"The most absurd shopping cart race in Chicago"

You know how you go to the grocery store and sometimes wind up with that lame shopping cart—the one with the wheel that wags at a ninety-degree angle and barely corners—well, check the wheels and pass over the defective if you are "borrowing" a cart to participate in The Chiditarod this weekend. More importantly, find some fast friends that can pull you and your cart around town to win fabulous prizes during this unique race.

Part competition of shopping cart and human speed, costume contest, performance art, food drive, and effort to fight the cold and kill boredom, The Chiditarod involves a little bit of everything fun. As of this post, there is still room for dogs and mushers (the two types of competitors) and spectators are encouraged to cheer on the teams at the starting line. To watch the absurdity unfold, bring high-protein, non-perishable food and gather in Wicker Park at 12:30 p.m. sharp.

So We Like Polka and Rock 'n' Roll

We've written about them before because local band The Polkaholics are always doing something fun we don't think you should miss. Saturday night (February 25th @ 10 p.m.) they are having a CD release party at Martyrs' (3855 N. Lincoln) for their new album Polka Uber Alles, which I think means something along the lines of 'polka above all!' (you can't really say that without an exclamation point, can you?).

We had a book release party at Martyrs' for the fourth edition of A Native's Guide to Chicago and found it was a great party space. There's plenty of room for cutting up the carpet and it's dark enough for no one to notice what you are or aren't doing. But you should need no encouragement when The Polkaholics describe themselves as " . . . a Chicago band that plays a high-speed collision of polka and rock 'n roll." Prost!

"An Old Diner Bows Out"

Dave Hoekstra's Sun-Times article on the closing of the Uptown Snack Shop, which now has its own memorial website: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-street19.html.

Brand new Chicago history

If you didn't catch this...Last week the Chicago Tribune reported that that Chicago history institution at Clark and North Avenue formerly known—for the past 150 years—as the Chicago Historical Society, has officially changed its name to the Chicago Historical Museum. Seems one explanation for their decline in attendance was that the connotation of society as private club kept away crowds who didn't know it was actually a welcoming museum for the public. I don't completely buy that, but surely they know best. A good portion of neighborhood and suburban "historical societies" are also open as museums; many are attended by Chicagoans as schoolchildren who see firsthand that they're museums, and almost all are listed as museums in sightseeing and attractions directories. Still, perhaps society is just too elitist and misleading for where they're going. Fine. I can live with "Macy's Marshall Field's" or "Marshall Field's: A Macy's Store" too...just leave us our iconic Chicago things as intact as possible. On this note, you'll be happy to hear that the new Chicago Historical Museum is also a brand! From the historical society's February 10th announcement: "Composed of many layers of the word "history," our new Chicago History Museum brand is a visual expression of who we are today and tomorrow."

Chicago Archi-bleckture

Cruising Craig's List we found Mr. Archibleckture, mrarchibleckture@yahoo.com, who's looking for donations of your Chicago neighborhood photography for his new blog:

"The two main focuses of the blog are to document soon-to-be demolished architecture (both large and small, historic and not) as well as hideous buildings that mar the landscape of the city (in particular newer buildings). It is not possible for me to cover the entire city, but I do not want to limit my coverage on this site. I am looking for volunteer contributors to submit photos to the site to widen the neighborhood coverage."

Uptown Snack Shop Kicked to the Curb

From a trusted friend of ours and Uptown's... Send us your impassioned neighborhood pleas, tributes, and reports to post.

"Developer to strip corner of its service, community and landmark

"Please consider taking time in the coming days to patronize the neighborhood favorite Uptown Snack Shop at 4668 N. Broadway, Chicago, which received a 30-day notice from a new building owner earlier this month. Since they were not offered any recourse or opportunity to stay, the snack shop's owners will close their doors and begin dismantling their wonderful, vintage diner on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006. We regret with all of our hearts and might that we are being forced to say goodbye to this good place and great people.

"As entertainment venues such as the nearby Uptown, Riviera, Aragon, and Green Mill Cocktail Lounge survive best in tandem with busy shops and restaurants, this closure is very much related the future vitality of the would-be Uptown entertainment district. That is to say that this is a related and important topic for Uptown Adviser.

"The vintage mixed-use building which houses the Uptown Snack Shop is listed as 'contributing' in the apparently disposable Uptown Square National Register Historic District designated without celebration, signage or protection by the U.S. Department of Interior and the State of Illinois. The Uptown Snack Shop interior is one of the few remaining intact things that made Uptown Square unique in the world. Now it will be gutted and replaced with something that is typical, plastic and SUB-urban. Most of what makes Uptown special is getting the bum's rush. Make way for Anyplace, U.S.A., and watch the interest and color fade to a bleached beige.

"Reliable sources report that the new building owner declined to offer the longtime owners and managers of the Uptown Snack Shop a lease or buy out of trade fixtures. In fact, the new owner didn't even bother to call or meet with their incredibly faithful and valuable tenants. Rather, the new owners have left the snack shop on an unwritten, month-to-month rent basis – putting the owners and staff on-edge for months.

"So, after 43 years of providing affordable, home-cooked meals in a friendly, Uptown neighborhood-stabilizing atmosphere, these kind and independent businesspeople of much mettle are being kicked to the curb by an urban pioneer developer with delusions of wealth to plunder. We are losing an important part of Chicago – just as important as the Berghoff was to downtown, as the Busy Bee was to Wicker Park . . .

"Plans include condo-slumming the forced-vacant apartments above and 'improved retail and restaurant' for the storefronts. How unoriginal, uninspiring and unrelated to the goals of the entire Uptown neighborhood! What happened to the ethos of creative planning and solutions to keep Uptown a progressive, model community? Why have we spent countless hours in neighborhood planning meetings and workshops about the business district and the needs of its people?

"What a disappointing, disheartening and distasteful waste! New owners: Who are you and why should we consider being consumers of your careless colonization when your enterprise is finished making a mess of things here?

"Why would you treat our friends poorly and destroy the place where so many of us meet for fellowship and a square meal?

"Your actions and plans are insensitive and flawed. Commercial bleach is not an appropriate development solution for this site. Your plans should be withdrawn and reconsidered immediately.

"Here's one of many online mentions of the Uptown Snack Shop:
http://centerstage.net/restaurants/uptown-snack-shop.html

'Uptown Snack Shop
4668 N. Broadway
Broadway at Leland
(773) 561-9788

'Relatively unchanged since its debut in 1954, the steel kitchen accessories, ample counter-space and turquoise vinyl booths and stools of this awesome petite diner hark back to a time of milkshakes, bobby socks and flat-tops. Owners and brothers Ted, Pete and Alex Phillos have kept the food comfortable and inviting and the prices low.

'Early birds can start their mornings with coffee and a smile, as well as standards like omelets, egg plate specials, pancakes and all the usual sides, with most breakfast fare running $1 to $3. For lunch, sample the daily soup, or enjoy one of the many sandwiches: fried egg ($1.25) or porkchop ($3.25). Daily specials like spaghetti and meatballs ($4.90) or breaded pork tenderloin ($5.15) round out the menu. The service can't be beat, and the food is exactly what you'd expect from a topnotch, family-run eatery.'

Related local resources:

Ald. Helen Shiller (46th)
4544 N. Broadway
ward46@cityofchicago.org
(773) 878-4646

Uptown Chamber of Commerce
4753 N. Broadway, Suite 822
info@uptownchamber.com
(773) 878-1184"

Honor Honest Abe from Home

Instead of joining the throngs at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum this weekend, why not skip the drive and revisit the legacy of America’s 16th president from your own backyard. With Arnie Bernstein's book, The Hoofs and Guns of the Storm, as a guide to Chicago's civil war and Abraham Lincoln connections, here are some of the things you'll discover:
· The well-orchestrated political strategy that led to dark horse Lincoln becoming the 1860 Republican Party presidential candidate, an unexpected nomination with profound impact on American history
· A trail of sites and monuments to reveal Lincoln’s work, public appearances, and funerary services in Chicago
· The seamy side of Civil War-era Chicago, a notorious hotbed of sex, gambling, and street-corner shootouts
· Blunt and prophetic opinions on Abraham Lincoln spouted backstage at the popular McVicker’s Theater by an actor named John Wilkes Booth
· The story behind Mary Todd Lincoln’s exile to Chicago and her family’s tragic demise following her husband’s assassination

The book includes walking maps, 82 photographs, historic and contemporary illustrations, an appendix of Civil War and Lincoln resources, and historical commentary. But the best thing is you can wear your stovepipe hat and celebrate Abe's birthday without ever leaving town.

Title Me Too

"Have you ever walked down Michigan Avenue and stopped briefly under the awning of 626 North, wondering what that beautiful Parisian-style building actually was? Or have you wandered past that ruddy, stately building at 81 E. Van Buren? And in Streeterville, have you ever run across that strange little ebony building that looks a bit like a turtle at Delaware and Mies Van Der Rohe?

You’ve passed the Woman’s Athletic Club of Chicago, the Chicago Club and the Casino Club—names that may not mean much to most Chicagoans, but mean a great deal to the city’s history. They have been oases for the rich and privileged, playgrounds for the social set, private watering holes for the city’s movers and shakers. Places that, certainly at their inception, most of us couldn’t get in due to birthright, race, wealth, where we worked or where we went to school. It’s easy to write them off the way that so many of these institutions wrote off large parts of Chicago’s population at their inception."

So begins Lisa Holton's book on the history and current state of Chicago's private, and typically, elite business and social clubs. It's due out in late spring/early summer and we're still toying with a title. Here are some options. Let us know which you like best, and if you have a better idea, let us know and we'll reward you with the same luxe compensation package outlined a couple posts ago for Arnie Bernstein's new book. Thanks!

1. For Members Only: A History and Guide to Chicago’s Oldest Private Clubs

2. The Clubbable Set: 150 Years of Private Clubs in Chicago

3. A Sense of Belonging: 150 Years of Private Clubs in Chicago

4. Chicago’s Private Business Clubs: A History and Guide

The Dork Knight Returns

He's the Dork Knight, and he's our author! He's local music's number one fan, promoter, and chronicler, James VanOsdol. Hear him on the air, overnights at Q101, visit his blog, The Dork Knight Returns, and read his tribute to the 90s local music scene in his 2007 book from Lake Claremont Press. Think of the big, the small, the infamous, and your favorites among Chicago's indie stars from that era. VanOsdol has likely already interviewed them for his book, and you won't be disappointed with the results.

Titlers Needed. Rewards Awesome.

Veteran LCP author, Arnie Bernstein, is writing a followup to his 1998 book, Hollywood on Lake Michigan for release by us in 2007. This version will be a straight history of Chicago films and filmmakers rather than the previous half-guide/half-history format. As part of the reinvention of the book, the title is being changed, and Bernstein wants your suggestions

The winner will receive a credit on the acknowledgment page (it's true! LCP approved), a signed copy of the new book, and Bernstein's undying gratitude. A few ground rules:

1. In event of duplicate entries from contestants, the first title received will be the winner.

2. The title must include the words “cinema” or “film.” The word “Hollywood” cannot be included.

3. Enter as often as you wish, but only one title per email.

4. Arnie Bernstein and Lake Claremont Press reserve the right not to declare a winner and not choose any of the contest entries for the final title.

5. Send your entries to name_arnies_book@yahoo.com.