A Local's Guide to Chicago

Ok, I guess it was a lot to ask for (a White Sox - Cubs World Series). I went to the White Sox game 163 against my boyhood team ( Minnesota Twins ), and got to see a great pitcher's duel: Twins' Blackburn (11-11) vs Sox' Danks (12-9). I was in the bleachers, and was thrilled to see Jim Thome hit a homer over our head and into the concourse behind us for the one and only run of the game. Someone behind us said "we are witnessing history. The first time in 100 years that both the White Sox and Cubs are in the playoffs in the same year!" Twins fans I talk to are upset that the game was played in Chicago (due to a coin flip). They felt that because the Twins won more games against the Sox, they should have had home field advantage. The Sox have had a hard time winning in the HomerDome, so it's a good thing we hosted the 'blackout' at Comiskey! Well, both the Cubs and Sox didn't make it too far (Cubs were swept by the Dodgers, the Sox lost to the

Ok , it's May (2021) and both of our teams are in 1st in their division! Ok , it's August and both of our teams are in 1st in their division. You got to love a town that can say that! If you're downtown and want to see one of the teams, get on the Red Line and either head north to the Addison stop ( NL Cubs ) or south to 35 th Street (AL Sox ) and take a short (2-3 block) walk to the stadium. Since both teams are fighting to make sure they live to see October, don't expect to get any deals on tickets. I would suggest eBay or Stub Hub . With eBay, you should either bid high, or be there at the close of the auction to make sure someone doesn't steal your bid (the trick is to wait until there's 5 or 10 seconds left to the auction and put in a bid high enough to beat any other bids - doesn't always work, but it's better than walking away thinking you've got the tickets when there's still time left in the auction). Stub Hub has both auctions an

Over 2 million people are expected to come into the city to enjoy the annual Air and Water show. For the first time, the city will start the event on a Friday! If you can, try and get down today to see this event. See here for some tips from the Chicago Tribune for enjoying the event. Actor and commedian Bill Murray is scheduled to land by parachute a little after 3pm today! Florence Henderson (Brady Bunch) will sing the national anthem, and actor/musician Gary Sinise will perform with his band at 5pm, with fireworks at 8:45pm. Saturday and Sunday, the show starts at 9am, with the airshow starting around 11am. It's an event not to be missed if you're in town! Click here for a link to the City of Chicago's information regarding the Air and Water show with lots more information.

Huffington Post, the Online Newspaper (is that an oxymoron? paper online?) has decided to debut their first local edition in Chicago! Click here to check it out. They've come out strong with posts from John Cusack, Christie Hefner, lots of local interest stories, including links to news about both of our 1st place baseball teams. They also have a huge list of links to various news sources, local blogs, columnists and important City Sources. Maybe they will add mine? :) If they can keep it up, this may be my one source stop for news and information in Chicago! The Chicago Tribune comes close, but is missing something. I can't put my finger on it. I'd be curious to hear where other folks go to get their Chicago news, sports and entertainment info. Post a comment!

I first saw Rand McNally's fabMAP in the Garden District Book Store in New Orleans (great book store, if you happen to visit New Orleans). It is a waterproof, tear-proof map that Rand McNally makes for various cities, and sells for $5.95. It covered a small area of New Orleans, so I decided not to get it. Now the other day I am in my local camera store, and I see a bin of cloth lens cleaners, selling for $5.95 each. Suddenly the cloth fabMAP doesn't seem so expensive! It can easily be folded up and stuffed into your pocket, purse or camera bag. When I got mine, it said it was machine washable, microfiber cloth, that can even be used to clean your glasses. Imagine a cloth that you can use to clean yo ur eye glasses (or your camera lens) that also has a map of downtown Chicago (or Las Vegas Strip, Midtown Manhattan Theatre District, Washington D.C. Mall, Waikiki, Hollywood-Beverly Hills, San Francisco Golden Gate Park-Haight Ashbury, New Orleans French Quarter, Miami's South

Traffic in Chicago can sometimes be a challenge, to say the least. For that reason, taking public transportation can often be the best route. Starting from downtown, if you wanted to go to either a White Sox game or a Cubs game, simply get on the CTA Red Line. For a Sox game, take it south to the Sox -35 th exit for US Cellular Field (some have shortened the name to the Cell, and the old timers continue to call it Comiskey Park). As you exit the train station, US Cellular Field is a couple blocks west on 35 th Street (you can't miss it). For a Cubs game, take it north to Addison. The Cubs play at Wrigley Field, which is at Clark and Addison. You'll see the field from the el platform as you get off the train. Google has teamed with the CTA to help plan your trip. Go here to try it out. I did, and it took a little bit of playing to get it to work. If you know where you are going, I find the CTA's website a little easier to navigate.