brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
Just an update on the CPL "Blue Moon" Fine Forgiveness program... I went in to my library branch today, handed over my card, and asked for a fine waiver. It took about a minute and we were done and I was able to check out materials. :) If you have outstanding material due OR if you just owe the library some money, now's the time to head in and ask for forgiveness.
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
The Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois is having a Museum Showcase Weekend on September 15th and 16th, featuring some of the less frequently run equipment at the IRM... including the Nebraska Zephyr, a caboose train, and two historic CTA trains/cars. If you or a kid (or kid at heart) in your life is into trains, that'll be a good weekend to check things out!

NOTE: the museum is mostly out of doors and is not VERY accessible. While there are designated handicap parking spaces on asphalt, most of the parking is on grass and most of the museum is outside so there's lots of walking on grass. The historic trains aren't very accessible either, with high steps and narrow doorways. Please keep that in mind. There are paved walkways and accessible toilet facilities.
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
http://www.chipublib.org/aboutcpl/cplpr/2012/amnesty.php


Press Release

August 6, 2012

Ruth Lednicer
lednicer@chipublib.org
(312) 747-4050

CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY OFFERS “BLUE MOON” FINE AMNESTY PROGRAM

Students Can Start the School Year with a Clean Slate


For the first time in 20 years, the Chicago Public Library is offering a fine amnesty program to encourage all patrons to return overdue materials and not allow fines to discourage students from taking advantage of the full resources offered at the library.

“This program will allow parents and children the chance to start the school year with a clean record and enable them to check out materials that will help with their studies and classes,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “Regardless of the reason for not returning an item, students with overdue materials can start fresh and take advantage of the Library and its extensive resources for their studies.”

Coinciding with the astronomical phenomenon taking place on August 31, the Library is naming the program the “Once in a Blue Moon Amnesty,” reinforcing the fact that it is not a regular occurrence.

From August 20 through September 7, late fines will be waived on all books, CDs, DVDs and other materials, no matter how long overdue. The amnesty will apply to all patrons and if an item has been lost, they will be responsible for paying only the replacement cost.

“In conducting this amnesty, we expect to recover thousands of outstanding items, the value of which will most likely exceed the lost revenue in fines. This will recoup the City’s investment in the materials and, most importantly, make them available for other patrons to use,” said Library Commissioner Brian Bannon. “This program aligns with our commitment to lowering the barriers to library use for all Chicagoans, especially those most in need of our services.”

Dating from January 2011, the Library is currently owed $1.4 million in unpaid fines from overdue materials with an estimated worth of more than $2 million. The Library collects approximately $2 million a year in revenue from fines.

The last fine amnesty Chicago Public Library conducted was in 1992, in which juvenile cards were wiped of fines once materials were returned. There was also a one-week fine amnesty in June 1985 for all library patrons, at which time 77,000 books were returned—representing approximately $1.5 million worth of materials.

Similar fine amnesty programs have been very successful in other cities in the past few years. Washington, D.C. conducted a two-month amnesty at the beginning of 2012, recovering 21,075 items and updating more than 34,000 patron accounts, most of which had been inactive for more than three years. When Boston waived fines owed by 57,000 kids, their young adult card registrations went up 85 percent and circulation increased by 10 percent.



According to their facebook posting and comments, if you owe a fine but have no overdue media you can simply go in person into your library branch and request a fine waive.
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
Anything exciting going on this weekend? Drop your links in comments.

Here's some things I've found:

All Weekend:
Chicago Horror Film Fest
Chicago Oktoberfest in Lakeview
Randolph Street Market Fest

Sept 25th:
Zombie Walk through Portage Park (part of the horror film fest)!
SNL Premier Viewing Party hosted by iO Theater.
Edgewater Gralley (art! food! Live entertainment!)
Hyde Park Jazz Festival (music! jazz! AWESOME! Free!)

Sept 26th:
Scrabble Sundays at Swim Cafe. Get a free drink, you word nerd you!
Mad Men viewing party with cheap appetizers and FANCY DRINKS.
Millas y Kilómetros, a traveling art exhibit by artists of Mexican descent.

There is always something to do in Chicago!
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
Has anybody worked with PIRG? They are hosting an activist workshop in Oak Park, info here.

I'm intrigued, but think I'd rather join somebody else's group than form my own, and it seems a little geared at starting your own activist groups... although there's a chance to meet other activists "in your area." So there's that.

Any thoughts on this? Or on PIRG in general?
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
Fall is coming, and we live in the midwest. Do you have the itch to go out among ~nature~ and pick apples, pumpkins, or something else?

Here is a guide to pick-your-own stuff sorted out by county. I'm trying to get together a group of friends to go apple picking later in the month, and possibly get pumpkins as well. Have you ever gone apple picking? Do you make a yearly trip to the pumpkin patch, get a Jack-O-Lantern at the grocery store, or not bother with Halloween at all?
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
A friend linked me to this: http://www.groupon.com/deals/museum-of-science-and-industry

You can get a "bachelors" membership for $40 instead of $80, and a "master" membership for $55 instead of $115. It's going fast, though.
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
If you're interested in seeing more of Chicago, up close and personal, here are some Chicago area tours:

Chicago Neighborhood Tours offers tours of various neighborhoods and places of interest. It looks like they last 4-5 hours, cost $30 per adult, and feature "light refreshment."

The City of Chicago offers a Chicago Greeter service which is free, and looking for volunteers. Interested in being an ambassador for the city? Sign up here!

Chicago Food Planet has "food tours" of neighborhood restaurants.

Chicago Ethnic Grocery Tours offers tours of grocery stores with information about lesser-known ingredients and items carried in those stores.

Chicago Traveler has a collection of tours separated out by type (walking, boat, air, bus, etc).
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
Well, it turns out that Richard M. Daley is not running for re-election. My initial thought was that one of his kids is, and he's backing that kid. But apparently not.
brigid: (chicago)
[personal profile] brigid
I thought it might be fun if people posted about various places, events, neighborhoods, festivals, stores, eateries, etc in the city. Today I'm going to cover The Abbey Pub.

A neighborhood feature at 3420 West Grace Street, Chicago, IL 60618 since 1973, The Abbey Pub is a pub and restaurant featuring live music, open mic nights, karaoke, sports events, and an Irish-American brunch on the weekends. If you're looking for your fill of rugby, soccer, and Gaelic Football in a convivial atmosphere, The Abbey Pub is the place for you. They also have a unique bi-level seating arrangement. I like to go onto the second floor, order food, and look down at the band and crowd below while eating.
brigid: (transit)
[personal profile] brigid
I don't know if you've seen this, but Munipals has partnered with the CTA to create "standard-sized" (Brio or Thomas the Tank Engine) wooden trains with magnets front and back. They're painted to look like a CTA car. Although it says "now in 3 models" I only see the red line. You can pick them up at Building Blocks Toys, in Lakeview.
brigid: (transit)
[personal profile] brigid


Then stand to your glasses steady
And drink to your comrade’s eyes
Here’s a toast to the dead already
And hurrah for the next who dies.



Chicago's Whitechapel Club, founded in 1889 and named after the area Jack the Ripper did his killings, only lasted five years. But what an interesting five years those were.

The Whitechapel Club was a private organization founded primarily by young journalists who talked about social reform (even if it was tongue-in-cheek talking, it was still talking), and who couldn't afford the dues --or stomach the company-- of the more respectable (and more expensive) Press Club. They shaved their faces while the Press Club members wore whiskers. They were young while the Press Club members were old. They met in a tavern, ducking in through an alley, while the Press Club members met in cafes and hotels.

The main requirement to be inducted into the Whitechapel Club was "wit and good fellowship," and 3 other members had to testify to your having both. Many members were not journalists, but were literary writers, politicians, police officers, merchants, and others with at least a passing interest in social reform, and an iconoclastic nature. They also, of course, had to be raconteurs, performers. Members would gather, drink, wrestle, tell stories, sing songs, read bits of things they were working on, do a bit of stand up comedy, and insult each other.

They also drank out of human skulls and used human skulls with glass bead eyes for shades on the gaslights. They sat at a table made of a coffin and their walls were hung with allegedly-blood-soaked Indian blankets and ghost shirts. They had a definite taste for the macabre and unusual. And at the close of each meeting, they'd sing the club's drinking song, The Revel:



WE meet ’neath the sounding rafter,
And the walls around are bare;
As they shout back our peals of laughter
It seems that the dead are there.
Then stand to your glasses, steady!
We drink in our comrades’ eyes:
One cup to the dead already—
Hurrah for the next that dies!

brigid: (transit)
[personal profile] brigid
Did you know that Chicago has a number of Farmers Markets that run roughly from May until October? Some are sponsored by the city, and some are independent.

For a list of all neighborhood markets, with dates, visit Explore Chicago's Farmers Market Page.

There's four downtown locations, two on Tuesday and two on Thursday. I wish they had them on Wednesdays, which is the day I'm most likely to be downtown.
brigid: (cta)
[personal profile] brigid
Vida Breve...

The National Museum of Mexican Art, in Pilsen, is hosting "the largest annual day of the dead exhibition in the nation" from September 10th to December 13th, with the opening reception on Friday, September 10th, from 6:00pm-8:30pm. Check out their web page for more details!
brigid: (cta)
[personal profile] brigid
Originally from here but with some additions...

Adler Planetarium
September 7, 13-17, 21, 28

Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago is free to the public every Thursday evening from 5pm-8pm

Brookfield Zoo Free
The Brookfield Zoo offers free admission to all U.S. Armed Forces active military and reservist personnel

Chicago Children’s Museum
Free for everyone – Every Thursday evening, 5-8pm
Free for ages 15 and under – First Sunday of every month

Chicago History Museum
Free Days 2010: Every Monday, 9:30am-4:30pm

DuSable Museum of African American History
September 4th

Field Museum
September: 13th, 15th, 16th, 21st, 22nd

Lincoln Park Zoo
Free to the public 365 days per year

Museum of Contemporary Art
Every Tuesday of 2010, 10am – 8pm

Museum of Contemporary Photography
The Museum of Contemporary Photography is Free every day of 2010

Museum of Science and Industry
September 7-14, 20-21, 27-28

National Museum of Mexican Art
Every Tuesday-Sunday

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Every Thursday, 9am-4:30pm

The Oriental Institute Museum
Free admission, suggested donation of $7.00

Shedd Aquarium
September 13-14, 20-21, 27-28

Swedish American Museum
September 14
brigid: (cta)
[personal profile] brigid
The 32nd Annual Chicago Jazz Festival will be September 2nd-5th, a free event spread across 3 venues and 4 days. Don't miss the city's longest running lakefront music festival!

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