Chicago: They paved a fetid swamp/and put up a parking lot

Seconded. Some of my family members have spent a lot of their limited money and put a lot of hope into alternative medicine of various degrees of outrageousness, so sorry if I'm being harsh.

i'm still happy to talk to you about acupuncture even if you think i am a stupid fruity monster :)

you're all fruity and brainwashed

there, I said it

I'd like to know what I said/did to deserve this designation, please.

so is there going to be a ballgame at Wrigley tnite?

btw my next visit will probably be next summer, going to or from the baseball nuts' convention in Minneapolis. Prepare now.

dan it's guilt by association
sorry about that

wait, no i'm not
all fruit no shame

Chicago, all fruits, the rest nuts

I thought about Morbs when I saw the final score last night.

you're all fruity and brainwashed

there, I said it

Have you considered a cleanse to rid yourself of toxins and negativity?

Chicago Cleanse: nothing but Malort, giardiniera, and fresh lake water for seven days, followed by an Chicago dog all the way on day eight. Then we bury your corpse on Northerly Island.

Too bad today is the last Oprah, otherwise she'd probably make you and your Cleanse a Favorite Thing.

Sometimes I want to poll Subway workers and hear all the ways people have tried to pronounce "giardiniera" because I've heard some howlers myself. My favorite was "that garden yeara stuff".

Patent pending, trademarked, and copyrighted!!

I don't know how to pronounce giardiniera. :(

I find that hard to believe.

jardiNERa

I'm serious! I never knew definitively whether it got a hard or soft "g" and whether you pronounced the "I" in the first syllable (like giardia).

One site I saw says jahr-dee-NYAY-rah but others say it just like I did above, the only difference being "NYAY" v. "NAIR." I'm more right.

giardia near-ya

I say "zhar-dih-NAIR-uh."

Don't drink Chicago river water. You'll get giardiniarasis.

It is when your red blood cells turn into pickled carrots.

dangit, I wanted to make a giardia joke

There is room for more giardia jokes ITT IMHO.

Have you considered a cleanse to rid yourself of toxins and negativity?

Chicago Cleanse: nothing but Malort, giardiniera, and fresh lake water for seven days, followed by an Chicago dog all the way on day eight. Then we bury your corpse on Northerly Island.

Stop making me LOL at work.

oh man, I just realized I've been to Northerly Island

I always thought it mildly amusing that they dye the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day. IT'S ALWAYS GREEN. If you drink Chicago River water, I believe you turn into a leprechaun, regardless of the day of the year.

Northerly island is fine to run around. I've never seen more than a couple of people out there at a time.

Fine = fun

xxp It's just that if you drink it on St. Patrick's day, it comes with a complimentary pot of gold. Like a gift bag backstage at the Oscars.

And yes, Northerly Island is great exactly because it's an abandoned wasteland of native tall grasses. It's the best place in the city to stargaze as well, because there's very little light pollution. It's a place of nothing, and the world needs those.

I'm assuming you guys are talking about Northerly Island when it isn't converted to a miserable outdoor venue for 311 concerts.

I've never been to a miserable 311 concert there, so I wouldn't know.

I was there once for a concert I was covering for a website I used to write for (two dudes from Phish, lol) and it was pretty miserable (horrible sound, not very well run, etc). Thankfully can't speak to how much more miserable it would be with 311, just seems like those guys play there every summer.

There's a certain base level of misery inherent in being within hearing distance of 311, so.

I don't believe I've ever been to Northerly Island. FYI.

I have, I wouldn't exactly call it an abandoned wasteland. It's more of a pier covered with grass.

Nitpicking.

just sayin', the southwest side around the shipping canal is way way more wasted, if not actually abandoned

Being from the UP, Dan knows from abandoned wastelands.

let me tell you about stampsand

no but seriously even w/o being all UP on you guys there are multiple superfund sites all over this city & those seem a little more like abandond wastelands in my mind, ymmv

For the millionth time: My last ex-boyfriend's (the younger, non-redneck, party time one) favorite band ever was 311.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-DNt7RKuyI

Seems like such a weird band to have as a favorite ever band. I dated a girl in college who was way into them, but this was also right at their commerical peak and I don't think even then she would have said they were her favorite ever.

ardent 311 fans are disgusting savages

This is not in debate here.

I was on NI for a mini-festival and it had some interesting stuff to the side, but the main stage act at the end was DJ TIESTO

needless to say, we got off the island

They were his fave in 2001.

For the millionth time: My last ex-boyfriend's (the younger, non-redneck, party time one) favorite band ever was 311.

I am reading this as though you are exasperated by having to tell us again, like "For the millionth time, no running in the house!"

I had the 311 album with Down on it and I'm pretty sure I saw them live at least once in the 90s but I was on a lot of drugs back then.

I also owned the G Love and Special Sauce album and saw him live more than once.

To my credit, I have never owned anything by 311 or attended a concert, despite being in the exact demographic (in high school 1995-1999, in Iowa) that they probably count as their base.

Don't make me have to tell you again. Xp