Diary of a Newspaper Hawk

Yesterday in the Loop blew my mind. 49 years ago, I was too young to get it. But as I sat slugging papers, a man comes up to me, maybe 70 years old, and tells me he wants a copy of every newspaper. Old school Italian guy named Alfredo. He gave it all to me the way my dad would have explained it. This was at 6:00 am. "What are you doing here now?" I asked. "I want a good spot. Gonna be a crowd today, and I don't have 49 years in me for the next one." "Right here's a good spot," I said. He pulled out his folded chair, and I sat on me, and we talked until we had to stand and cheer. It beats hearing about Blagojevich and those whiners who are all in a tizzy about Sarah Palin's boobs. If I want conversation about nothing, I can just hook into whatever Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber is talking about. Congratulations Chicago Blackhawks. Search Amazon.com for Blackhawks Gear

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone? Not much here in Chicago whether's she's here or not. Warmer temps don't mean sun. They mean slush.   Stories about the dark side of Chicago continue. Terrorism suspects . Cops who tortue suspects . Corrupt lawyers going to prison . How much the Chicago Bears suck .   And this isn't getting into our corrupt politics. President Obama, Illinois' holy child, hasn't done squat for Chicago. We are not better of than we were in 2008 under George Bush. Unemployment is worse, state and city politics is as bad as when Blago tried to sell Obama's seat. So Mr. Yes We Can is just Mr. I Hope We Will.  

You heard the news. The Chicago Tribune (whose papers I love to sell) sold the Cubbies. It happens. Trib wasn't doing it right, plus they aren't selling enough papers, let me tell you. Do I care? No. Who owns the Cubs? The fans do. Not Tommy Rickert. Don't get me wrong. He pays the bills, and will make some money. No one believes him when he said they would go to the World Series. That's bar talk. Still, he is planning to improve the food and johns. That's a good thing. So welcome, Tom Rickert. Get it done right.

Been looking around. What do I see? Crabby people who don't know how good they've got it. So what, the Cubbies are being sold? You think they'd be sold if they were making tons of money? No way. Why aren't they making tons? Because the present management can't get the job done. The White Sox take it all the way. What do Cubs fans do? Whine about a guy named Bartman who had a ball land in his lap. Bears fans are no better. They gripe about QBs. It could be worse. We could've had Brett Favre. Instead, all they got on their lips are two words: Nineteen. Eightyfive. What's that? Right. 24 years ago. It ain't just sports. Politics too. Whoa is me, whoa is the nation, whoa is the world. I call talk show lemmings. The Pied Piper of the Air Waves gets on, complains about the president. This year, they hate Obama. Last year, it was Bush. Their supporters can't hear any wrong, and their detractors can't hear anything good. Both blame the media, but it is t...

The heat is like the cold. Papers just don't sell. Papers sell when people got time, and they linger. In the heat, they move inside. They don't mess around with dropping me a buck and grabbing a Trib or a Times. Cold days, rainy days -- everyone expects this. But on a hot day, a business guy in a suit? He wants nothing to do with humidity. And let me tell you, that's Chicagoland, and whatever Chicagoland has got going on, th Loop is loaded with it. Heat, and the humidity off the lake. It's not all bad news. Just because one plugger is struggling doesn't mean we all are. Take Mohammed A. Sekhani. He's a waiter at Gibson's . Nice joint. Steakhouse. Top rate, I'm told. I don't eat there, but Johnny Depp does. A meat eater. Depp left him $4,000 to say thanks for good service. What if that happened to me? It would change my life. Want more? See Stella Foster's article. Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy [Blu-ray]

Now no one out there who knows Chicago doesn't Koko. Know the blues? You know Koko. Know anything about music? Maybe, maybe not. She wasn't famous like Bach, but she is a legend like Elvis. Koko's dead. I saw her in a few blues bars over the years, and caught her from the lawn seats at the Chicago Blues Fest . The Chicago Tribune collected what others are saying . They describe her Koko Taylor, born Cora Walton in Memphis, Tennessee, moved to Chicago in 1955 and is known as Queen of the Blues. In 1966, she had a major hit with her cover of Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle (see video below)," a tune that's since become a signature hit for her. Her smoky, almost-masculine-like vocals have influenced some of the most revered female singers around, including Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin. Even now, at 79, she pretty much owns the blues scene, having won 25 W.C. Hardy Awards (now known as the Blues Music Awards), more than any other artist.

Ain't no good way of saying what needs saying: This guy is an embarrassment to Chicago's finest. Worse than the thugs popping guns in the hood because he claims to be a good man. He's not, as evidenced here . Anthony Abbate claimed self-defense. She weighs 125. He weighs 250. Apparently, if it was self-defense, he's not much of a man either. Man up, pal. The Chicago cops are a fine bunch. Not this chump.