Sorry (you live) in a poor neighborhood.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I just rolled my ankle.

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Our neighbor smoked so much weed he couldn't keep his job as a school janitor- I thought weed was a requirement for the job. His wife left and he sits around the house holding out for a management position. His two sons keep the lights on with their jobs as "chefs" at local fast food establishments, and keep a couple baby mommas around. Grandma, who lives next door can't drive anywhere because they have commandeered her car as theirs are all broken down and scattered around the yard. His crappy brother was a jail guard, so calling the township to complain just gets his cop buddies to show up and tell him who was bitching about his three abandoned vehicles and daughter living in a camper behind his house.

The guy put on a show for over a half hour last night that puts many municipal fireworks displays to shame. Sounded like 50 people there celebrating with them from the applause.

across the river at the local iowa fireworks place everyone in NW IL goes to, its full of people filling carts with thousands of dollars of fireworks and then loading them into their 04 rusted out trailblazers.

We put on a pretty good show. about half hour long show full of 200/500 gram cakes and 60g cannisters.

my brother pyros it up every year. He has the disposable coin so no worries. I host and supply the liquor to add that extra degree of danger

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

You mean you didnt cancel your event? Shameful.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

In the last hour I've fallen down a YouTube rabbit hole that includes James Brown, Traffic, the Stones, Buena Vista Social Club, Amy Winehouse, house music and a few others. I'm screwed in the morning with this rhum and enjoyment.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Made the mistake of attending a concert at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater (formerly World/United Audio/Tweeter/First Midwest). Sound quality is still horrendous. So muffled it’s hard to make out anything spoken or sung. To make matters worse, we bought seats on the rail between the 1st and 2nd sections and there’s a constant flow of people walking in the aisle in front of us along with some sort of special “party box” where the attendees never sit down. At any other venue the rails are high enough above the walkway that none of this would matter. The crappy design of this place is evident throughout. I wonder if it was the same architects that did the Soldier Field “upgrade”.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

White people problems?

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

You're right that place is a shitty venue. My wife and I went there last year... she wanted to see Zack Brown Band. I thought the guy running the board was bad. But as I was walking around I found spots where the acoustics were pristine. But in the lawn, in our section, the sound was awful. There's something wrong with that building.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

You went to go see Rod Stewart, didn't you?

5 years ago today my brother died. It was an awful experience to see him take his last breath in front of me and my family in the hospital. Today I didn’t even remember the anniversary until my sister in law texted. I feel horrible that I didn’t remember but shit, honestly I don’t remember a lot of birthdays and such. Just feel bad that it never occurred to me it was the anniversary of his death. Anyone else get caught in this one? Everyday seems like I have to remember something

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Yeah, I think that's pretty common...I've found myself putting dates like that in my phone so I don't forget -- but then I feel that's kind of cheating.

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Maybe its because you try to remember happier times with your bro rather than when he was on the deathbed? Similar to how you might be more likely to remember your Dad's last par on your golf trip than you are his final day(s). If that's the case, nothing wrong with that. My mom has never visited her parents' graves after the funerals because she wants to remember the good times and not how they were at the end.

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I never remember death dates. I could not tell you a single one.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

The Black Keys

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Sure you do. January 20, 2017…the day liberal JORR died.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Isn't that place just a cookie cutter ourdoor music venue?

It’s funny but he flipped before Trump won. I remember conversations with him that I felt Hillary was better for this country simply because of her experience and Trump’s odd temperament. He seemed to be on the Trump train early.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Pretty much, but I’ve been to similar facilities with much better sound.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Yeah I’m sure you’re right but then there’s no joke

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

that's a rough reminder

there are a few dates like that i can remember because i know where i was exactly and what day it was when i got the news about the person.

my grandma died on my anniversary. I remember getting the call to go to the hospital while I was at Laschetts having dinner.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Never been there...would you recommend? Good German places seem to be harder to find these days.

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My brother died in 2018...I recall it was May, but I don't remember the exact date, nor do I want to. Obviously everyone is different and will handle grief in their own way, but lamenting the actual date he died seems counter-productive. I loved my Brother, but at the same time he drove me absolutely crazy and I really didn't like being around him. I don't know if I can honestly say I think about him daily, but it's pretty close to that....we were 23 months apart so there is no shortage of reminders.

Biggest thing for me is I have 2 of his professional grade hammers. He was a Union Carpenter and very proud of his tools. At this wake we assembled one of his tool belts and I keep that hung up in the garage. Dying at 48 years old is pretty fucking tragic, but it's also a good reminder to take care of yourself and value life.

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Al’s Cafe in downtown Elgin is pretty solid. Not specifically German, but I always enjoyed their schnitzel.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

This was helpful to read. My brother was 39 and didn't take good care of himself. I have one of his watches that I wear probably 3-4 days a week and that is usually when I remember him. I have my dad's as well. Didn't really hold on to a lot of other stuff from them.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Yes. The food is very good, not great. I really enjoy the atmosphere. It's an old school vibe of an old bar with a restaurant in back that you know, at one point, served the manufacturing workers along Ravenswood. I also like that they serve beer in liters and have a good list of german beers.

Riese's Bierstube is across the street. I don't really like the food but the atmosphere is great as well. They have an awesome beer garden. Much more local and less welcoming but fuck them. Grab a few drinks and everyone warms up.

Himmel's is close by on Lawrence. I've never been. The old country krauts I know say it has the best german food but it has a wider menu. Its a newer place and definitely not like the old school Lincoln Square german restaurants.

Edelweiss is, I think on Irving but far west just in the border of the city. Nice place and another old school place. I thought they were overpriced but if you are not close to Lincoln Square it is a pretty good alternative.

They one other bar I heard is good is in the Dank hause cultural museum on Western. They have a rooftop bar in an old midrise building where nothing is nearly as tall, so you have great views. It's a pretty unique experience to be able to down a liter with such great views. They aren't always open.

If you want the frat bro version of german you can go to Prost, near that theater where they used to do the Vagina Monologues. Not the worst if you are just drinking

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I'll have to check it out. My favs used to be Mirabell's and Brauhaus, and Dieterle's (Elgin) before they closed.

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Our freezer went out today. Thankfully I had to go to the garage for something and caught it before we lost everything in there. We were able to get about 90% of the food in there moved to a neighbor who had extra room. Lost a few things in the door. But could have been so much worse. Probably 15 years ago we had our freezer go out while we were out of town for 2 weeks. Came home and the entire basement reeked of rotten meat. It was awful.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."