Articles by " Jeff M. Beck"

Battling winter humdrum via the air, land and sea

Apr 29, 2011 by     Comments Off    Posted under: Current, Summer

Winston Churchill once said in one of the most famous speeches of the second world war, “we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

In a lot of ways, this quote is analogous with a Chicagoan’s take on summer in the Chi. For months we are pounded with unforgiving snow and winds (blitzkrieg, anyone?). Finally, when we believe all could very well be lost, the month of June arrives. Much like Churchill’s speech did for the Allies, June fills residents of Chicago with a newfound hope. The warmer weather gives us the will to conquer the evils that are the wintertime blues, finally giving us the strength to proclaim:

We shall fight the wintertime blues on the lake, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength while watching the airshow, we defend our dogparks, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the lakefront beaches, we shall fight on the bike paths, we shall fight in the baseball fields and in the street festivals, we shall fight in museums, which are free on certain days; we shall never surrender.

Summer battleplans have been drawn, and ChicagoLoopster can’t wait to deploy them. So, without further adieu, here are some ways to defeat the axis of evil that is a Chicago winter via the air, land and sea (or lake).

AIR


HistoryofAirandWatershow –


helicopter –

LAND

Museum Free Days 2011 –


ChicagoBaseball –

SEA (alright, lake)


lakefront –


kayak –


fishing –

So there you have it. You know the plan of attack, now get out there and execute.

Sources:
ExploreChicago.org
Amairservice.com
Chicagoparkdistrict.com
ExploreChicago.org
ChicagoMultisportz.com
Waterriders.com
Chicagoparkdistrict.com
Front page photo: DVIDSHUB

Home brewing 101

Apr 22, 2011 by     1 Comment     Posted under: Archive, Beer

With all of this talk about the debt ceiling and the government shutdown, Chicago Loopster got a little anxious. What if the nation’s beer supply chain shuts down as well? To guard against this unspeakable fate, the Loopster decided it would be in our best interest to learn how to make the stuff ourselves. We spoke with John Tedesco, veteran beer brewer and proud Oklahoman, to guide us through this most necessary of processes.

Photos courtesy of:
ilovebutter
Tyler Moss