Cubs win! Cubs win!

JTL and I just got back from our first ever Cubs game at Wrigley Field. It was pretty awesome. There was beer, peanuts, hotdogs, and thousands of CRAZY cubs fans in the bleacher seats where we were sitting. Nearly every person had at least one piece of Cubs paraphernalia on their person. The cake: this older chick had on a cubs jersey, earrings, and hair tie plus cubs logos/slogans written on her body and face. She was also sitting on a Cubs flag.

Highlights:

* When a member of the Reds hit a home run, someone caught it in the bleachers. Immediately everyone started yelling "THROW IT BACK! THROW IT BACK!" so the person threw it into the out field.

* They had organ music playing during the warm-up and one song was (and I shit you not) "Tell It To My Heart" by Taylor Dayne.

* One guy spilled beer on JTL and bought him a replacement. He informed us that he had been to 43 baseball games that year.

* Singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' was hilarious, everyone made the gestures and was really enthusiastic. Ditto for the national anthem (one lady held up the peace sign...)

* Everyone got a free Cubs keychain! I'm a real Chicagoan now.

* Bleacher fans can drink like no other. Everyone was double fisting beers the whole time, including during the 8th inning. Our very own JTL was one of them.

Tomorrow we're going to another game, but this time sitting in the stands. Until then, enjoy some photos of our adventure:

Home!

So JTL is coming here tomorrow and staying with me for a week. Then we're driving back to Canada. I'll be in TO from August 23-27 and then in St. Catharines from the 27 until September 2. Let me know if you to want to hang out. My schedule is pretty jam packed, particularly in St. Catharines so hanging in TO will be easier. Hopefully I'll see as many of you as possible. If not, I have 3 weeks of at Christmas so things will be a little less hectic.

Total aside: I just discovered the song 'Pepper' by the Butthole Surfers! Sad I know. Anyway, it's awesome.

Banking Pt 2

I promised a good follow-up to my last post in this series and I don't think I'm going to disappoint. Check out my new cheques for my US bank account, through Bank of America:



...of course.

Boo to John Edwards

I was really hoping these rumours weren't true because for some reason, I wanted to believe the best about Edwards. I'm too lazy to type out anything further but I'll post a comment that I think sums up my perspective that I may or may not have pulled from a gossip website:

"Look, I seriously don't give a shit who a politician bangs as long as its consensual and of the age of consent. If you cheated on your wife, that's between you and the missus. I'm more concerned with your ass serving the public in office. And when you lie about shit, it makes people think that you're going to lie about everything else.

If you know you're a public figure, and you know you're looking to be president someday - wouldn't you have the goddamn sense to keep your dick under control? God, I hate politics." - A Socialite's Life

Banking Pt 1

My goal today was to open a US bank account at the Bank of America so I could pay my bills for free online as opposed to buying cheques and stamps. Being Canadian, I knew this would be a challenge so I armed myself with a passport, my F1 visa, mail showing my name/address, etc.

Getting the account was surprisingly easy, so I got really confused. Then - the glitch. They couldn't set up my online banking and to call the head office. It turns out they won't let international students without social security numbers to bank online. Let's get this straight - I can do all the banking I want in person at the branch but I can't do the same banking online until October 1. They're doing some bank merger and after it's complete I'll be able to do my business online.

This all makes perfect sense. The best part though? I'm getting a few cheques to use for paying rent and got a preview of what they'll look like. I can't spoil the surprise but trust me, you will want to stay tuned...

Can I Please Not Die?

Seriously, how many times could I have died this year alone? Spinning out on black ice, being in a hit-and-run, and now: a tornado.

So I'm working at my computer and see this crazy lightening zigzagging across the sky and scary dark clouds outside my window. Then I hear a siren that isn't quite an ambulance but isn't quite a car alarm. Could a tornado be on the way? It was then that I felt like Bill Paxton in Twister when he's at the drive-in movie theatre and he says, 'It's already here.'

Everyone in the building had to go downstairs to the lobby and sit around a radio to listen to the weather report. We were instructed to go in the basement if the tornado was on its way. I went outside briefly [smart, I know] to check out tornado-esque weather and was impressed by the strength of the wind [which downed some trees], the volume of the thunder, and by the flooding that had almost engulfed my street.

We heard reports of two tornadoes that touched down, one of them a little too close for comfort in Logan Square:




I think this city is trying to kill me.

"The Chicago Experience"

A friend of mine [Brad] who has lived in Chicago for almost 20 years has recently taken my under his wing because he wants me to have the "Chicago Experience." By that, he means avoiding touristy stuff and seeing all the places locals go to have fun ie: restaurants, bars etc. However, the experience was meant to be more high brow than what has actually occured. Here are the highlights so far:

1. Cheese in a can: Brad had never tried cheese in a can before and thought that this would be an appropriate alternative to dinner one night. He bought 2 flavours: regular and sharp cheddar. Cheese that is sprayed out of a bottle is wrong on so many levels that I don't have time to type them all out. Needless to say, it tasted as disgusting as it looked.

2. White Castle: I had only heard of White Castle from that movie so clearly I had to eat there. White Castle for anyone who doesn't know is a fast food restaurant that is similar to McDonald's or Wendy's except everything at WC is very wee. Meaning, you could eat their little burgers in a few small bites. I managed to eat about 2 bites of a regular burger [the patty was almost as thin as paper] and one bite of a mini fish burger [hot fish juice/oil sprayed into my mouth] before calling it quits.

The burgers are 'steamed' with onions before they're put on the bun and I swear to god I tasted those onions all night long. I really got my money's worth. Apparently on Valentine's day, they actually put linen on the tables in the restaurant and have a maitre d' for couples to have a 'romantic' dinner. I know what I'm doing next February 14!

3. Indiana wedding: Last night we took a roadtrip to a wedding in Indiana. [On the way we found a roller rink that I totally want to go to!]. I wasn't sure what to expect [something along the lines of tractors, overalls, and lots of plaid] but it turns out Indiana weddings are just as terrible as St. Catharines weddings. It was your typical Ramada wedding: generic hall, hideous, ill-fitting white wedding dress, lime green vests for the groom/ushers, conga line, and typical wedding DJ music including Brown Eyed Girl, Celine Dion, and bonus - Taylor Hicks!! People were doing the white man's overbite left, right, and center. However, I knew I was in America when I saw a chick booty-popping to some rap music. Fortunately, there was an open bar so I was safe. I did meet some interesting characters at the wedding including a few saucy old ladies who gave me hugs and told me to dance to the 'young people music.'