Chicago Lifestyle Podcast & Video Blog
Manual Cinema’s homage to the 100th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s gothic classic “Frankenstein” is a singular theatrical experience that mixes live action, silhouettes, puppets, shadow puppetry, masks, video, slide projection and all manner of theatrical techniques, ancient and modern to create a captivating monochromatic video …
Headliner Erica Rhodes has appeared on Modern Family and Veep. She was making her way back to Los Angeles through Chicago after working the comedy club Penguin’s and a casino bar in Iowa over the weekend. The lithe thirty something wearing a corduroy jeans jacket …
It is the dawn of the civil rights movement, times are changing, President JFK has just been assassinated. Caroline is recently divorced, has three girls at home and a grown son in Vietnam. To make matters worse she is under employed and feeling like she has no skills that would allow her to change her circumstances.
Firebrand Theatre’s production of “Caroline, or Change” playing at the Den Theater (extended through November 11, 2018) in Chicago is an emotionally charged story about the power of money and fear of change.
Listen to our podcast review here. Just click on the play button below.
Podcast by Reno Lovison, Executive Producer at ChicagoBroadcastingNetwork.com and reviewer for ChicagoTheaterandArts.com (Photo by Marisa KM)
While investigating the net to see what is happening in Chicago this week I was nearly overwhelmed by the number of fan videos for BTS at the United Center. It seems the K-pop (Korean Pop Music) boy band from South Korea has been rocking the …
I thought it would be fun to feature beer reviewer Mark McDermott who I found while simply trolling the web for interesting Chicago related content. Though he does not review Chicago beers exclusively he is based in Chicago. To give this intro to Mark a …
I have two pet peeves when parking in Chicago. The first is the high cost, especially downtown, and the second is giving money to Chicago Parking Meters LLC which will probably go down in history as one of the worst business deals in history for the city.
Enter SpotHero! With SpotHero you can get discounted parking at probably the very same place you would have parked anyway but often at a fraction of the price.
As an example, I recently parked near Lake Street and Michigan Avenue for about $15.00 for three hours with the SpotHero App. If I had simply “found” that garage on my own and pulled in to park it would have cost in excess of $40.00. Nearly three times more than I paid. This is not an unusual example.
Understand that parking garages prey on visitors and the uninformed. Also, their posted prices are based on their peak prices. However, (not to get too technical) parking garages are in what we call a “lost asset business.” If they do not rent a given parking space at a given time they cannot recoup the value of that asset later. In short, they are in the business of “selling” a specific period in time. When that time passes their opportunity to make money passes.
So what that means to you and me is that when they have excess inventory they are willing to make a deal to sell it at a cheaper price. That’s where SpotHero steps in. They facilitate the discounted deal by putting those who need parking (you and me) together with those who have parking spaces.
Think about it like how the airlines operate. When they are anxious to sell a seat they will sell it at the best price possible because once the flight takes off they have no chance of getting money for that seat.
Add to the equation that selling parking is generally a very competitive business which is another reason that posted prices are so high. The operator knows most of the time they will not be full so they charge a premium to make up for their excess revenue.
Okay… I am a marketing guy so excuse the lesson in dynamic pricing. What you really want is a cheap parking space so, create an account and start saving money.
In the spirit of “full disclosure” as a SpotHero user, I am directing you to their “refer-a-friend” link that will provide an additional discount to you the first time you use the app and because I am making the referral I will get a $7 reward credit the first time you spend $8 or more. Not a bad deal for either of us. Once you are a user you can do the same. This is one of those services I freely recommend anyway, so whether I get a referral bounty or not I am still a fan.
Just to understand how it works the first thing you need to do is establish an account. After that, you can enter the address of your destination and the time period you need, then SpotHero will show you a map with a number of nearby parking options to choose from. Choose one, enter your credit card info and voila you have a reserved parking space. No driving around and wondering where you are going to park and how much it is going to cost. Also when it comes time to leave it is all paid for. You have the option of printing out a receipt or using the digital receipt using their smartphone app. Both options include a QR code (a kind of barcode) that you will scan at the entrance and exit to open the parking garage gate or door.
One more awesome advantage … it has been my experience that the two times I had minor issues I called SpotHero talked to an actual person who helped me immediately. In nearly every case they are better and more efficient than the parking garages themselves who usually have no attendants and virtually no customer service.
Besides my duties related to Chicago Broadcasting Network and my video production marketing company, I also write about 30-40 theater reviews a year for ChicagoTheaterandArts.com so I need parking every time I go out on a shoot, see a client or go to the theater. This becomes a significant business expense for me. SpotHero has saved me a bundle, saved me a lot of time, and has eliminated a component related to business that could be very stressful at times.
So do yourself a favor and sign up for SpotHero today.
This is a new reggae music video release produced by Reno Lovison RenoWeb.net for Chicago musician Robert Burchell with Tony Aiken & Future for New Vision One Records, distributed by VPAL Music. The primary video was shot on a roof deck on the north-west side …
Part of the fun and allure of the Ravenswood Art Walk is the opportunity to poke in and out of many of the art galleries and businesses along this former light industrial corridor on Chicago’s Northside. This is as much an architectural tour as it …
A quest for success, what is legal, what is fair and ultimately, what is right and what is wrong.
Real estate developer Harmond Wilks who has aspirations of becoming mayor finds himself at odds with his wife and his business partner after encountering a couple of guys from his old neighborhood who bring him closer to his own history and the roots of his community.
Great theater skillfully written by August Wilson and produced by the Court Theatre on the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park.
Listen to the podcast below or read the entire review at ChicagoTheaterandArts.com
Podcast by Reno Lovison, Executive Producer at ChicagoBroadcastingNetwork.com and reviewer for ChicagoTheaterandArts.com
Watch the video trailer for Radio Golf
Enjoy a quick glimpse of the Andersonville shopping area as the neighborhood gears up for an evening of festivities centered around the annual Andersonville Arts Week. This video features a close-up look at the creation of an anamorphic 3D chalk drawing by Chris Carlson on the …
Hey kids before 3D printing there was (and still is) something called injection molding. In this process hot plastic goo is forced between two molded pieces of steel that have been “carved” into a particular shape. When the molds are released the plastic quickly cools …
The great debate continues to rage over thick or thin. Maybe it’s more of a sou’side, nortside thing like Sox or Cubs, but I adamantly say “real” Chicago is crispy thin crust pizza cut into squares.
Deep dish is fine when that is what you feel like having but generally speaking it’s “tourist pizza.” At best the debate is between old-school versus modern Chicago. Those of us beyond a certain age grew up eating thin crust.
If my memory serves me correctly I actually had my first deep dish pizza at “The Medici” in Hyde Park (a/k/a ‘the Med’ if you are a U of C student). They introduced deep dish to the southside and continue a tradition of making an exceptional version of the alternative variation.
As a native Southsider, I never had a deep dish pizza from Uno’s or Due’s until I was old enough to visit the northside with friends.
Those who arrived in Chicago after say 1980 to visit or go to school were probably whisked off to a deep dish pizza establishment near Rush Street or “Restaurant Row” so understandably their nostalgia will lead them in that direction.
In Pullman where I spent my young years, we had Father & Son’s, Giovanni’s and Nicks each of which had their devotes and each of which could stand as the very standard of Chicago thin crust perfection.
It’s important to note that Chicago’s thin crust is crispy, making it a perfect platform for the iconic sausage, mushroom and green pepper deluxe pizza topping.
Pizza pieces should never be folded like they do in New York. That’s just not right.
Later we moved to South Shore where Troy’s Roman Holiday (a/k/a Sammy’s) was our “home” pizza conveniently located at the end of the block where we lived. Ray’s Pizza at 76th and Coles was good too for a change of pace. The primary distinguishing feature was that Ray’s did not spread their sauce to the very edge thus creating a crusty border that acted as a kind of handle which some people preferred and other’s did not.
Other good options back in the day were The Dolphin in Cal City and Pizza Capri in South Chicago. Today on the far Northside I find Calo’s, Renalli’s and Leona’s to have credible thin crust pizza’s.
They all made their own sauce, sausage, and dough which was expected for southside pizzerias. Several of these familiar names continue throughout the south suburbs.
Warning: Do not trust any pizzeria that uses a premade crust with little holes poked in it and literally tastes like cardboard.
Ideally, you should see your pizza maker throw, twirl, and stretch the crust or at least roll it out to order. If the crust is trimmed, the excess should not be reused as it makes the second crust too tough. Finally, the crust should be set on a pizza board with a dusting of cornmeal that facilitates the release of the pie from the board and keeps it from sticking in the oven. If your thin crust pizza has no remnants of cornmeal on the bottom be very suspicious.
Onions, when used, should be ring-shaped, not chopped and should never be pre-cooked or sauteed. Ideally, they should be added about ten minutes before the pizza is completely cooked and topped with a light dusting of additional cheese to incorporate them into the pie. This technique keeps the onion sweet and from getting overcooked. But generally, this is too labor intensive so most pizzerias would not bother with this attention to detail. My solution (though I like them) is to avoid onion on my pizza.
OPTION: Listen to the Chirp App version of this article:
Here is a channel seven segment of “The Hungry Hound” Steve Dolinsky’s offering a thin crust pizza review. He also has written a book, “Pizza City, USA.”
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