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

My first roommate in Chicago is now the Saturday morning anchor on WBEZ.

First, I hate hate HATE when businesses stuff fliers/business cards/menus in our gate and our door handles. Hate it. Fuck you, businesses. I keep a list, so I can be sure to never give money to any business that litters my front stoop with their garbage.

But okay, second, I got a flier for... what is this for... real estate appraisals, I think, and the business website is www.propertytaxtohigh.com. Yeah, with that kind of attention to detail, I'm definitely going to hire you to appraise my property.

Assholes.

You sure do have a lot of opinions.

I'll opinion you.

I hate that too. So wasteful and assumes that I'm too stupid to google "food delivery".

Despite my many calls to the Trib, we still get the Red Eye delivered to our house (quote from my last attempt: "Please, stop delivering the Red Eye. It is a terrible paper. It makes me actually sad when I see it on my door step."), plus various sales fliers and our upstairs neighbors never EVER pick these up, which irks me. They are p nice and way better than upstairs neighbors of the past so I try to get over it, but it is a thing.

LOL at Bees!

They should call their pledge drive "the honey drive."

We met P3trr silbermn and chatted re weather and backing up a uhaul trailer <3.

What's up folks?

The Tree of Life was so good you guys. Also, I was at a birthday BBQ this weekend and they had a jugband play, a jugband! Initially I wanted to rmde at the hipsters with the washboards and homemade bass, but there was actually something sort of endearing about the whole scene.

I guess I'm surprised re Tree of Life.

Eric Z. saw the Lakeview deer, by the way. I hope he posts a pic. He saw it on the same street, but one day later. Or maybe it was another deer?

What are you surprised by? I liked it a lot, too.

It looks like cheesy Oscar bait if you don't know who Terrence Malik is.

True. I remember getting the initial trailer for this mixed up with that Nicole Kidman one where her son dies.

It's just a lousy fact of life with Hollywood movies: directors do not often make their own trailers. Marketing hacks make trailers, so a movie with vision is often going to be dumbed down and simplified.

Not sure if this is the same deer I saw:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5925664-423/deer-starts-family-in-trendy-boystown.html

Oh, I haven't seen the trailer.

Wow. I can't believe they're just leaving the deer there. Be safe little deer family.

Re: Tree of Life - posters w/ Brad Pitt holding a child. I saw the poster and rolled my eyes so hard at the cheesy Oscar-baitness of it, I almost missed Malik's name.

Anyway, not a criticism of Malik at all - just explaining how the marketing could misinform a potential consumer and lead to surprise on learning it was good.

It looks like cheesy Oscar bait if you don't know who Terrence Malik is.
Tooooootally -- but Malick always makes movies that ostensibly look like Oscar bait, but are way weirder than that when you actually watch them. Days of Heaven was so fuzzy and beautiful and glamorized poor people. I mean, that's Oscar bait, right? Thin Red Line -- tons of men, war movie, ridiculous amt of famous people crammed into it -- Oscar bait!

The New World, too! Oh, it's like Last of the Mohicans! But with Pocahontas! But then it's really weird and beautiful and dreamy and not like an Oscar movie at all.

New World was good?!?!

It's been a few years, but I liked it a lot.

I ask b/c the trailers made it look exactly like you said.

It is not at all like the trailers suggest.

You still might not like it bc I think it could maybe be boring if you're not in the right frame of mind.

Tell me more things that will surprise me.

I liked New World too. Did not much care for Thin Red Line though, on account of unreasonable use of Hollywood stars for no apparent reason.

Tell me more things that will surprise me.

I've never eaten sushi.

A movie with Sean Penn (Thin Red Line) or Brad Pitt (Tree of Life) isn't going to run for just a week at the Music Box, so the studio ends up cutting a trailer that won't scare away everyone but us.

On the other hand, when a director has a hand in a trailer, you get this, which freaked me out when I was 10 years old and going to see a George Burns comedy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6qDqdYY6-Y

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL8LI-h2WFc

sean penn is in both!

thin red line is seething with stars:

Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification

Nick Nolte ... Lt. Col. Gordon Tall

James Caviezel ... Pvt. Witt (as Jim Caviezel)

Sean Penn ... 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh

Elias Koteas ... Capt. James 'Bugger' Staros

Ben Chaplin ... Pvt. Bell

Dash Mihok ... Pfc. Doll (don't know who this is tbh)

John Cusack ... Capt. John Gaff

Adrien Brody ... Cpl. Fife

John C. Reilly ... Sgt. Storm

Woody Harrelson ... Sgt. Keck

Miranda Otto ... Marty Bell (look, a woman)

Jared Leto ... 2nd Lt. Whyte

John Travolta ... Brig. Gen. Quintard

George Clooney ... Capt. Charles Bosche

Nick Stahl ... Pfc - Beade (I think I remember this guy?)

Thomas Jane ... Pvt. Ash (as Tom Jane)

Elias Koteas ... Capt. James 'Bugger' Staros

Ben Chaplin ... Pvt. Bell

hunka city, but the movie still bored me

Wait, that's not it. It's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yUwXwrR35U

The Thin Red Line is the only Malick I haven't seen, but wasn't it the case that a ton of dudes in that film ended up on the cutting-room floor? IIRC, Adrien Brody thought he was the lead but only ended up having like two or three lines.

Penn's part in TTOL is also much smaller than I expected.

That Shining trailer freaked me out just now.

I'm pretty sure Sloane posts on ILM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPcudaoGwtk&feature=player_embedded#at=47

The trailer for the Shining is amazing and makes me watch to watch the movie, even though I've seen it 1,000 times.

The trailer for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is kind of nauseating. I need them to hold a shot for more than one second. Barf.

I know this doesn't look quite right, but a few sources are saying that Bono was at the giant furniture/decor show at the Merchandise Mart today.

But maybe that photo doesn't look right because his mouth isn't open.

Ha!

Jenny is Sloane the person who made that video?

no sloane is the "icon" kid
that's a cute video
whatever age those older kids are is my favorite kid age -- 10, 11? blonde girl ("next next next level") looked about 12 maybe.

Oh, duh. Are kids way smarter these days than when we were kids??

No, it's a kid with very precocious opinions about Lady Gaga. xp

(I just spent like 10 minutes trying to remember the word "precocious." All I could think of was promiscuous. I am so tired.)

Jesse, Chicago tonight reported last night that Chicago Animal Care and Control is keeping an eye on the deer family, so I think they will be safe.

i just found a video of my dad on youtube and it's kinda freaking me out

That ain't Bono. (The real one's been in New York for the last few days.)

I kinda wanna see Pete and Lutz from 30 Rock do improv, but it's $20 and late on weeknights.

I'm no expert on deer habitat, but I just can't help but wonder why they don't move them to the woods! I don't want the doe to get hit by a car, leaving the fawns to be raised by an air conditioner.