Sarah Daniel Rasher

Best Big City: Chicago Wins Award 9th Year in a Row Learn why Chicago was voted the Best Big City for the 9th consecutive year by exploring our vibrant culture, welcoming inclusion, and so much more.

BEST BIG CITY IN THE US 9 YEARS IN A ROW.

While critics try to paint Chicago as something to fear, the rest of the world knows the truth — this is the best big city in America.

all discourse aside, there is one machine with consciousness. it's printers. they are alive and conscious and they hate you and they'd take your arm clean off if you let them. never trust a printer.

Someone in one of my groups turned their 12 foot skelly into Ozzy!!!

"The fascist regime kindly emptied the building for donor Wells Fargo."

YouTube video by the Mountain Goats the Mountain Goats - “Cold at Night” (Official Visualizer)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qm7...

Day 7: King Princess - House Burn Down (2021, USA)
NK: no, King Princess is white and nonbinary.

"I'm sticking with this bad relationship because it's not going to last anyway" is underexplored pop territory. Grunge elements officially sound retro now. #TheTwen2ie5

I am so glad Paul Vallas isn't mayor of Chicago right now I am so glad Paul Vallas isn't mayor of Chicago right now I am so glad Paul Vallas isn't mayor of Chicago right now I am so glad Paul Vallas isn't mayor of Chicago right now I am so glad Paul Vallas isn't mayor of Chicago right now I am so gl

Day 7: Michael Jackson - Rock with You
#20SongsByYear 1979

For reasons I will not be discussing at this time, this song will forever remind me of a threesome in a casino that ended up not happening.

Happy birthday, and thanks for all you do!

Top: bear is telling a scary story around a campfire “Then, suddenly - my PHONE RANG.” Pig replies “What’s scary about that?” Bottom: bear continues “They didn’t text me first to say they were gonna call.” Pig and hamster are horrified “GASP!”

terrifying

Day 6: Nesey Gallons - Ghost Boy (2020, USA)
NK: yes, Gallons is a trans woman.

A love song for a boy she'll never see again, with echoing vocals pulled into the undertow of a layered rock riff. #TheTwen2ie5

Day 6: Talking Heads - Cities
#20SongsByYear 1979

Weird 3 AM ramblings about urbanism shouted over train noise, only make it an expertly crafted pop song.

My takeaway from the first two clips is that I'm never going to understand pro wrestling, and that's fine.

I have never gotten a great deal of enjoyment out of anything pro wrestling related, up to and including the TV show Glow (didn't dislike it, just couldn't connect) but I'm happy to be linked to a possible exception.

I've never watched a televised pro wrestling event (WWE or whatever). My wife and a number of friends are perplexed that I don't know who any of the "stars" are unless they broke way out of that sphere.

Her best-known song is from 2014, so not for this challenge! I'm glad I'm not the only one appreciating her newer music.

The funny thing is that arguments made against LGBTQ people is "we were fine with it until you shoved it in our face," which is a thing LGBTQ people never did, and broadly the public do not hate LGBTQ people.

They really are trying to shove AI in our face, and everyone really does hate it.

Day 5: Elle King - The Let Go (2020, USA)

A blistering lockdown torch song about moving on from the closure you're never going to get. If you only know that one song by King, this will make you re-hear her. #TheTwen2ie5

DAMN I just realized a major marker of our generational divide is whether you:

- Come up with several short search terms encompassing the main subjects and string them together b/c you were trained on encyclopedia and fucking Dewey decimal

OR

- Type a wholeass sentence into the search bar

cheese is just milk that lost its whey

Day 5: Iggy Pop - Five Foot One
#20SongsByYear 1979

I'm 5'1" and have a pain in my neck, so this is my theme song.

I'm going with my gut on this one - it has to be Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed & Delivered.

UPDATE: Quimby’s Bookstore Chicago is now open 7 days a week 12-6! Come in and get reacquainted or meet us for the first time. 1854 W North Ave Ch-IL!

We’ve also moved our substantial collection of graphic novels to the front of the store!

A woodcut style ink drawing of a Tardigrade: "Just because I can survive harsh conditions doesn't mean I should have to." (If anyone knows the artist, I'd love to make (a version) of this available for sale and can only find tumblr replies via tineye.)

Day 4: Lady Gaga - Fun Tonight (2020, USA)

A Broadway 11 o'clock number dressed up with club beats, released when it was impossible to go out dancing and hard to leave a relationship that had run its course. #TheTwen2ie5

Day 4: Patti LaBelle - Music Is My Way of Life
#20SongsByYear 1979

By the end of the seventies, the line between funk and disco was blurring, and it made both genres better. Whistles, bongos, and Patti's broke-the-mold voice make this an underrated classic.

I am enjoying everyone else's #TheTwen2ie5 picks so, so, so much. Even if I don't like a song, I'm happy to have heard it. I didn't think I'd be sending a full list of 50 honorable mentions, but I'm going to have so much to choose from.

500 Songs Bonus: "You Keep Me Hanging On" by Vanilla Fudge | Andrew Hickey Get more from Andrew Hickey on Patreon

A new paid-backer-only episode of 500 Songs is out. Jeff Beck! Rod Stewart! Led Zeppelin! "Dazed and Confused"! It can only be the story of Vanilla Fudge and "You Keep Me Hangin' On"!

Today so far feds in Chicagoland have:

Attacked & arrested protesters at the Broadview detention center w/the help of the ISP other agencies

Tear gassed a street in Logan Square that has a grocery store & elementary school on it, among other things

Violently handcuffed an Alderperson

It's 3pm

ICE just gassed a group a civilians near the Rico Fresh supermarket intersection on Armitage in Chicago - bystanders say this was in response for being heckled from the street.