Events

Snicker: Renowned author Dan Brown hated the critics. Ever since he had become one of the world’s top renowned authors they had made fun of him. They had mocked bestselling book The Da Vinci Code, successful novel Digital Fortress, popular tome Deception Point, money-spinning volume Angels & Demons and chart-topping work of narrative fiction The Lost Symbol. The critics said his writing was clumsy, ungrammatical, repetitive and repetitive. They said it was full of unnecessary tautology. They said his...

I don't usually make specific book recommendations on the blog. That said: read Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell. Russell's collection of eight short stories has kept me away from productive work all day. They're funny, horrifying, surprising, entertaining. I'm going to have to read her novel Swamplandia! next.

Chicago Tribune op-ed writer Marty Sandberg thinks so: Ricketts has done one thing successfully — creating the most apathetic, undemanding fan base possible. Over the past few years third-generation die-hards have quietly been returning their season tickets. The knowledgeable, fun and sometimes offensive regulars that used to pack the park and make game day such a raucously enjoyable experience have disappeared. In their place, we find a ballpark full of expense-account-toting managers, teenage girls...

Via Atlantic Cities, this is cool. MapFrappe allows you to draw a geographic figure in one place and superimpose it on another. Like, for example, my neighborhood over London, or Chicago's Loop over the Vatican.

Just about an hour ago, crews lowered the last piece onto the 124 m spire topping One World Trade Center, making it the tallest building in the hemisphere: The 18-piece silver spire will top out the tower at a symbolic 1,776 feet (541 m), a nod to the year America signed the Declaration of Independence. The new building is just north of the original towers, now the hallowed ground known as Ground Zero. "This really is a symbolic moment because this building really represents the resiliency of this...

The Chicago City Council could ratify a proposal allowing 46 night games as early as next month: The proposal also would permit the Cubs to host four concerts and to make changes to its schedule as soon as next month. It allows for six Friday afternoon games starting at 3:05 instead of the traditional 1:20. The Cubs would like to move back some Friday afternoon games this season if the City Council approves the night-game plan. The changes are consistent with a tentative agreement struck last month...

Allie Brosh has returned after an 18-month absence with a new post: [T]hat's the most frustrating thing about depression. It isn't always something you can fight back against with hope. It isn't even something — it's nothing. And you can't combat nothing. You can't fill it up. You can't cover it. It's just there, pulling the meaning out of everything. That being the case, all the hopeful, proactive solutions start to sound completely insane in contrast to the scope of the problem. It would be like...

The Tribune reports this morning that some groundskeeping duties at O'Hare will soon get turned over to a herd of goats: The city's Department of Aviation is expected to announce Wednesday that it has awarded a contract to Central Commissary Holdings LLC — operator of Lincoln Park restaurant Butcher & The Burger — to bring about 25 goats onto airport property, helping the airport launch its pilot vegetation-management program. Joseph Arnold, partner at Butcher & The Burger, said the goats now live on a...

Pollen levels in Chicago have exploded in the past week: The area’s pollen values surged Tuesday to the highest levels of the year, the latest development in a allergy season which has brought misery to many across the Chicago area. Dr. Joseph Leija, allergist at Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and provider of this area’s pollen counts, lamented in his daily report that the slow pace of spring warming has combined with the season’s huge rain tallies to bring high tree counts at the same time high...

Illinois Republican Party chair Pat Brady has quit: With same-sex marriage legislation pending in the Illinois legislature, Brady this year voiced his support for the proposal despite a plank in the state GOP platform that said marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman. Brady said he made the endorsement personally, not as Republican chairman, but conservatives in the top echelon of the GOP party quickly complained. Though Brady survived immediate attempts to dump him, a meeting of the...