Thanks to all who read this short-lived blog. I really appreciate the kind words and support that I received from so many of you. I think this was a little too ambitious of a project. I used to do a music blog called "The Hidden Chord", which was maybe a bit to grandious in its scope, so it too fell by the wayside. Truthfully, I came up with this concept in order to help my buddy P.M. Scales by reviewing his new record. I thought maybe I could expand it, but the City of Chicago is quite a daunting subject to try to take on. A little focus may have helped. Say, Chicago restaurants, or Chicago music. But even that can be further broken down into categories a-plenty.
And I'll preface this next paragraph by saying the following: Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Chicago and am extremely proud to live here and raise my son here. However...I've been here a long time and may be feeling a little bit of Windy City Fatigue. Granted, after that interesting little winter we had, I'd say 90% of the population of the city is probably feeling the same way. Amnesia has yet to set in. Especially when it's still barely over 40 degrees outside, like it is today! The truth of the matter is I'd probably move away for awhile if I could. Austin, TX is always appealing. My new locale to yearn for, from many a mile away, is Napa, CA. If I did get a chance to move to either of those places, I'd probably miss Chicago, though. Maybe not at first, but I can see it happening. My point is that writing about a place that you're a little worn out from is probably not realistic. I do love it, but we need to give each other a little space, Chicago and I.
Despite the false start of this blogging project, I plan to try again. I'm a writer. It's what I do. My trip to Napa and my progression into the beverage industry has inspired me to go down the wine blogging road. I'm going to do some planning before I launch into it, but I'll give you some of my raw thoughts concerning this idea. There are a lot of people writing about wine and tasting wine and scoring wine on that god-awful 100 point system, but I really don't get the impression that a lot of people are actually having FUN with wine! American wine culture, as seen through the "big picture" lens at least, is very inaccessible, snobbish, and unappealing to the greater public at large. This is too bad. It doesn't have to be this way and it really SHOULDN'T be this way. Wine's a great drink and is even greater in the company of people who fully embrace the notion, controversial as it may be to some, that anyone can enjoy it, whether you've studied for 10 years or 10 minutes.
I plan on bothering some friends, fair warning here people, about helping me out with a podcast as well. Hopefully video, but we'll see. The whole premise will be a very simple one: Wine is fun. I plan on making it into something that's enjoyable for me to write and hopefully enjoyable for you to read as well. Maybe there'll be some tasting, maybe some exploration of wine stores and wine bars. I really want to do some real journalism as well and interview some people on how they are making wine more accesible and fun. I plan on delving into the world of Illinois wines as well. It's something I know very little about, but I know there is such a thing and would like to know more. I mean, obviously no one will confuse Southern Illinois with Northern California, but still, I know there's got to be some good grape juice from my home state as well!
So that's my thought process moving forward. Once again, thank you all so much for following me and reading my posts. I hope you'll join me in my next venture.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
A Supremely Biased Rant on Education
First of all, I'd like to clarify that I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be a pro football prognosticator. At least not a successful one, as evidenced by my woeful prediction of Bears vs. Jets in the Super Bowl. I will point out, though, that I predicted the Bears would get 14 points, which in fact they did. The Packers got just a few more than my predicted 10, unfortunately, leading to the derailment of the Bears Super Bowl Express. At least we have the Bulls.
But today I'm not going to speak about sports, as much as I could, and as much as I'd often like to considering how nice it is to concentrate on the mindless joy of being a fan, as opposed to the often disheartening reality of the world around us. But believe it or not, there are more important things than sports.
I was caught by two things President Obama said in the State of the Union address, earlier in the week. The first, is a nice segue from the topic of sports to the topic of education. The quote was as follows:
"We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline."
Absolutely. We live in a time where not only is celebrity and fame celebrated, it is almost expected. Reality TV gives the impression, that not only can you be a celebrity, but you should be. And if you're not, you're nobody. Just watch 10 minutes of any American Idol open audition and you see the consequences of this outlook. Hopeful kids have been so pumped up on the "You're capable of anything!" mantra that they don't realize just how terrible they really are. Or if not terrible, just mediocre. That should be okay, but in our culture, if you can't play a sport, sing, be on TV, then you're somehow "less". Or worse, you humiliate yourself trying and become a national punchline. Or maybe even worse, by a fluke, (see Antoine Dodson, the "Bed Intruder" guy), you become a You Tube sensation and now think you have found your "in". Sorry, but the public's attention span grows shorter by the moment. It's not 15 minutes of fame anymore. If you even get it, it's probably more like two minutes, if you're lucky. And that's what fame is really about: luck. That or freakish amounts of talent. You might be able to shoot a jumpshot or make a layup, or even dunk a basketball, but you're probably no Derrick Rose. You might be able to get rousing applause in your community theater troupe, but very few actors are Meryl Streep or Robert DeNiro. Not to say one shouldn't try if they're passionate about it, but at the same time, one should know their limitations and the grand unlikelihood of fame.
Here's the second quote that caught my attention in the State of the Union address:
"In South Korea, teachers are known as "nation builders." Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect."
This ties in with the first quote, but I'll get to that in just a moment.
I used to be a teacher, so I can say from first-hand experience, that teaching is a tough gig. There's a large segment of the population who seem to think otherwise. But let me tell you, it's exhausting. It's mentally and emotionally taxing. There's always a new mandate delivered from the top down. You have to be doing this, this, and this in your classroom and teaching this particular thing because it'll help test scores and because the board says so, even though, it may make no particular sense to you as the person in the classroom day-in and day-out. The majority of your instructional time is often lost to disciplining unruly students. It is often heartbreaking, as one day you see the "difficult student" making progress, the next day, five of your sixth grade students get suspended for suspected gang activity, which is something I faced in my last year as a regular classroom teacher.
I get really tired when people make generalizations about how many bad teachers there are or how it's a cushy job because of the summers off. Sure, there are plenty of bad teachers and/or ineffective teachers. Some shouldn't be doing it. I'll count myself as one of those, which is one of the reasons I left (there were other reasons, but I'll leave that for a separate blog entry). Some do stay in the field far beyond the point of burnout and it's sad not only for the students who have to put up with this, but for the teacher himself/herself, who probably came in to the profession with high hopes.
And now I'll bring this little rant back to Chicago, since this is supposedly a Chicago-centric blog. Teachers at Chicago Public School have to put up with these types of negative generalizations all of the time. And, as I eluded to before, some of it is not unfounded criticism, but much of it is. In Chicago, supposedly, you have a handful of "good schools" and a whole lot of "bad schools". Parents clamor desperately to get their kids into the Whitney Young's and Northside Prep's, which are undoubtedly excellent schools, but in the process, certain neighborhood schools, who may be doing a lot with a little, get unfairly branded as being inferior.
Let me give you a personal example. My son is a kindergartner in Chicago Public Schools. Before the school-year began, I still lived in the Lakeview neighborhood and was encouraged to enroll my son at Blaine Elementary because of it's glowing reputation, many partnerships with various arts organizations and sports teams (their artificial turf field was made possible in part by the Chicago Cubs organization), and a multitude of other reasons as well. His mom and I enrolled him into the kindergarten program, but soon ran into a couple of issues.
First, we were told that because of lack of funding for the kindergarten program, he'd most likely be in a classroom of around 35 kids. Yikes. Studies are pretty clear on this. Especially for the primary grades, any time you go over 25, instruction suffers greatly.
Second, because of said funding issues and the high expectations of Blaine parents, each parent was asked to contribute $2000 out of pocket, as an "at-will donation". This is supposedly free public education, mind you. And though no one could force us to make this donation, it was pretty clear there was an expectation.
After thinking long and hard about this, his mom and I decided to check out the local school in her neighborhood, Stockton Elementary. We hadn't heard anything bad about Stockton, but we hadn't heard any type of Blaine-esque reviews either. I took a tour, and thought, "Well, I'm not bowled over, but there are no particular red flags either". In the end, somewhat skeptically, we enrolled our son at Stockton.
Yet nearly halfway through the school-year I can tell you with no amount of skepticism at all, that my son's teacher is an outstanding teacher and the school on the whole does a fabulous job. My son loves school and is in a school environment that is both nurturing and filled with high expectations. I honestly don't know if he'd be getting that at the "good" school. There's not as much parent involvement, unfortunately, at Stockton as there is at Blaine, and unfortunately, the school-year has been plagued by neighborhood violence that has affected students and their families directly. Despite these challenges, though, they keep pushing forward with an immensely talented administration and staff.
What's my point exactly? My point is that I hope one day education will be as truly valued as it should be. I hope that schools like Stockton and other overlooked neighborhood schools get their rightful due. I hope that teachers like Miss Cullen, my son's teacher, get the proper support and respect that they deserve, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because we need people like this for society's sake.
What I REALLY hope for too, especially with an election that is less than a month a way, is that the leaders we elect, not just on a national level, but on the oh-so-important-but-often-overlooked local level, understand the need to support teachers, not constantly criticize them. They need resources and political leaders who can galvanize communities, not divide them. Chicago will have a new mayor and several new aldermen and hopefully they will be able to help drive the discussion of education in the right direction.
I'm an idealist. I've grown a little weary with age, but I maintain a lot of idealism, for better or worse. I believe in things like education and community and the possibilities inherent within them. There is of course personal responsibility, which is something not government, nor school boards, nor community organizations can dictate. A child's parent is their first, and by far, most important teacher. And I don't say this to try to paint myself as parent of the year or something, but clearly there are some parents that put their kids at a horrible disadvantage from day one of their school careers. Because of this, it's often an uphill battle for even the best teachers.
That being said, though, I think it's time we as a society not just pay lip service to the importance of education, but really start to show it with action. It could be a simple as voting for candidates who have the best plans for moving education forward or as involved as running for local school council.
I know I'm biased. Hey, I warned you. I have a child and am a former educator so I feel strongly about these things. Maybe you don't believe in voting and think children are hideous little beasts. You have the right to think that. But at the very, very, VERY least, to those who want to paint broad generalizations about the Chicago Public School system or educators anywhere, know that for every bad/lazy teacher, I guarantee you there are ten dedicated, tireless advocates for not just the well being of the individual children in their classrooms, but for the future of this nation. Our country on the whole will be a better place when we realize this and act accordingly to support them.
So next Sunday as millions of us, myself included, ingest copious amounts of beer and snacks in the name of freakishly talented athletes, let us not forget about the regular people like my son's teacher who dedicate their lives to making their communities and the world on the whole, a better place. Hopefully one day their contribution will be valued just as much as the ability to throw a perfect spiral. These people are the ones the youth of America should aspire to become.
But today I'm not going to speak about sports, as much as I could, and as much as I'd often like to considering how nice it is to concentrate on the mindless joy of being a fan, as opposed to the often disheartening reality of the world around us. But believe it or not, there are more important things than sports.
I was caught by two things President Obama said in the State of the Union address, earlier in the week. The first, is a nice segue from the topic of sports to the topic of education. The quote was as follows:
"We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline."
Absolutely. We live in a time where not only is celebrity and fame celebrated, it is almost expected. Reality TV gives the impression, that not only can you be a celebrity, but you should be. And if you're not, you're nobody. Just watch 10 minutes of any American Idol open audition and you see the consequences of this outlook. Hopeful kids have been so pumped up on the "You're capable of anything!" mantra that they don't realize just how terrible they really are. Or if not terrible, just mediocre. That should be okay, but in our culture, if you can't play a sport, sing, be on TV, then you're somehow "less". Or worse, you humiliate yourself trying and become a national punchline. Or maybe even worse, by a fluke, (see Antoine Dodson, the "Bed Intruder" guy), you become a You Tube sensation and now think you have found your "in". Sorry, but the public's attention span grows shorter by the moment. It's not 15 minutes of fame anymore. If you even get it, it's probably more like two minutes, if you're lucky. And that's what fame is really about: luck. That or freakish amounts of talent. You might be able to shoot a jumpshot or make a layup, or even dunk a basketball, but you're probably no Derrick Rose. You might be able to get rousing applause in your community theater troupe, but very few actors are Meryl Streep or Robert DeNiro. Not to say one shouldn't try if they're passionate about it, but at the same time, one should know their limitations and the grand unlikelihood of fame.
Here's the second quote that caught my attention in the State of the Union address:
"In South Korea, teachers are known as "nation builders." Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect."
This ties in with the first quote, but I'll get to that in just a moment.
I used to be a teacher, so I can say from first-hand experience, that teaching is a tough gig. There's a large segment of the population who seem to think otherwise. But let me tell you, it's exhausting. It's mentally and emotionally taxing. There's always a new mandate delivered from the top down. You have to be doing this, this, and this in your classroom and teaching this particular thing because it'll help test scores and because the board says so, even though, it may make no particular sense to you as the person in the classroom day-in and day-out. The majority of your instructional time is often lost to disciplining unruly students. It is often heartbreaking, as one day you see the "difficult student" making progress, the next day, five of your sixth grade students get suspended for suspected gang activity, which is something I faced in my last year as a regular classroom teacher.
I get really tired when people make generalizations about how many bad teachers there are or how it's a cushy job because of the summers off. Sure, there are plenty of bad teachers and/or ineffective teachers. Some shouldn't be doing it. I'll count myself as one of those, which is one of the reasons I left (there were other reasons, but I'll leave that for a separate blog entry). Some do stay in the field far beyond the point of burnout and it's sad not only for the students who have to put up with this, but for the teacher himself/herself, who probably came in to the profession with high hopes.
And now I'll bring this little rant back to Chicago, since this is supposedly a Chicago-centric blog. Teachers at Chicago Public School have to put up with these types of negative generalizations all of the time. And, as I eluded to before, some of it is not unfounded criticism, but much of it is. In Chicago, supposedly, you have a handful of "good schools" and a whole lot of "bad schools". Parents clamor desperately to get their kids into the Whitney Young's and Northside Prep's, which are undoubtedly excellent schools, but in the process, certain neighborhood schools, who may be doing a lot with a little, get unfairly branded as being inferior.
Let me give you a personal example. My son is a kindergartner in Chicago Public Schools. Before the school-year began, I still lived in the Lakeview neighborhood and was encouraged to enroll my son at Blaine Elementary because of it's glowing reputation, many partnerships with various arts organizations and sports teams (their artificial turf field was made possible in part by the Chicago Cubs organization), and a multitude of other reasons as well. His mom and I enrolled him into the kindergarten program, but soon ran into a couple of issues.
First, we were told that because of lack of funding for the kindergarten program, he'd most likely be in a classroom of around 35 kids. Yikes. Studies are pretty clear on this. Especially for the primary grades, any time you go over 25, instruction suffers greatly.
Second, because of said funding issues and the high expectations of Blaine parents, each parent was asked to contribute $2000 out of pocket, as an "at-will donation". This is supposedly free public education, mind you. And though no one could force us to make this donation, it was pretty clear there was an expectation.
After thinking long and hard about this, his mom and I decided to check out the local school in her neighborhood, Stockton Elementary. We hadn't heard anything bad about Stockton, but we hadn't heard any type of Blaine-esque reviews either. I took a tour, and thought, "Well, I'm not bowled over, but there are no particular red flags either". In the end, somewhat skeptically, we enrolled our son at Stockton.
Yet nearly halfway through the school-year I can tell you with no amount of skepticism at all, that my son's teacher is an outstanding teacher and the school on the whole does a fabulous job. My son loves school and is in a school environment that is both nurturing and filled with high expectations. I honestly don't know if he'd be getting that at the "good" school. There's not as much parent involvement, unfortunately, at Stockton as there is at Blaine, and unfortunately, the school-year has been plagued by neighborhood violence that has affected students and their families directly. Despite these challenges, though, they keep pushing forward with an immensely talented administration and staff.
What's my point exactly? My point is that I hope one day education will be as truly valued as it should be. I hope that schools like Stockton and other overlooked neighborhood schools get their rightful due. I hope that teachers like Miss Cullen, my son's teacher, get the proper support and respect that they deserve, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because we need people like this for society's sake.
What I REALLY hope for too, especially with an election that is less than a month a way, is that the leaders we elect, not just on a national level, but on the oh-so-important-but-often-overlooked local level, understand the need to support teachers, not constantly criticize them. They need resources and political leaders who can galvanize communities, not divide them. Chicago will have a new mayor and several new aldermen and hopefully they will be able to help drive the discussion of education in the right direction.
I'm an idealist. I've grown a little weary with age, but I maintain a lot of idealism, for better or worse. I believe in things like education and community and the possibilities inherent within them. There is of course personal responsibility, which is something not government, nor school boards, nor community organizations can dictate. A child's parent is their first, and by far, most important teacher. And I don't say this to try to paint myself as parent of the year or something, but clearly there are some parents that put their kids at a horrible disadvantage from day one of their school careers. Because of this, it's often an uphill battle for even the best teachers.
That being said, though, I think it's time we as a society not just pay lip service to the importance of education, but really start to show it with action. It could be a simple as voting for candidates who have the best plans for moving education forward or as involved as running for local school council.
I know I'm biased. Hey, I warned you. I have a child and am a former educator so I feel strongly about these things. Maybe you don't believe in voting and think children are hideous little beasts. You have the right to think that. But at the very, very, VERY least, to those who want to paint broad generalizations about the Chicago Public School system or educators anywhere, know that for every bad/lazy teacher, I guarantee you there are ten dedicated, tireless advocates for not just the well being of the individual children in their classrooms, but for the future of this nation. Our country on the whole will be a better place when we realize this and act accordingly to support them.
So next Sunday as millions of us, myself included, ingest copious amounts of beer and snacks in the name of freakishly talented athletes, let us not forget about the regular people like my son's teacher who dedicate their lives to making their communities and the world on the whole, a better place. Hopefully one day their contribution will be valued just as much as the ability to throw a perfect spiral. These people are the ones the youth of America should aspire to become.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Warning: Bear fever is extremely contagious
This Sunday, bitter rivals collide, as the Monsters of the Midway, host Aaron Rodgers and the Pack in a showdown so monumentally epic that the UFO that landed on Soldier Field a few years back may just collapse from the weight of the hype alone, leaving only the faint aroma of beer, grilled meats, and charred foam cheese-heads. Oh it's gonna be big. Some are calling it the greatest football game ever to be played in Chicago. I'm sure the scalpers who are trying to charge thousands of dollars for tickets want you to believe this at least. My prediction Bearssss by 200 as William "The Refrigerator" Perry comes out of retirement to not only run for two touchdowns, but also throw two touchdown passes, one to an also un-retired Mike Ditka! Epic, I tell you. Epic.
Seriously, though, we here in Chicago have our divisive baseball rivalries, and yeah, we've managed to rediscover hockey and continue to love the Bulls, but there's something about the Chicago Bears. They have a certain gravitational pull, that after awhile, you just can't ignore. Okay, maybe you can ignore it if you're transplanted here from Minnesota or Michigan, or the dreaded land to the North where we Illinoisans are referred to as "flatlanders" (guys, it ain't exactly the Alps up there, I hate to inform you), water fountains are called "bubblers", and it's somehow acceptable to wear dairy products on your head. I can't speak to why anyone would decide to like any other team in the NFL, but I can tell you how I started a Bears fan, drifted away, and was pulled back again.
Let's take a ride back in the Delorean of the mind, shall we, to that magical year of 1985. Ronald Reagan is sworn in on January 20 (my 8th birthday, incidentally) into his second term as president. "We are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa. "Amadeus" wins Best Picture at the Oscars. "New Coke" is released, making us forever forget about "Old Coke". Lily Allen, Frankie Muniz, and Dwight Howard are born, while Orson Welles, Roger Maris, and Ricky Nelson die. Earlier in the year, the Lakers win the NBA finals and the Kansas City Royals win the World Series. But in the fall of 1985, led by Iron Mike Ditka and possibly the greatest defense of all-time, the Bears Shufflin' Crew are mowing down opponant after opponant, capturing the hearts of fans everywhere, on their way to a nearly perfect season and an eventual Super Bowl victory in January of '86.
Just how good were the '85 Bears? Absolutely dominant. Not only did you have the aforementioned, fear-inducing defense, on the other side of the ball you had the Punkie QB known as McMahon, a receiving core led by Willie Gault and Dennis McKinnon, and of course, the incomperable #34, Walter Payton running the ball. And maybe the "Super Bowl Shuffle" had something to do with it, but because of this team, I became, not only fully aware of football for the first time, but I became transfixed by the Chicago Bears. I must've watched the "Super Bowl Shuffle" on VHS over a hundred times. And I watched with delight as the Bears plowed past the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XX.
But what happens next is a bit of a mystery to me. Maybe the Bears were a little TOO popular for my liking. Maybe as I became a boy of nine, I decided it was time to assert some independence. Maybe it was because, in the small West-Central Illinois town of Wataga, I lived far enough away from Chicago that I didn't feel its full gravitational pull. I honestly don't remember why. For whatever reason, for the 1986 NFL season, I decided I needed a new team.
How does one go about finding a new team? I suppose one could study depth charts, assess the character of the coaches and players. Maybe a study of appealing US cities would be in order. Or maybe at nine years old, I just liked horses. Yes, I decided that my new favorite team was either going to be the Indianapolis Colts or the Denver Broncos because of my youthful obsession with horsies. I was nine, okay. Cut me some slack. I never admitted this, of course, to anyone except my family. That would spell certain doom. But there you have it.
I started out a Colts fan as it seemed most logical to pick the team that was more local. At the time, I do believe a former University of Illinois quarterback was the starter for Indy, so it just seemed to come together. But unfortunately, as hard as it is to believe today with the perennial success of the Peyton Manning led Colts, the Colts of the mid-to-late '80s were not only awful, but boring. I was coming from being a fan of the '85 Bears, how could I possibly have believed that sort of switch to work?
So naturally, I switched up to the Broncos. Led by rocket-armed John Elway, a band of speedy receivers, and a defense known as "The Orange Crush", THIS was a suitable replacement. The Denver Broncos fit all the pre-requisites for 9-year-old me: horse mascot, exciting, and good. We have a winner.
Over time, believe it or not, it became more about the football and less about the equine mascot. Elway was spectacular. And a strange thing happened after they lost not one, not two, but three Super Bowl games in the late 1980s/early 1990s, loyalty was built. Yes, I was the loneliest kid in Wataga, IL, weeping quietly into his Orange Crush, which he drank for good luck, watching his team get a beat down from the Giants, Redskins, and 49ers. But as a Cubs fan I knew losing, yet I also understood loyalty. The Broncos needed me.
And so I remained loyal to the Broncos, despite it being a mostly solitary pursuit, living in the midwest and all. For my loyalty, though, I was rewarded with not one, but two Super Bowl victories during my college years. One which was the celebrated upset over Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, which I watched with two Packers fans in my dorm room. How sweet that was! They left in disgust before the end.
Elway would retire before I got a chance to see him play in person, but I did get a chance to see the Broncos in Denver. I feel like I fulfilled all I could fulfill with being a Broncos fan.
I moved to Chicago in the summer of 2000 and saw that game in Denver in 2003, I believe. Over time, I tried to keep up with the Broncos, but becoming a Chicagoan changed something. There's only one NFL team in the city, so there's no split rivalries. If you're a football fan in Chicago, you're a Bears fan. I'd find myself now not only looking to see if the Broncos were on TV here, but I'd also check up on how the Bears were doing. Gradually, the pull became stronger. I came to declare the Bears my favorite NFC team, but still regarded the Broncos as my favorite overall. But three things happened to change that.
I hated Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall. I felt like he tarnished the good name of the team. Bad attitude, always getting in trouble, etc. Talented yes, but it was counter to what my vision of the team had been growing up watching Elway and Co. And yeah, maybe it's silly to think this way, considering that every team in pro sports usually ends up with one or two guys who aren't the best characters in the world, but still, I hated the way the team chose talent over repeated transgressions.
Two. It was apparent that Mike Shanahan was on the way out. I was always a fan of his and he was the coach who brought two championships to the organization. But fans wanted him out, press wanted him out, and eventually the organization would fire Shanahan.
Three. The Broncos drafted another rocket-armed quarterback that was destined to carry on the legacy that John Elway left behind. In fact, Elway himself branded this QB as the future superstar of the organization. He went to the Pro Bowl early on, but never quite fit in. He was traded, much to the dismay of Elway. Jay Cutler became a Chicago Bear.
And now in 2011, I've been here for over a decade. The Broncos were the team of my youth, but as an adult, I've only known Chicago. I still try to keep an eye on how the Broncos are doing, being my favorite AFC team and all, but it's come full circle and I've found my way into Bears fandom once again. It was gradual, really. Pulled ever so closer every year until one day you realize, "Oh, I'm watching this team every week, passionately cheering them on, revelling in actually having people around me who are doing the same...I'm a Chicagoan, so it only makes sense, I'm a Bears fan too."
My real prediction for this weekend's game: Bears 14 Packers 10. Bears vs. Jets in the Super Bowl. Bears win, of course. They aren't the dominant force they were back in '85, but they're my hometown team, and underdogs to boot. They need me. The Second City will be second to no one after the East Coast/ESPN darlings are brought down in February. Go Bears!!!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Briar Rabbit & The Company You Keep (Album Review)
"With an unruly amount of Chicago pride, Briar Rabbit is a
promising talent to keep your eye on in 2011."--From the promotional material for "Briar Rabbit & The Company You Keep"
That statement alone is good enough for me to give attention to this record, but as I explained in my previous post, I have ulterior motives for reviewing "Briar Rabbit & The Company You Keep".
I've known Phillip-Michael Scales for over a year, maybe a year and a half by now. We worked together at a chain casual dining establishment where I got to know of his intense passion for both listening to and playing music. It's his thing. He invests every ounce of energy into it, which explains why he was such a horrible server. Kidding, Phil.
I've seen the guy play live before and because of that, I didn't have to hear a note of this album to know that he's the real deal. Phillip-Michael is native to Detroit, but comes to Chicago via Boston, where he graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music (recent graduates include Passion Pit and St. Vincent). He's well-versed in his craft and takes songwriting, playing live, and recording very seriously. In a time where everyone plays an instrument and anyone can get a copy of Pro Tools and bang out a record, such dedication and eye toward quality is a breath of fresh air.
Needless to say, I was excited to hear the debut release from Briar Rabbit, Phillip-Michael's stage/recording monicker, and doubly honored that he'd ask me to review it. So in hopes of matching that spirit of taking one's craft seriously, I'll do my best to give the album the treatment it deserves.
The first thing I'll tell you about "Briar Rabbit & The Company You Keep" is that I like it. I'm not going to mess around with the star system or a grading scale, nor am I going to take the snobbish route of writing a review so dense and layered with "look at me I'm so smart" critic speak, that you have no idea if the reviewer actually had an opinion of the record or at some point just stopped listening in favor of watching himself/herself recite poetry in his/her mirror. So my opinion: Like.
That said, is it a perfect record? No, but at the same time, musically, structurally, production quality-wise, this does not seem like a debut record. The songs are ultra-catchy and when he's hitting on all cylinders, he's as good or better than a lot of well-known names.
If there is a theme for the record, I think it's put forth with the following lyrics found in track 1, "Numbers":
"Love keeps you warm and leaves you cold
Back and forth and sometimes bought and sold
For every heart, there is a hole
But that's not how we'd like our story told"
Many of the songs touch on these sorts of thoughts, which I would consider to be the thoughts of a Realist Romantic. Romantic and believing in love, so much that maybe one gets a little too overzealous, but also with a keen awareness of the damage and heartache that wanting someone so badly can lead to. As Pat Benatar told us in the '80s, "Love is a battlefield". Briar Rabbit adds to this discussion with the following:
"You are a battleground for a civil war where no one wins
Between a lonely body and a heart whose only wish is to be alone."
So what to do? "Keep it casual or be a casualty". Those lines from "All My Words" would seem to me to be a warning. If you let yourself go all in for love, be prepared to get scorched. But still, despite this knowledge, we do it anyway. Sometimes despite the realism, you end up just being romantic.
And there's a definite mix or the two elements at work. There's the clear headed advice from Dad in "Note to Self: Make New Mistakes", but there's also the mournful wondering about how well we truly knew or know a person we loved maybe too much in, "Putch". And finally, there's the letting go in, "Float".
Phillip-Michael Scales has the type of voice that can handle what it takes to properly express the emotion of these type of lyrics. He uses his voice as an instrument, with subtlety when the song calls for subtlety and passion when it calls for passion. He's got great range and is undoubtedly well-trained.
Speaking of instruments, the musicians on this record are outstanding. I'm not sure if it's the same people throughout the whole record, but they all do a wonderful job of enhancing the songs. From the strings, to the lead guitar, to the backup singers, these are not only well-arranged pieces of indie pop, but terrificly executed as well. Phillip-Michael's voice blends well with a female voice and this is employed several times throughout.
I'm not a fan of every song on the record. I feel that "Float" and "Putch" aren't quite as much to my liking as everything else, but the thing is, this is probably more out of personal taste rather than quality. These are still well-written, well-structured songs. And in fact, I love the imagary employed in "Putch":
"Your room hangs like the moon
Against the dark apartments"
I think I'm just not in to ballads that much. But I can appreciate what he does and can't say that they aren't good songs. The record is solid through and through. With hints of Wilco, Steely Dan (mostly from the guitar on the track, "The Company You Keep"), and Bright Eyes, these are supremely catchy tunes from a man who respects the craft of the singer-songwriter, and knows how to bring them to life with the proper layers of musicians, or lack there of when appropriate. This album shows spectacular promise.
And that promise comes together on the highlight of the album, "Tread Lightly". It's the song that most showcases Phillip-Michael's songwriting capabilities as well as vocal abilities. It's at once filled with hopeful optimism, reflective self-doubt, yearning, and honesty. And musically, it is a sublime combination of all the pieces you may have noticed here and there throughout the album. The band is showcased with great fiddle work, rightfully restrained guitar, mournful organ, wonderfully bounding piano, more supurb background vocals, and Phillip-Michael's best vocal performance on the record, as he hits all the emotional notes just right. You can't help but want to clap right along.
At times, the record gets too poppy for my tastes, but that's not really a fair criticism, as obviously this is very much indie pop, as Phillip-Michael Scales rightfully self-describes the music of Briar Rabbit. Once again, it's a matter of taste. But if you look at the album for what it is beyond just taste, it's hard to find much to criticize about it. In fact the songs have been lodged in my brain quite a bit lately, which proves their effectiveness. What more can you ask for with a three minute pop song than to have it find it's way into repeat mode on a person's mental playlist? That's no small feat.
So yes, I can agree with the statement that "Briar Rabbit is a promising talent to keep your eye on in 2011." But more than 2011, I look forward to what he has to offer in the years to come. Part of me maybe biased because I know Phillip-Michael, but I think I can say with a good deal of objectivity that this is a good record and if he stays as committed to honing his craft as he is right now, the sky is truly the limit for what's to come.
If you're in the Chicago area, you'd be a fool not to catch Briar Rabbit at one of the following venues:
Whistler, 2421 N. Milwaukee Avenue (Sunday, January 30 w/ Maurice)
Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Avenue (Monday, March 7 w/ The Minneapolis Henrys)
briarrabbit.net
Friday, January 14, 2011
Just One Point of View
I want to start this new blog by saying that I love my city. I love the culture, the food, the ample opportunities for entertainment, the sports teams, the summers. Maybe especially the summers. If you live in a warm climate all year round, you truly can't appreciate what you have. Right now, we are miserable. We are all just walking bundles of layers. Coats, scarfs, hats. Vanity is cast aside in favor of comfort, or at least the often futile attempts at it. But the summers...ah! They make us forget. They make us realize, with their street fests and beaches and patio dining and lively neighborhoods, why it is that we live here. It's a small window, so we live it up!
Sorry, I may have lost focus there for a moment. It's really cold outside and I can't wait for the seasons to change and for amnesia to kick in once again. Winter? Oh, it wasn't THAT bad this year!
I'm not saying Chicago is perfect. It's expensive to live here, the public transportation system could be more modern (compared to a lot of cities, though, we're doing alright), our politicians don't seem to be the most honest lot (although that goes for the whole state), gangs and crime are a constant concern (partly that's just urban life anywhere, though), etc.
And winter is really brutal. Lest I forget to mention that.
But for me, from my point of view, the positives far outweigh the negatives, and I'm proud to live in this great world class city.
Point of view is funny that way. Ask one of my best friends her opinion of Chicago and you'll be lucky to get her to admit one good thing about the city or its people. I try not to take it personally because a.) she's wrong, and b.) there is no such thing as one over-arching place called "Chicago".
Of course there are the physical city limits that contain the zip codes and area codes that define the city. And yes, there are the landmarks, the neighborhoods, the stadiums, and the buildings that bring to mind the word "Chicago".
But if one looks at it closely, it's all up for interpretation. Just like anything. What does it mean to be American? Well, the answer is bound to be different based on a wide spectrum of factors: personal history, income, education, social status, region, personal philosophy, culture. A child born into poverty on the West Side is bound to grow up with a different view of Chicago and America in general then a child born into wealth on the Gold Coast. Maybe there are exceptions to the rule, but it's just the truth. We all realize this. That's not to be divisive, because in a shared society, you hope at least, that the truths and values that we hold in common are what keep us going as a nation, city, state, as a people.
But difference is good too. Debate is good. Differing points of view make things interesting. My Chicago is bound to be slightly different than the millions of others who share the distinction of being "Chicagoan". And so this blog is going to attempt to share that point of view with you. I hope to not only write about the music, food & drink, and day to day experiences I have as a Chicagoan, but to also provide some pictures and maybe even a podcast at some point. I may throw in some fiction too, just for the hell of it. Chicago makes a pretty good character in stories as well.
But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I don't know how frequently I'll update this. Hopefully at least three times a week. And I don't really have a set format. Maybe one day it'll be commentary on the mayor's race. Maybe the next it'll be a terrifying account of a trip on the Red Line (there's no shortage of those. My friend recently had to dodge a flying chicken bone). Maybe the next it'll be a review of a concert. I'm keeping things pretty loose at this point.
I thought about reviewing restaurants and bars too, but as a current restaurant industry employee, I'm not sure if that's a conflict of interest or not. Anyhow, there's plenty of people, maybe too many actually, who are more than willing to be critics. I'll still comment when I have an excellent experience out, but I don't have the stomach for ripping establishments when they don't meet my expectations. If I do have a terrible evening out that I feel I must write about, I'll most likely speak in generalities to protect the offending parties. Online commentary, even small-time bloggery, can often spread like wildfire and I'd hate to inadvertently cause trouble for myself or an establishment that was maybe just having a bad night.
Speaking of possible conflicts of interest, my next post will be a record review of local musician Phillip-Michael Scales, who performs under the name Briar Rabbit. Mr. Scales/Rabbit is a former co-worker of mine and a friend, so I'm going to be as objective as possible, but know from the get-go that I may be slightly biased. What are you gonna do? He asked me if I'd do it and I said okay. We'll see how it turns out.
So that's that. I'm certainly not the first person to write about Chicago, nor will I be the last, but I hope to bring something slightly unique to the table with my personal vision of what this city is, might be, and isn't. And I also hope to highlight the artists, establishments, neighborhoods, and people who beyond the buildings and city limits, make Chicago what it is.
Sorry, I may have lost focus there for a moment. It's really cold outside and I can't wait for the seasons to change and for amnesia to kick in once again. Winter? Oh, it wasn't THAT bad this year!
I'm not saying Chicago is perfect. It's expensive to live here, the public transportation system could be more modern (compared to a lot of cities, though, we're doing alright), our politicians don't seem to be the most honest lot (although that goes for the whole state), gangs and crime are a constant concern (partly that's just urban life anywhere, though), etc.
And winter is really brutal. Lest I forget to mention that.
But for me, from my point of view, the positives far outweigh the negatives, and I'm proud to live in this great world class city.
Point of view is funny that way. Ask one of my best friends her opinion of Chicago and you'll be lucky to get her to admit one good thing about the city or its people. I try not to take it personally because a.) she's wrong, and b.) there is no such thing as one over-arching place called "Chicago".
Of course there are the physical city limits that contain the zip codes and area codes that define the city. And yes, there are the landmarks, the neighborhoods, the stadiums, and the buildings that bring to mind the word "Chicago".
But if one looks at it closely, it's all up for interpretation. Just like anything. What does it mean to be American? Well, the answer is bound to be different based on a wide spectrum of factors: personal history, income, education, social status, region, personal philosophy, culture. A child born into poverty on the West Side is bound to grow up with a different view of Chicago and America in general then a child born into wealth on the Gold Coast. Maybe there are exceptions to the rule, but it's just the truth. We all realize this. That's not to be divisive, because in a shared society, you hope at least, that the truths and values that we hold in common are what keep us going as a nation, city, state, as a people.
But difference is good too. Debate is good. Differing points of view make things interesting. My Chicago is bound to be slightly different than the millions of others who share the distinction of being "Chicagoan". And so this blog is going to attempt to share that point of view with you. I hope to not only write about the music, food & drink, and day to day experiences I have as a Chicagoan, but to also provide some pictures and maybe even a podcast at some point. I may throw in some fiction too, just for the hell of it. Chicago makes a pretty good character in stories as well.
But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I don't know how frequently I'll update this. Hopefully at least three times a week. And I don't really have a set format. Maybe one day it'll be commentary on the mayor's race. Maybe the next it'll be a terrifying account of a trip on the Red Line (there's no shortage of those. My friend recently had to dodge a flying chicken bone). Maybe the next it'll be a review of a concert. I'm keeping things pretty loose at this point.
I thought about reviewing restaurants and bars too, but as a current restaurant industry employee, I'm not sure if that's a conflict of interest or not. Anyhow, there's plenty of people, maybe too many actually, who are more than willing to be critics. I'll still comment when I have an excellent experience out, but I don't have the stomach for ripping establishments when they don't meet my expectations. If I do have a terrible evening out that I feel I must write about, I'll most likely speak in generalities to protect the offending parties. Online commentary, even small-time bloggery, can often spread like wildfire and I'd hate to inadvertently cause trouble for myself or an establishment that was maybe just having a bad night.
Speaking of possible conflicts of interest, my next post will be a record review of local musician Phillip-Michael Scales, who performs under the name Briar Rabbit. Mr. Scales/Rabbit is a former co-worker of mine and a friend, so I'm going to be as objective as possible, but know from the get-go that I may be slightly biased. What are you gonna do? He asked me if I'd do it and I said okay. We'll see how it turns out.
So that's that. I'm certainly not the first person to write about Chicago, nor will I be the last, but I hope to bring something slightly unique to the table with my personal vision of what this city is, might be, and isn't. And I also hope to highlight the artists, establishments, neighborhoods, and people who beyond the buildings and city limits, make Chicago what it is.
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