why Chicago is suddenly cool

I'm a bit exhausted today on account of my seeing the Mars Volta show at Avalon last night (verdict: deafening, self-indulgent space jams mixed with some of the tightest and most proficient prog rockers evar) and then my going to test missiles at 8am. I wanted to have pictures of lobster molestation from last weekend but I have yet to upload 'em from my camera. There's also a video whose existence I can neither confirm nor deny of a bunch of my friends taking over the counter sleeping pills and then acting like idiots at 5am (i.e. inability to walk, falling out of canoes) but I would probably get sued for slander for even alleging that it exists. So I will leave you with two reasons why I really want to go to Chicago:

a) Lollapalooza. Perry Farrell (or whatever compuglobalhypermeganet is in charge of the festival) realized that a touring circus of music is just too hard to pull off, and that massive festivals with huge lineups of awesome bands are all the rage these days. This summer they've got the Pixies, Weezer, BILLY IDOL (my guitar teacher just taught me the intro to Rebel Yell... I had no idea how much that song rocked), The Killers, Cake, Louis XIV, and a million others. Road trip, anyone?

2) The New York Times has officially declared Chicago the center of the 'avant cuisine' movement. Basically this cuisine mixes science, classic cooking techniques, and absurdity to come up with some pretty crazy gastronomic experiences. An example of a dish is featured in today's dining and wine section:

[...]The dish might well be called Reefer Mammal. Or Stoned on the Range. Ribbons of bison meat filled egg-size indentations in the surface of a horizontal glass tube, the hollow interior of which contained burning sticks of cinnamon. Smoke seeped from the open ends of the tube, infusing the air and summoning associations well beyond the gustatory.

"This whole thing is like a bong," said a server.

...yeah. Check the whole article out here. And you really should be reading the Dining and Wine section every Wednesday. It's good for you.