Welcome case of civility graces crosstown rivalry
Sometimes the Baseball Civil Wars between the North and South Sides of Chicago get a bit ugly. So it was last Saturday for a suburban couple -- White Sox fans who asked that I not identify them by name.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Trump hasn't lost his taste in women or artful deals
Three datelines for the price of one: NEW YORK -- My technique for maintaining eye contact while talking to a woman displaying major cleavage: pretend there's a sharp object just beneath your chin, and if you look down, you'll be injured.
Monday, June 28, 2004
'Fahrenheit 9/11' can't get better buzz than this
Michael Moore should be making a list and checking it twice. Conservatives who railed about the alleged inaccuracies in "Fahrenheit 9/11," even though they hadn't actually seen the film? Check.
Sunday, June 27, 2004
The good, the bad, the ugly thus far at the movies
We're only at the halfway point of the 2004 movie season -- but contrary to conventional wisdom that insists Oscars don't bloom until after Labor Day, I've seen a number of films with performances, writing and technical achievements worthy of Academy Award consideration:
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Like sign from Vietnam, song list reflects old times
Last month I told you about Paul Zickus, the Vietnam veteran who was selling a State and Madison street sign that Zickus had proudly displayed in Da Nang in the early 1970s.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
A little Googling might have gone a long way
To me the most shocking thing about the Jack Ryan divorce papers is that Republican officials are so shocked about the salacious content.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
957 pages not enough to tell entire Clinton story
'I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." -- Bill Clinton, wagging his finger at us in 1998. "I think I did something for the worst possible reason -- because I could." -- Bill Clinton, hawking his book in 2004.
Life's annoyances: people who just don't get it
Gum-crackers. Junk mail that tries to disguise itself as a check or a personal letter. ESPN sports highlights guys (and gals) who try way too hard to pepper their commentary with hipster catchphrases.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Clinton-haters vs. Bush-bashers? No contest
After I gave thumbs-up to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" on "Ebert & Roeper," some conservatives demanded I come clean. "Admit it, you hate Bush!" said one e-mailer after another.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
The FCC, red eye and other objects of our objection
On the cover of the new issue of Vanity Fair: a shirtless David Beckham, the hunky soccer player who's married to the artist formerly known as Posh Spice.
Monday, June 14, 2004
Doing your thing in the buff likely to get you a free ride
Lately it seems nearly every columnist in the city has been taking the multiple-item format for a test drive. We started doing it more than a decade ago. Nine columns for the price of one:
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Today's reality shows would make even Allen Funt blush
At any given moment in the television universe, somebody is playing a practical joke on someone else, with the hidden cameras rolling. Click. On "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment," Jamie, posing as a sleazy operator of an exotic dance club, is telling a woman that her college-age daughter is his best pole dancer. The girl, her father and the girl's best friend are in on the ruse.
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
Summertime, and the river is rockin'
Eight more columns for the price of one: One of the things I'll miss most about my digs at the Sun-Times Building is the colorful, summertime parade of tour boats, sailboats, kayaks and barges that float by on the Chicago River, just outside my window. Occasionally I'll open a window, and I'll toss Tootsie Rolls to the waving, chattering kids on the tour boats, or I'll take out my megaphone and tell the tour guide he's under arrest and to put his hands behind his head.
Tuesday, June 8, 2004
Triumph of the underdog is to be cheered, not jeered
Five columns for the price of one: The sports pundits of America seem to think the nation should be in mourning -- not over the death of Ronald Reagan, but over the second-place finish of Smarty Jones in the Belmont Stakes last Saturday.
Sex-driven society won't let sleeping blogs lie
'Internet sex scandal rocks U.S. Congress." -- Tuesday headline in Japan Today. In the span of a few short weeks, Jessica Cutler went from Washington nobody to semi-famous sex scandal starlet.
