pension liabilities, alleged failure to improve the schools, the budget, yada, yada, yada in his first 100 days. IPI is basically an arm of the Republican Party.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/brandon-johnsons-first-100-days/
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/vallas-after-100-days-trying-to-make-sense-of-johnsons-plans-for-chicago/
perhaps you didn't read closely what i or Mr Gorman said. he referred to, and i reiterated, 'pro-Vallas, anti-CTU, Illinois Policy Bureau forces'. i don't need to defend the IPI - your opinions are yours, and i respect them. but does IPI represent the universe of 'pro-Vallas, anti-CTU forces'? i believe mayor johnson can be subject to constructive criticism, irrespective of the underlying political beliefs of the critic.
I can’t believe that shopping along Michigan avenue and eating Chicago style pizza was not on the list for must-do Chicago experiences!
Yes. Why was pineapple pizza on the list, but ‘real’ Chicago pizza not.
The list only includes things people said they hadn't done. Nobody hasn't had a Chicago-style pizza or shopped along Michigan Avenue.
Interesting that the Bud Billikens parade was not listed. It is huge, goes back a long way and is a very unique Chicago event.
It sort of signals the start of the school year for Chicago kids.
Also eating pineapple pizza?? I think every tourist tour pushes deep dish Chicago pizza as the Chicago thing to do.
Finally visiting “gangster locations” was not mentioned - I think Chicago folks want to forget that part of their history. When I first came to Chicago many years ago I was told to take a gangster tour - get to know the city.
I still haven't done the gangster tour but want to . . . I've lived within 3 miles of Capone's grave for 13 years and still haven't visited that either.
As another columnist, Neil Steinberg, wrote about early this year,
a better trip is the Bronzeville tour which I highly recommend.
https://www.chicagomahogany.com/service-page/bronzeville-tour
Read a great quote elsewhere (sorry, don't know the author)"Jesus couldn't win the Republican primary."
The "Putin on the Ritz" visual tweet isn't labeled or credited to the contributor.
There are so many variations on this joke that I couldn’t credit it to anyone in particular. https://www.talkceltic.net/forums/threads/putin-on-the-ritz.137422/
Of course, I'm so slow; I didn't get it
until I saw the list to vote on your favorite.
Thanks for your work.
Thank you! I did not get that one until you spelled it out for me. Now I have an earworm.
I thought it was "Everything is better when it's sitting on a Ritz"... Don't know that this would be true of Putin.
Best crop of visual tweets ever! The Thursday crowd will miss out as they only get one of them.
Maybe not the best - but at least pretty darn close.
Great Visual ToTWs this week - I had a hard time picking between the winner and the R2D2/Musk one. I would have thought the "Quintessential Chicago Things to Do" would have higher percentages for some of the activities. What does "pineapple on pizza" have anything to do with Chicago? I noted particularly that none of your suggestions included "attending a Sox game" or "eating deep dish pizza". "Eating at Superdawg" and "eating at Weiner Circle" probably would necessarily include "eating a Chicago-Style Hot Dog", but that should have been a specific call out. Back when floor trading still existed, seeing floor trading at the CBOT or CBOE would have been on the list. (But I am dating myself.) Going to the Art Institute of Chicago not on the list?
I voted but was sorry the choice for attending Second City didn’t appear on my list as I would have chosen it. I agree with others that Chicago style pizza was missing, as were The Art Institute and the Museum of Science and Industry, and pineapple on pizza was a wasted option.
Definitely Museum of Science and Industry should be on the list. (BTW, I didn't know until this year - and haven't definitely confirmed - that the baby chicks that are hatched there each week are re-purposed as food for carnivores at the Lincoln Park Zoo!)
There are a ton of hot dog places that are just fine. Going to those 2 works if you happen to be near them, otherwise go to another one. As far as I'm concerned, the quintessential Chicago hot dog has anything but ketchup on it.
That’s a really interesting possibility. It’s easy to imagine it could be true or false. If true, it is very understandable that neither venue publicizes it.
"Amen!" on "no ketchup"😖
My favorite Chicago experiences were spending the day on Promontory Point barbecuing and then watching the July fireworks, and dancing under the stars at the Chicago Summer Dance. But I don’t think either of them qualify as a quintessential Chicago experience.
Au contraire, I think spending a summer day outside by the lake is very Chicago.
Regarding Mayor Brandon Johnson’s firing of Dr. Alison Arwady... people need only look at the documentary “LOCAL 1: THE RISE OF AMERICA’S MOST POWERFUL TEACHERS UNION” to see CTU's work to create a mayor that won by 16K votes.
That movie was made by the Illinois Policy Institute, an extremely conservative policy institute which received financial support from charitable foundations associated with the Koch, Mercer, Uihlein, and Rauner families. Uihlein and Rauner both worked hard, unsuccessfully thank goodness, to make Illinois a low tax, low wage, anti-union “right-to-work” haven for billionaire entrepreneurs, like Indiana and Scott Walker’s Wisconsin. I think any “documentary” about a labor union produced by the Illinois Policy Institute should be taken with more than a grain of salt--more like a block of salt.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Policy_Institute#:~:text=IPI%20has%20received%20financial%20support,%2C%20Uihlein%2C%20and%20Rauner%20families.
Or completely ignored as pure propaganda..
The film is worth a watch DancesWithDogs. Why should lefties watch a documentary produced by IPI? They should because it's about the battle over education & power between democrats. Conservatives don't make an appearance. This is the Duncan, Obama, Emmanuel, Lightfoot, etc. wing vs. the far left wing. It helps explain why CPS enrollment is dwindling, and why republicans continue to win elections despite being written off a few years ago.
The problem, just like most 'documentaries', is that it interviews a few people, then extrapolates. Most CPS teachers and parents are caught somewhere in the middle. It would have been less biased to include more of them.
I have yet to see a point-by-point rebuttal to this documentary, which my fellow Mincing Rascal Austin Berg at the Illinois Policy Institute had a hand in. It's not enough to huff that it's an IPI production and the IPI hates public sector unions and therefore their critiques aren't valid. That's lazy. There is certainly some good history in the documentary and, again, I"d be happy to post a link to a direct rebuttal if anyone knows of one.
Thanks for standing up for integrity in criticism, EZ - one of the things you're particularly good at.
I think it’s entirely appropriate to consider the source of any documentary. The Illinois Policy Institute is a far right conservative think tank. It’s not the Better Government Association. I wouldn’t expect a documentary produced by IPI to be a fair and balanced examination of the facts any more than I would expect fair and balanced reporting from one of Dan Proft’s fake newspapers. There’s a reason I subscribe to the Washington Post and not the Washington Times. Media Bias Fact Check gives the Illinois Policy Institute a rating between Right Center and Right and only a “Mostly Factual” rating, stating about media sources in its category, “These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using an appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information that may damage conservative causes.”
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/illinois-policy-institute/
Eric should be ashamed of himself. The picture of the church with the caption about God is not funny and is offensive. I'm glad the church survived the fires. Now ask the people whose loved ones died and all the property owners that lost everything how they feel about the way they were treated by God. God had nothing to do with the saving of the church.
"God had nothing to do with the saving of the church" - that's kind of the point, isn't it?
Yes, the point made by Betty Bowers, who posted the image, was that "thanking God for sparing you in a natural disaster is a bit like sending a thank you note to a serial killer for stabbing the family next door."
Quintessential Chicago:
Traffic Court. "Picasso'" sliding. Goodman's 'Christmas Carol' & Christkindlmarket. Old Town School class/event ('Songs of Good Cheer'?). "Opa!" at Athena's or Greek Islands. Big lunch at Manny's or steam table at Valois. Jazz Showcase. Fried seafood under the Skyway at Calumet Fisheries. Berghoff and Italian Village....
Good memories in that list.
I misunderstood, thinking you wanted a list of what I have not done. Chicago has many quintessential experiences, many listed. Missing: drive Lake Shore Drive and drive Lower Wacker; neighborhoods; attend neighborhood festivals; enjoying ethnic food; Marshall Field's holiday windows; walk the Loop & Mag Mile when it's snowing; walk or bike the lakefront; ride the el; Frango Mints (or other favorite candy, which for me is Vosges); have a favorite local restaurant; Mario's Italian Lemonade; Manny's; Valois; bookstores in Hyde Park; holiday concerts; nitrates; gospel music. All Chicago's great museums combined, together with the performing arts, make up a huge part of what makes Chicago great. Reading a daily newspaper might have qualified once upon a time. I would not consider Lollapalooza, invented elsewhere, as quintessentially Chicago. And pineapple pizza? Did Zorn add that as a red herring just to see if people were actually reading?
I didn't add pineapple pizza.. several readers suggested it. I'd never had pineapple on a pizza until I came to Chicago. I do not consider it an abomination, nor is it my go-to order.
Pineapple on Pizza is NOT Chicagoan, it is Californian. Should not have been on the list. Instead what should have been was a Chicago style hot dog, Maxwell St, Polish, Italian Beef, a Deep Dish pizza restaurant,, and a Chicago style diner with the preceding dishes. There is a Milwaukee diner that advertises itself as a Chicago style diner serving all the Chicago dishes, plus bratwurst for the local folks.