Shots Around the Sloop: Spires in the Background

Spires in the distance frame Roosevelt road to the west.

3 Days Left to Vote for the Sloopin T-Shirt Contest

As a reminder we will be wrapping up the voting process for the Sloopin T-Shirt contest.

Thanks to everyone who has voted and if you haven't yet, please do before Midnight on Sunday (2/28). For the shirts, see this link or scroll down.

Right now we have a barn burner between:
#2 - Sloopster
#3 - Sloopin
#4 - I've been Sloopin Around

However, it's still a pretty close race across the board!

Bacon Popcorn...Yum?

We've heard a lot about the bacon popcorn at the new Roosevelt Collection movie theater, but have not had a chance to try it out (however we had a similar concoction at Revolution Brewery a couple of weekends ago). Here is a review of the unusual popcorn at the theater's 2nd floor lounge:

The first few bites were great — the bacon cubes melted on my tongue, the popcorn complemented with crunch. But soon the bacon cooled, some kernels were stale, and there was an odd brown powder clinging to others.

Halfway through my small bowl I stopped eating the upscale popcorn, envious of the tub of regular stuff the guy at the end of the bar was stuffing into his face. It felt a little like walking out of a theater midway through a blockbuster that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce.

A South Loop Blog for Local Restaurants

We're always scouring the interwebs for great stories and discussions about the South Loop, so we were glad that an avid Sloopin reader sent us this email:

Hey Sloopin Peeps,

Thanks for all the hard work you do! I love what I read from you all. I wanted to send you a quick note to tell you that I've started writing for Roosevelt's school paper and have started a blog about area restaurants there. Pass it along to the Sloopin readers if you like (if not, I won't take offense!)

Hope you all are having a great day!
Yvonne

http://www.roosevelttorch.com/sections/staff-blog-strumecki

For more information about the blog check out this link and for her first review check out this one on Epic Burger. Best of luck on the blog...we will be following it!

Two Important Planning Meetings for the Sloop. One Tonight; One on Tues Mar 2nd

Micah Maidenberg of the Chicago Journal had a post notifying readers of two interesting and important meetings coming up relevant to the South Loop. First, a discussion about student housing plans:

South Loop Neighbors is hosting a discussion Wednesday, Feb. 24 about new student residences in the neighborhood. Invited guests include Lesley Slavitt, vice president of governmental relations and outreach at Roosevelt University, and Keith Giles, a principal at Kargil Development.

Roosevelt is building a 32-story "vertical campus" that will replace the Herman Crown Center at 421-425 S. Wabash. The structure will host seven floors of classrooms, six floors of student services and 615 beds for the school's freshmen and sophomores, as well as space for student organizations and activities and street-level retail.

Kargil Development, which has built and rehabbed number of residential structures in the South Loop, wants to build a $100 million, 21-story tower with 420 two-bedroom suites and 20 single rooms for dorm resident assistants at 1136-1140 S. Wabash, land currently owned by the city.

Also Ald. Fioretti is hosting an event on upcoming construction projects around the Sloop:

Fioretti will be hosting a meeting March 2, meanwhile, about three major infrastructure projects slated to start this April: the Congress Parkway remake; reconstruction of Wacker Drive; and repaving the Eisenhower Expressway. Representatives from the city and state departments of transportation will be on hand to discuss the projects.
The road construction meeting starts at 6 p.m. March 2 at Robert Morris University, 401 S. State, in Room 803.

If you click on the Congress Parkway remake link above you will find an interesting PowerPoint talking about that project. It looks like the idea of this is to make the street more pedestrian friendly (which we love). The duration of the project is scheduled for two years (to start during Spring of 2010 and wrap up in Spring of 2012). Here are some renderings from the PowerPoint:

Census Employment Testing at Old St. Mary's Church

Census Announcement for those interested in helping and getting paid:

The South Loop has changed dramatically over the past ten years. It is important that we do everything that we can to ensure a proper count. Accurate data reflecting changes in our community are crucial in apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and deciding how more than $400 billion per year is allocated. The private sector also uses this data in determining were to establish new businesses.

The Young Adult Group of Old St. Mary’s will be hosting the US Census Bureau this Sunday. The Census Bureau will be taking applications and administering employment testing in the Social Hall at 1:00PM. Old St. Mary's Church is located at 1500 S. Michigan. No appointment is necessary. Pay rates for field positions begin at $18.25 an hour.

For more information on the application process please go to: www.2010censusjobs.gov

For a list of the approved forms of identification to bring to the test and a copy of a sample test, please go to the following links.

Approved forms of Identification
Sample Test

For any questions please call: 1-866-861-2010

Best Regards,
Luis Gonzalez
Old St. Mary’s Parish Council Member

South Loop Dog Park Cooperative: Striving for a dog friendly community in Chicago's South Loop

We know the South Loop has a ton of dogs in the neighborhood and occasionally they cause quite a stir on Sloopin. With that said, we were recently contacted by the South Loop Dog Park Cooperative about raising awareness about their organization and their projects. Their vision and mission is:

Vision: The South Loop Dog PAC envisions a clean, safe, and healthy neighborhood for all dogs and humans who live and play in the South Loop.

Mission: The South Loop Dog PAC advocates for and supports responsible dog-ownership in Chicago’s South Loop. We provide and maintain safe off-leash areas for dogs and humans to socialize in area parks, and we work to encourage healthy and mutually beneficial dog-human relationships in the community.

It's not a small undertaking and members are necessary to live up to these goals. With that said, they have a membership drive that currently is going on (they're trying to get 210 new members in 2010):

The SLDogPAC has started a membership drive this year, with the goal of increasing the membership support sufficiently to sustain operations in the future (operations: replace the pea gravel in the parks, clean up the parks, supply dog waste bags at the new dispensers we've installed, as well as trying to implement improvements to the two off-leash areas). Without community support (membership, donations) it's going to be hard to get anything done (see membership benefits here). So, we need community awareness of the SLDogPAC, and we need people who are willing to become members.

They're also interested in our thoughts about their organization:

It would be interesting to get a sense of the community's feelings about the SLDogPAC - often when I've been to either of the DFAs with my dogs there have been far more people and dogs using the park than are members in the SLDogPAC, and when asked, people have indicated that they were unaware of the existence of the SLDogPAC. But I wonder if that's true (there are signs up everywhere, now). Naively (again, I've only been on the board since last March) one would think that the dog community would want to support the group that's trying to maintain a facility they use regularly (membership is only $30/year!), but I wonder if there's some other resistance to the SLDogPAC's mission. And if there is, we need to hear about it!

So what are your thoughts? Inquiring minds want to know...

Finally, this is a post about dogs after all so we feel obligated to show a YouTube video of a cute puppy:

It's Getting Hot in Here! Or will be soon at 1925 S. Michigan

What is Bikram Yoga? From the sounds of it think: Nelly's popular 2002 single "Hot in Here" + Yoga. That's what Bikram Yoga sounds like to us.

For a better definition:

Lose the heavy clothing, grab your yoga mat, and turn up the heat.

Actually, keep turning up the heat until you get to 105 degrees (the idea temperature for Bikram yoga). Oh - and there's humidity too, typically 40% humidity - are you hot enough yet?

Welcome to Bikram yoga. Also known as "Hot yoga", Bikram was started in Los Angeles in the 1970s by Bikram Choudhury. Today it's one of the most popular types of yoga and is often thought of as the best practices for beginners as there are only 26 Bikram poses, many of which are focused on proper alignment.

If this intrigues you, get excited because it sounds like Bikram Yoga of Chicago will be opening up a studio at 1925 S. Michigan avenue. From the looks of it this will be their third studio in the area (Lincoln and Wicker park already have one). We will have to keep an eye open to see when this actually opens. For more info here is their website (www.105F.com).

Assuming this is true, it will be another retail tenant moving onto the 1900 block of South Michigan. A couple of weeks ago we posted that KoreExtreme would be moving into the 1921 S. Michigan retail space. Good to see some new places moving into this stretch.

Oh and for the people who didn't get the Nelly reference, here is the song we're talking about:

(Hat Tip: Solo MotorRow)

Avatar Gets the Nod

Based on our informal poll it looks like Avatar is going to win the the best picture on Sunday, March 7th at the Oscars. Although the story is a little cheesy in our opinion, it's still entertaining. and visually was really amazing (and we're 3d skeptics).

Of more interest to us Sloopers, we went to the Roosevelt Collection movie theater recently to check out Avatar and the place was buzzing. Although our movie wasn't sold out, it was probably 75% full and the VIP section was packed (it was a Saturday night after all). We also tried to get some food at the second floor lounge prior to the movie, but there was a wait. Although we didn't get food, it was encouraging that the place/concept seems to be doing well.

As we have repetitively said, the Roosevelt Collection is a good addition to the neighborhood and will continue to be especially once the retail opens. If you don't believe us check out this post on the Chicago Journal by Bonnie McGrath about the movie theater.

Based on our poll (and judging by what we've read), the best picture looks to be a race between Avatar and Hurt Locker. We recently rented Hurt Locker from the red box at Jewel and enjoyed the movie. It was done very well and gave a good depiction of what war in Iraq looks like. At the end of the day we anticipate Avatar winning, but wouldn't be surprised to see Hurt Locker win. It seems like it's more of an 'Oscar' type of movie then Avatar.

The 2010 Sloopin T-Shirt Designs Submissions

First off thanks for everyone who contributed ideas and designs for our first annual Sloopin T-shirt contest. We've done some research and anticipate that the shirt will cost $15-20. But before we get final costs we need to determine which entry will win. With that said, we have six entries (see below).

How to Vote

To vote please send an email to sloopin@gmail.com and let us know which number you like. We will only accept one vote per email and all votes need to be submitted by midnight Sunday, February 28th. Happy voting!

Entry #1: Map

Entry #2: Sloopster

Entry #3: Sloopin Ain't Easy

Entry#4: I've been Sloopin Around

Entry #5: I heart Sloopin

Entry #6: Everybody Sloops

Grant Park Music Festival Announces 2010 Lineup

Free music is fun! Although this is just outside of the Sloop it's still close enough to enjoy, here is the write-up courtesy of the Chicagoist:

We're feeling chipper this morning. Maybe it's the way the sun now stays up until almost 5:30 p.m., or maybe we've just started hallucinating to subconsciously cope with seasonal affective disorder, but gosh darn it if it doesn't feel like spring's right around the corner!

And you know what the short, barely-existing Chicago spring means: Summer!

And, to us, nothing means Chicago in the summertime like the Grant Park Music Festival, which has released its 2010 schedule. So thank you, GPMF, for reminding us that warm evenings spent sitting in the Millennium Park grass watching the sun descend over the city while sipping wine and listening to free performances by the Grant Park Orchestra are NOT figments of our imaginations. We just have to make it four more months.

We're particularly looking forward to July 4th when you can check out Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

Shots Around the Sloop: A Joker

Where is this in the Sloop?

T-Shirt Submissions Coming Soon!

For the people who are interested in the T-shirt contest, we will have the designs ready on Monday.

Blackstone Hotel Gets Tagged...Sort of

When you hear that a fancy hotel gets tagged with graffiti you usually would assume it's unwelcomed. However, in this instance it's actually applauded. The recently renovated Blackstone Hotel (636 S. Michigan Ave) is opening up a new art exhibit by renowned graffiti artist Kaves:

Every big city needs a rebel address, and so The Renaissance Blackstone is stepping up against convention. The Beaux-Arts landmark in Chicago's South Loop is decking its Art Hall with Outlaw, a new exhibition of works by renowned graffiti artist Michael McLeer, also known as Kaves. The Blackstone, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, has its own outlaw past counting clientele such as gangsters Al Capone and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. The property will celebrate Kaves' spray paint skills with an exhibit on February 18 and available for public viewing through September 25.

Kaves grew up in Brooklyn and here is a link to his website and here is some of his work we found online: