There are 56 vendors at the Taste of Chicago, and only one of them is serving a hot dog. Hard to believe, right? But the encased meat goodness doesn't stop there. In honor of July being National Hot Dog Month, I thought I'd list some of my favorite booths to grab a dog or a sausage throughout the taste...

Vienna Beef / Gold Coast Dogs
Various Locations
Booth 27

Again, Gold Coast is the only booth serving up a traditional hot dog. You can get one Chicago Style, or even order their Fire Dog. But whatever you do, do not ask for any ketchup!

Continue reading The Taste's Encased Meats - in honor of National Hot Dog Month! »

...and we're furiously editing the half-hour program. It has incredible potential. The soldiers I talked to in Afghanistan what seems like a thousand years ago were unbelievably honest and open about their work, their lives, their thoughts.

I got the impression it was nice for them to have somebody from home to talk to about what they do and how they feel about it, somebody who -unlike their fellow soldiers- didn't automatically understand, but had a genuine interest. That would be me, alright, and I came by it quite honestly. It's tough not to find an experience like that fascinating on a whole lot of levels. It's good to have your eyes opened every once in a while. That's the great thing about what I do. I think the troops were also glad to have somebody carrying their thoughts home- letting people know they're making a difference in the world and that they're enthusiastic about that. It's a big sacrifice- not just for them, but for their friends and families.

Since I'm being so honest, let me also say that writing this thing has been a BEAR- and I still don't feel like I'm done -like I'm truly doing the story justice- but I'm doing my best. I was here banging away at it until 1:30 this morning and back in at 8. Thursday's coming fast, and I have the feeling we'll be making changes right down to the wire. But I honestly believe in the importance of this- that -for one thing- great human sacrifice should not go unrecognized. Afghanistan is the war we have not heard enough about. Not yet, anyway. I hope folks will tune in to hear a little bit more Thursday night at 9:30.

Hopefully the show will be ready. Just kidding-- it'll be ready.. or I'll be going back to Afghanistan looking for work!

Continue reading 7 rewrites later... »

It's Taste of Chicago Thursday, and the crowd is officially pouring in. I thought I'd compile three "taste portion" meals you can have here at the Taste for a total of 12 tickets ($8). You can blow your entire 12 ticket strip on a Celebration Funnel Cake if you want (not recommended), but I think you should get those legs moving and hit at least three booths. Here is a short list of a few three-course "taste portion meals" for you.....oh, and don't forget to bring your own water!
Continue reading Taste for $8: Three-course "Taste Portion" meals... »

This probably has something to do with it. Suddenly, the large crowds have descended upon Grant Park. The last few days have been pretty nice, but it looks like people are taking long 4th of July weekends. Here's a little video of me trying to walk through the masses...



I don't know what's worse, the people eating while walking the wrong direction, or the TV guy holding his camera running into them. Sorry!

Uhhhhhh, no it's not, but all of your friends can try their hand at Rock Band all week long. And trust me, you're probably much better than these two....



My favorite part is the little kid drumming, staring in the opposite direction. I think we might be hearing about a "rock band breakup" soon. Hilarious.

I managed to catch local rockers Reverie attracting a big crowd over at the Best Buy stage. Here's their performance of "Carousel." You can see more of them at myspace.com/reverieone.

Continue reading Leshock Value Review: "Public Enemies" 4/10 »

The Monday Movie Quarterback took last week off on account of being embedded at the Taste of Chicago. 100,000 lbs. of BBQ Turkey Leg later, the Quarterback is loaded and ready to go. It was a real barn burner at the holiday box office this weekend. Personally, I had "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" rolling all over "Ice Age 3," but the 3-D toon proved much more popular than I imagined. Here's how the too-close-to-call weekend shaped up:

1 (Tied). Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - $42.5 million
1 (Tied). Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $42.5 million
3. Public Enemies - $26.1 million
4. The Proposal - $12.7 million
5. The Hangover - $10.4 million

Next weekend brings a very interesting predicament. Can Sasha Baron Cohen repeat his "Borat" success and take the #1 spot?
Continue reading Monday Movie Quarterback: 7/6/09! »

If you tuned into tonight's WGN Evening News at 5:30 p.m., you heard us talk about all kinds of fun new gadgets hitting store shelves soon. But one story really peaked my interest. Whenever science finds a way to preserve history, it's always worth a mention.

The Codex Sinaiticus

Better known as the oldest Bible in existence, this hand written work has survived since the 4th century, around the time of Constantine the Great.

For the past four years, scientists and scholars have painstakingly restored and digitized what's left of this great work. On the website you can look up specific chapters and zoom in and out. You can even change the light value for each page. More from the AP story....

As it survives today, Codex Sinaiticus comprises just over 400 large leaves of prepared animal skin, each of which measures 15 inches by 13.5 inches (380 millimeters by 345 millimeters). It is the oldest book that contains a complete New Testament and is only missing parts of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha.



You can see the work for yourself here. They're experiencing heavy traffic right now so the site is pretty slow, but give it some time. It's worth the wait.

As for the rest of this week's Tech Talk.....
Continue reading Tech Talk: The oldest bible, the thinnest TV's, and a new iPhone Twitter app! »

Last night I was sitting on my couch, flipping through the television, and I came across "There's Something About Mary." I remembered how "edgy" that film felt when it came out. But four days after watching "Bruno," I felt like I was watching the Care Bears. How times have changed.

I have no idea how Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" received an R rating. It's as close as a movie can come to an NC-17. There is plenty of full frontal nudity, extreme closeups of all kinds of nether-regions, and the lowest-of-low brow humor we've seen in movies. "Bruno" is offensive, immature, and just plain wrong. That said - I laughed. A lot.
Continue reading Leshock Value Review: "Bruno" 4/10 »

 

Tonight on WGN News, you'll see my visit to the Ball Fore Mini Golf Course in south suburban Worth. This weekend, the U.S. Pro Mini Golf Association will be there all weekend, hosting their U.S. Open. Professional miniature golfers from around the world will be competing for $2,000 in prizes. Competition kicks off on Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m. if you'd like to watch. Unfortunately the deadline to register for $100 was yesterday.

On another note, organizers tell me that Andy Richter, famous announcer/sidekick on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" is scheduled to make an appearance. They say he'll probably be taping a segment for the show. These golfers are serious, but they're a very good time. So if Andy does come out I'm sure it'll make a hilarious piece.

If you happen to see him out there, or just experience Pro Mini Golf in all its glory, be sure to let me know how it went!

ESPN Zone is celebrating 10 years of operation at Ohio and Wabash today. They're giving out free desserts with a $10 Game Card purchase, but more important, they're unveiling their list of the Top 10 Chicago Sports Moments of the past 10 years. They polled their customers both online and in the restaurant over the past month, and the result is this Top 10 list they emailed to us earlier today....
Continue reading ESPN Zone's Top 10 Chicago Sports Moments of the Past 10 Years »

Tonight on the WGN Evening News at 5:30, I took a tour of the legendary S. Rosen's bakery - where they make their famous hot dog buns. These aren't just any hot dog buns, S. Rosen's supplies 90% of Chicago's hot dog stands with their buns. In fact, they make about 90,000 buns an hour at this place. It's pretty amazing. Above you'll see a video I put together of our entire tour, how they make the buns from start to finish.

It's the latest of our "We Made" series. A few weeks back I showed you how they made Gelato at Ristorante Al Teatro.

We were at S. Rosen's because this week they're fronting a major charity initiative. In honor of their 100 year anniversary, all week long they're donating 10 cents of each bun they sell to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Northern Illinois Food Bank, America's Second Harvest of Wisconsin, Northwest Indiana Food Bank, and the Chicago Anti-Hunger Foundation. They're hoping to sell 1 million buns, which would raise $100,000 total. You can buy S. Rosen's buns in most grocery stores, and in more than 1,700 hot dog stands across Chicagoland. It's national hot dog month, so grab a dog for a good cause.

Last night on the WGN News at 9, I took a trip to an upscale Chicago fashion show - for dogs. Gay Roberts is the owner of Barque Canine Couture, a new company she created after discovering how frustrating it was to find fantastic threads for her Yorkie. She hosted a fashion show yesterday (in the clip above) to showcase the latest in hot doggie duds. In case you saw something you liked, here's how you can get your hands on it...


Continue reading Barque Canine Couture hosts fashion show - for dogs »

From the Barque Canine Couture fashion show a few days ago. Puppies wearing all kinds of wild outfits. Cut to music. Oh snap.

The second-to-last book in the "Harry Potter" series, "The Half Blood Prince," spawned one of the famous viral-videos of all time. It has now spawned the fastest grossing "Potter" movie yet, taking in an impressive $159 million in its first five days. Some were hoping it would pass "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's" near-record 5 day haul, but sadly that wouldn't happen. I say sadly because any movie that makes us forget about "Transformers 2" will be a blessing. And I mean ANY movie. Bring on a "Hannah Montana" sequel or something. So here's how the box office shook out:

1. Harry Potter 73 - $79 million
2. Ice Age 3 - $17
3. Transformers 2 - $13
4. Bruno - $8
5. The Hangover $8

The big story here has to be "Bruno," which took a complete nose dive and dropped 80% of its first weekend gross. Ouch. Even though the film was inexpensive to make, with all the marketing costs and time spent, Universal must be hurting with those numbers. Looks like the movie was a little too much for people to take in twice. We'll see how the DVD sales go.

Now let's get predicting for next week.....
Continue reading Monday Movie Quarterback 7/20: Heeeeeloooo, Potter! »

Two big blows for Beastie Boys fans today.

First, Adam "MCA" Yauch posts a YouTube video saying he has cancer of his salivary gland.

Next, they announce they will be canceling all of their summer shows and postponing an upcoming album, including their headlining gig at Lollapalooza. And while this is a HUGE blow to an already thin Lolla lineup, let's remember that the important thing is for Yauch to focus on fighting his cancer, and to spend as much time as possible with his family and friends.

Life is short. Less Adam now hopefully means more Beastie Boys later. I'll be sure to post who fills into the Beastie Boys slot as that information becomes available.

 

There's a new program at the Shedd Aquarium that lets you wade into the water with their famous Beluga Whales. It's called the Beluga Encounter and they just started the program earlier this month. The Shedd hosted a media preview yesterday, and I strapped on my wetsuit and tried it out for myself yesterday. You can see my experience in the video above. Continue reading Touch a Beluga Whale at the Shedd Aquarium »

I was in Lincoln Park yesterday afternoon, shooting an interview at Chicago's Dog House, a new hot dog stand opened by a young DePaul University alum. My phone went off, I took a call, and I was running out the door to get down to U.S. Cellular Field. White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle had thrown a perfect game, just the 18th time it had happened in Major League Baseball history. Pretty rare feat.

Continue reading Mark Buehrle throws Perfect Game, White Sox fans celebrate! »

Guinea Pig surprise - sounds like something out of your high school cafeteria, right? Turns out it was the recipe for success at the weekend box office. Yes I was wrong. Like (hopefully) millions of others I had thought "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" would hang on to the top spot for another week. But I was underestimating a few things - 1) The power of the animated animal, and 2) Animated animals in 3-D. I really hope you parents had fun at "G-Force" this weekend, because I foresee more than a few of those trips in the future. Here's how the box office shook out:

1. "G-Force" - $32 million
2. "Harry Potter 73" - $30 million
3. "The Ugly Truth" - $27 million
4. "Orphan" - $12 million
5. "Ice Age 3" - $8 million

Oh, and I dare you to watch that above video all the way through. Now about next week....

Continue reading Monday Movie Quarterback 7/27: Guinea Pig Surprise! »

Chicago's Dog House
816 W. Fullerton (right near the intersection of Fullerton/Halsted/Lincoln)
Chicago, IL
(773) 248-3647

Last Thursday I went to check out Chicago's Dog House after plenty of positive buzz was showered my way. It's the creation of two recent college grads (Ryan D'Arcy of Depaul, and Aaron Wolfson of Columbia College). The Dog House offers your traditional Chicago style hot dogs, but also a few specialty dogs and sausages.

The specialty dogs run $3.50 and include my favorite so far, the French Poodle - which features brie cheese, a sliced pear, and a zesty, Grey Poupon like mustard. It has a little spice from the mustard that is offset by the pear, but the brie cheese is the real star. A fun, yet tasty creation.

They also offer dogs with a sense of humor to them, like the Mayor Daley, complete with Irish cheddar and caramelized onions. Then there's the Blagojevich - a Chicago style hot dog featuring one strange ingredient - ketchup. It looks all there, but there's just something that ain't right.

As for the sausages, they feature an alligator, a prime rib, and the regular variety. All come with different toppings that are made fresh in house. Chicago's Dog House is definitely unique, but the first comparison has to be Hot Doug's, whose owner Doug Sohn has carved a niche in the specialty encased-meats market.

Owner Ryan D'Arcy told me that he respects Hot Doug's, but he's not in direct competition with them. Doug's is a little ways up the road, and he hopes there is more than enough room for two fancy-schmansy doggie shops to succeed in such a big hot dog market. If the positive reviews all over the internet are a sign of things to come, Chicago's Dog House won't have to worry.

Watch my visit to Chicago's Dog House on tonight's WGN News at 5:30 and 9:00.

 

On tonight's WGN News at 5:30, I'll be reporting on the Lake County Fair. Though it's technically celebrating its 81st year this week, officials tell me the fair's been around in some form for about 150! They're also set up in a brand new location, the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, on the corner of Peterson and Midlothian (1060 E. Peterson to be exact).

If you want to check it out, it's going on everyday through Sunday with various events on each day. The hours are from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., again, with different events scheduled at different times. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for the kids.

You'll find the fair's official website here. For the full schedule of events, click here.

Sometimes these interviews are just too good to sit on a tape. Behold the Lake County kid dragging her Grandfather from ride to ride at the Lake County Fair, just a year after his heart transplant. You can tell they're both living life and loving every minute of it.