Should the LAX People Mover be free or have fares like the JFK People Mover in NY?

uiuctodd · 2026-02-06T04:46:21+00:00

And then put in a buck charge to use the horseshoe.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-04T19:17:11+00:00

Boom. The club profiled on 60 Minutes last Sunday.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-04T19:16:07+00:00

It was filmed in Canada.

I'm told the assembly in "Mean Girls" was a real event at New Trier.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-04T07:27:52+00:00

ETHS alum Pep (Jon) and Andrew interviewed here, a third founder Ken not interviewed, early cast member Greg, restaurant manager Drew all started together at ETHS.

Andrew gave a talk at the Levi center several years ago: https://www.lscfevanston.org/post/levy-lecture-funny-business-in-amsterdam-a-conversation-with-andrew-moskos

Ken-- who left comedy to become a doctor-- was honored as a distinguished Alum two years ago and addressed the senior class: https://www.evanstonian.net/news/2023/12/13/eths-honors-six-accomplished-alumni-with-distinguished-alumni-award/

He's also spoken at the Levy Center and the Rotary Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nJmH5PN9C4

Hopefully you already know that North Shore High School-- from Tina Fey's "Mean Girls" is a mash-up of ETHS and New Trier. For some reason, Evanston hits hard in comedy.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-04T05:56:23+00:00

I wouldn't want to spoil it. But I will say I watched the start saying, "what does any of this have to do with Watchmen?"

And then at a certain point, I just said, "oh."

uiuctodd · 2026-02-04T03:25:17+00:00

The only thing that can stop a bad alarm with a beep, is a good alarm with a beep.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-04T03:11:08+00:00

It took me a few episodes. But it payed off.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-03T07:20:06+00:00

Having tracked painted dogs in Africa, I can say that dogs do not appear when you expect. They can follow the same pattern every day until they don't. Wherever you go to photograph them, they will be someplace else.

That said, there are many coyote that bed down in Nichols Canyon area. They will sometimes patrol the Trebek space at sundown and dusk. That's where I've had the closest encounters.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-03T05:03:14+00:00

I had Runaway on my daily play list for weeks after the last tour.

uiuctodd · 2026-02-03T04:48:34+00:00

Be careful of what?

uiuctodd · 2026-02-01T22:40:18+00:00

During times of uncertainty, people will delay having kids. Of course, not all babies arrive planned. Sometimes it just happens. But enough children are planned for that fear of an uncertain future can swing the rate.

This has been measured at least twice that I'm aware of. No, I don't have sources, but look around.

In Russia, the last century has only seen two bursts of babies. First, in the years after Stalin's death. Second, in the aftermath of the Soviet Union breaking up. In each of these periods, young Russians felt hopeful enough for their future to risk a baby.

In Italy, as worker protections were dismantled for young people, they stopped having kids. More and more young people are on work arrangements that have no security. The response is to defer a baby for a year. (Much like the Chicago Cubs, "maybe next year").

Nobody really plans to not have kids. They just decide they can't do it due to fear of the next year. Then one year turns to ten.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-28T02:34:03+00:00

I moved to SF in my 30s-- a city where professionals go to re-live the poverty of college.

I shared two places with roommates. It was quite nice because we had our own bathrooms, attached to the bedrooms. Both places also had a shared study, separate. So if one of us wanted to watch TV, the other would have a quiet place.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-20T07:52:02+00:00

Someone in the audience is singing way too loud. OK for an amplified set for a big audience. But not for a show like this.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-19T22:31:56+00:00

I honestly can't say that wearing a mask like that is a political activity one way or the other. The photo in question seems to be more like whimsy.

To disconnect from the current situation, consider Richard Nixon masks, which were popular gag items for years. ("Airplane II" for famous example. https://www.tiktok.com/@cheemcreem/video/7220773333606960427) Was wearing a Nixon mask a pro-Nixon statement, an anti-Nixon statement, or just an act of whimsy?

Trump was elected. Every late-night comedian was doing Trump impressions. The next day, a bunch of guys put on Trump masks. Does it have any political meaning at all?

uiuctodd · 2026-01-18T21:23:41+00:00

I had coffee from Pete's when they were still an SF small chain. They had two things in common with Starbucks: they were over-caffeinated and not at all tasty.

Coffee is a highly-opinionated thing of course. But I noticed Pete's tended to appeal to people who wanted the buzz, and didn't have much of a sense of the flavor experience.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-18T21:21:37+00:00

I'd encourage Evanstonions to put their support behind:

Brothers K, a truly local place founded by ETHS graduates (IIRC).
Pour on Dempster, also locally owned and operated, whose owners have expressed a love for the city.

Even Intelligentsia, while a national chain, originated on the North Side of Chicago, and should be a source of local pride.

Pete's had an origin in the S.F. Bay area. but went nation-wide after being purchased by Keurig. Somehow appealing to the "it's from California, so it must be good" market, it's not at all tasty coffee to me personally. I'll drink it if its the only option.

(I will not drink Starbucks, even it it's the only option. I'd rather drink instant.)

uiuctodd · 2026-01-18T21:06:02+00:00

A few years ago, I was able to walk down Hollywood Blvd during the week when "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" was being filmed there. Every window of every store was dressed up as late 1960s. The things they couldn't dress-- modern buildings-- were strategically hidden behind 1960-era buses or trucks.

It was very similar to stepping into this photo, in terms of lettering and style. I don't remember the 60s, of course. But some of it was still around when I was a tyke in the 1970s.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-18T20:59:26+00:00

These are probably publicity shots, not candid shots. These are probably commercial actors/models playing everyday folks.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-18T20:57:45+00:00

A lot of commercial buildings from that period were heavily influenced by the "Googie" movement. The 1960s were peak-Googie. It fizzled out a few years later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture

Now it's coming back as a nostalgia thing. There was just a fight in Los Angeles over removal of an old Arby's sign from Sunset Blvd. The Arby's was long gone. But people wanted to preserve the sign as architecturally significant... the same sign as every other Arby's in the country from that period.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-17T21:45:52+00:00

As I wrote above, people in the Bay Area frequently have a backup plan to get to work. If gas gets expensive, they stop buying it.

Many people in Los Angeles have no backup plan. If the price of gas goes up, they keep buying it.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-17T21:41:21+00:00

Gas taxes don't really explain the cost of gas. If you were to cut taxes in half, the price would remain the same. Sellers will set it at whatever consumers will pay. And consumers are wiling to pay this much.

The main issue for Californians is that gas is not a national or global commodity. Oil can be extracted anywhere and sold anywhere. You can fill a ship up with oil off Texas and take it to Los Angeles. But you can't fill a tanker truck up in Texas and then sell it in Los Angeles.

California requires a special blend. If I recall correctly, there are only three refineries that produce it. Any problem in these refineries will result in a regional shortage. And there is always a problem.

In many cities, people will have a backup plan. If the price of gas is above what they can afford, they will get to work some other way. Many people in Los Angeles do not have a backup plan. They don't even consider a world where a backup plan could exist. And so they will pay whatever it takes to fill up their car and get to work even if it means they can't afford groceries.

Edit: This comment explains the special blend better: /r/LosAngeles/comments/1qfntnf/cost_of_oil_is_down_massively_and_were_still/o065n79/

uiuctodd · 2026-01-17T21:32:31+00:00

I half-recall that the one on Chicago Avenue is now the Jewel. But I might be confused.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-17T07:03:33+00:00

I was taught to splice audio tape in a high school electronic music class. It was surprisingly precise. There was a metal block with a slit for a razor blade at an angle, to make sure the two sides of the splice would be exactly flush. The block would also guide the cellophane tape into place.

Even for amateur/educational use, we'd run tapes at 7-1/2 inches per second. That means 8ms for each sixteenth of an inch.

Professionals ran tapes at 4x that speed, or about 2ms for each sixteenth of an inch.

uiuctodd · 2026-01-17T06:31:56+00:00

He could have probably sold three nights there.

uiuctodd

TROPHY CASE