Wake Me Up When September Ends

I'm in the middle of the fall blah's right now and I need to get out. It's just been so unexciting around here lately. I'm hoping October will bring more entertainment. We do have a new J-town bar, City of Champions, that I have not checked out yet. Rumor (and my hairdresser) has it that they have the old cook from Heroes and pretty much the same menu. I wonder what happens when Heroes reopens, will we have two restaurants with the same menu on Jefferson? Will the cook jump ship? I'd like to know. In Sapphire news, I recently went on their website to look at photos again and I'd like to know what kind of special camera their photographer has that makes everyone look unphotogenic and/or in the custody of lazy eyes. I had a lazy eye when I was little (I had a patch!) so I can make that joke. Maybe it's due to excessive drinking of now lower priced martinis, but it's bizarre. And in the blotter. . .

Anger over watering ban
JOLIET — A group of far West Side women have gone wild over watering restrictions, police said.
A 45-year-old woman told police she was accosted by two of her neighbors on Red Hawk Drive on Thursday morning and subjected to vulgarities and threats, all apparently in reference to the city's watering restrictions.
The woman was returning to her home after escorting her daughter to the school bus when a neighbor shouted obscenities at her, according to a police report.
The neighbor "then reportedly mockingly said, 'My neighbor's watering her lawn on the wrong day,'" according to the same police report.
At this point, a second neighbor joined in, police said, and reportedly chirped up more obscenities.

This sounds like an episode of Desperate Housewives to me. Can't you just hear the voiceover? "Bree Van de Kamp was never one to let silly things like watering bans affect the quality of her lawn. . ." I really love the "chirped up more obscenities" part, it really sets the tone.

Man reports being beaten
JOLIET — An angry mob accused a local man of dognapping and then beat him until his head swelled up and he lost consciousness Saturday.
The 48-year-old man reportedly told police this story Tuesday. The man told police he was at his girlfriend's South Ottawa Street home Saturday when an intruder burst in and said he stole his dog.
Two men with the accuser proceeded to do just this, police said, "punching, kicking and beating the man with a large wooden stick."
The ringleader of this violent trio then commanded the two other men to "swell his head up," police said, and they complied with his orders, leaving the man unconscious with facial cuts and swelling to his right eye and jaw.
The beaten man denies taking the dog of the man who ordered the attack, police said.

I'm just picturing some guy yelling, "Swell his head up!" Did this seriously happen? I now have the 2pac song "Keep Ya Head Up" stuck in my head, only with the words changed to "Swell His Head Up."

In music news, I heard the new INXS song on the radio and as much as I'm saddened that Marty lost the contest, "Pretty Vegas" is a decent song. I also heard Marty talking on the radio the other day (thanks for the heads up, Wens) and he said that he and the Lovehammers will be performing in Chicago soon, so I need to check that out. Ok, went on their website, they're opening for Jessica Simpson(?!) tomorrow at the Tweeter. I don't know if I could handle that. Also, I keep hearing commercials on the radio for an upcoming Hanson concert. My co-worker's reaction: "Who would want to see Hanson?" My answer: the car with the "MMMBop6" license plate I saw at school the other day.

Social news: I haven't gone out much lately. . . I did go to Chicago with Melanie and some others on Friday. We started the evening out at Coyote Ugly because Mel's friend Christine won a free party there. My opinion: not a bad place, the specialty drinks were good but the appetizers were not. Coyote Ugly, when you advertise "spicy queso," I expect "spicy queso" rather than "Movies 8 tub o' orange." Since their free drink hour was from 8 to 9, I was having flashbacks to the old days of going to Riprocks for free drinks. RIP Riprocks. I was disturbed by the middle aged woman I saw dancing on the bar, but they played some INXS so that made me happy. INXS: not the same as Journey, but a current fave. Afterward we went to Lalo's for margaritas, quesadillas, and Latin dancing. I pretty much just danced to the "gasolina" song because it was one of the few that I knew. Note: while walking in Chicago, Melanie and I came to the conclusion that when you're in high school, the only place you want to eat in the city is Ed DeBevic's. Oddly enough, my sister recently had a friend come in from out of town and she wanted to go to, you guessed it, Ed DeBevic's, because she hadn't been there since high school.

I really wish I had more stories, but that's about it for now. Hopefully October will bring more amusement. Adios!