6 Big Hollywood Actors considered for DC’s Green Lantern

January 22, 2017 | Kevin

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The Wrap is reported this week that 6 big names from Hollywood are in the early running for the role of Warner Bros and DC Entertainment’s next big superhero film series, Green Lantern, The names are reported to be Tom Cruise, Joel McHale, Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds, Armie Hammer, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The planned film is called ‘Green Lantern Corps’ and is due for a 2020 release. IGN reported that last week the potential film would have a “Lethal Weapon in Space”. 

Tom Cruise is the most surprising considering, he’s been an established star who has never played a superhero before. He does get into butt-kicking in the ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘Jack Reacher’ films. It would be interesting to see Cruise whose been in classic dramas like ‘the Firm’ and ‘A Few Good Men’ add something extra gusto to someone in outerspace in a costume. He’s been outer space before in the underrated Oblivion from 2011.

Ryan Reynolds played the Green Lantern in a 2011 film that was considered a disappointment, but insiders are saying his costumed hero stock is high after the unexpected hit in last year’s ‘Deadpool’. My Spidey sense says he stays over on the Marvel Cinematic Universe side with ‘Deadpool 2’ in the works and his public pleas to get Hugh Jackman to keep his claws out as Wolverine, read more on that here. 

Joel McHale who charmed our collective hearts in NBC’s ‘Community’ and E’s ‘the Soup’ would be a choice from left field, as he’s not really known as an action hero, but more of a handsome smart-ass. Throw a costume on him and make the ring glow, let’s see what could happen.

Bradley Cooper has been in the movie world for a while in variety of different roles, and has the chops to be the man to answer the call ‘In brightest day, in blackest night’. 

Poor Jake Gyllenhaal this guy has swung his bat at trying to get a superhero role before, only to get beaten out for the roles of Batman (in the Christopher Nolan trilogy) and Spider-Man (the role went to Toby McGuire). His range is wide, he has all the physical grit to pull it out, and if need be he can get his hands dirty. Go watch him in ‘Nightcrawlers’, he gets dirty while being creepy as heck.

Armie Hammer who has apparently trolled fans online about being casted, seems like a long shot when compared to the other candidates. He’s held the masked-man mantle down before in the forgotten ‘Lone Ranger’ in 2013. Hammer though did get cast as Batman in an unmade Batman movie.

SEARS TOWER BEING THREATENED a taller building could replace Thompson Center

January 20, 2017 | Marconi🍕

searsvstaller

(from timeout.com)

Republican leaders in the Illinois General Assembly are renewing efforts to sell the James R. Thompson Center, that gleaming, inefficient building best known for housing a CTA station and a Taco Bell. One plan to redevelop the current site of the 1.2-million-square-foot building includes the construction of 1,7000-foot tower—the tallest in the city, if realized.

State Rep. Jim Durkin and Sen. Christine Radogno will introduce a bill that would permit the state to sell the Thompson Center, Durkin told Crain’s Chicago Business. The sale of the 16-story building could generate an estimated $220 million and save the state $326 million in deferred maintenance costs, according to the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. (MORE HERE)

Ok fine, can we vote on what to call it?I’m not going through the emotions of the Sears Tower ‘name change’ debacle again!!

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Tips To Avoid Losing Money During Restaurant Week

January 20, 2017 | Marconi🍕

restaurauntweek

(from chicagoist.com)

Doing math on every single Restaurant Week menu to figure out which are good deals, which are bad deals, and which are somewhere in between. But not everyone wants to do a ton of math or look at spreadsheets. Plus, you couldn’t put everything you’d learned in that sheet, or it would be even longer than it already is. However, after looking at that many menus (and knowing a little bit about how restaurants work), A got a good sense of how to spot a good value was achieved. AND what to avoid. This is especially important if you’re dining at one of those “red” highlighted restaurants where it’s possible to actually lose money if you do Restaurant Week wrong. (MORE HERE) 

AVOID STARCHES AND BREAD!! That’s what my friend Jimmy used to tell me when trying to get the best value out of a buffet. I apply his logic to lots of things.

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Women’s March On Chicago

January 20, 2017 | <3 Lauren

The Women’s March on Chicago is (tomorrow) Saturday, January 21, 2017, the day following the presidential inauguration.

march

This is not just for women – join women AND allies of women for a rally and march in support of women’s rights, human rights and social justice.  

The rally begins at 10 a.m. on Columbus Drive at Jackson Drive (immediately adjacent to Petrillo Bandshell in Grant Park).

march-map

Entry point to the rally space is via Balbo or Congress onto Columbus Drive, you are encouraged to use public transit but there are parking options available.

Info from @WomensMarchChi HERE

Can’t make it to the march on Saturday? You can still participate in our VIRTUAL march info HERE

See you tomorrow 💗

  <3 @laurenoneil

march-social

Drive For Uber?

January 20, 2017 | <3 Lauren

To entice drivers to work for Uber, the company took out Craiglist ads promising an hourly rate of $21 in Chicago, a rate that less than 20% of drivers made.

In addition to the inflated hourly rates and median incomes advertised, the FTC says Uber offered to connect drivers with the “best financing options available” through its Vehicle Solutions Program, but didn’t exactly do that.

“Uber failed to control or monitor the terms and conditions of the auto financing agreements through its program and in fact, its drivers received worse rates on average than consumers with similar credit scores typically would obtain,” said the FTC in a press release. “In addition, Uber claimed its drivers could receive leases with unlimited mileage through its program when in fact, the leases came with mileage limits.”

More from Gizmodo HERE

I will update this post with information on how to get your money as it becomes available!

P.S. I use Lyft 🙂

(If you haven’t tried Lyft yet, use my code: LAUREN11287 for $20 off your first ride)

<3 @laurenoneil

VIDEO: Panic! At the Disco + the Roots “Death of a Bachelor” on ‘Tonight Show’

January 20, 2017 | Kevin

Panic! At the Disco’s Brendon Urie is having a very good week. Urie performed the hit ‘Death of a Bachelor’ with the hottest band in late night TV,. the Roots last night on ‘the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’. The performance saw Fallon lose it, screaming “standing ovation!”. You don’t get that every night on a late night show.

The good news kept coming with the news that ‘Death of a Bachelor’ has gone Platinum which is no small feat in today’s streaming music world.

Panic! is SOLD-OUT on March 11th at the Allstate Arena, but you can enter-to-win tickets here. 

Oh look at you wiping the the drool off your mouth, thinking it’s over…nope, you scrolled down for EVEN MORE PATD fun. Our exclusive Lounge session with PATD from December 2016…enjoy! We know your thankful, it’s ok.

 

VIDEO: The ‘Pixar Theory’ connects all the movies together

January 20, 2017 | Kevin

It’s been theorized by fans of the CGI animated Pixar movies that all of them are loosely connected through hidden ‘Easter Eggs’ in every film, so it made for internet gold this week when the studio behind the whimsical cartoons posted a video this week on the ‘Toy Story’ Facebook page that confirming that it’s true. From ‘Toy Story’ to ‘Monsters Inc’ to ‘the Incredibles’ and beyond, this video viewed by more than 11 million already, shows these love letters in the background of the main story of each film that shout out to another movie. Digital Spy dug even deeper in their article with over 20 different cracked open eggs of nerdy joy from Disney digital subdivision of awesomeness. 


If you want to go down the wormhole a little more, Ms Mojo also found 10 pretty surprising eggs in the PIxar films in this video.

Outdoor s’mores this winter? YESSSS!!

January 19, 2017 | Marconi🍕

campatparknfield

(from redeyechicago.com)

Winter patio hangs just doesn’t have the same ring to it as summer patio lounging. But Park & Field is giving Logan Square a reason to sit outside in frosty winter weather: s’mores.

Armed with a basket of camping fare standards—chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers—roasting those fluffy confections over one of the sports bar’s two huge gas-fueled fire pits in 30-degree weather isn’t such a bad idea. Promise. Grab a wool blanket, kick back in an Adirondack chair and get in on the patio action early, because it’s sure to be a hit come summer. (MORE HERE)

Can I please take a nap inside that camper after I’ve enjoyed all of the things listed please, THANK YOU!!

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DRUNK PRESIDENT INAUGURATION SPEECH: It happened in 1865

January 19, 2017 | Kevin

andrew_johnson

So with the Presidential Inauguration tomorrow and everyone’s eyes on Washington, it may be easy to think about all the things that could go the wrong during the highly-watched ceremony. One of the worst Inauguration moments in American history occurred in 1865 when Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President Andrew Johnson appeared to be quite drunk during his speech. Yep, this really happened. It was bad enough that bad weather forced the ceremony into the halls of the Senate, here is the new VP all sauced up.

Johnson who would go on to assume the role of President after Lincoln’s assassination, was sick from the night before, and according to LifeScience he drank whiskey to get through his Inauguration Day duties. So by the time, Johnson got up to speak he was still boozed up. Johnson bragged while speaking about his tough times as a youth and his victories over the Confederate forces. it reportedly got so bad, former Vice President Hannibal Hamln tugged at the back of Johnson’s coat to get him to stop, but it didn’t work.

“The inauguration went off very well except that the Vice President Elect was too drunk to perform his duties & disgraced himself & the Senate by making a drunken foolish speech.” said Senator Zachariah Chandler.

So yeah, that must have been awkward….It’s like that bad Best Man speech at a Wedding you sat through but on a national scale.

 

NEW GORILLAZ IS HERE!!!

January 19, 2017 | <3 Lauren

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Shared by UPROXX: Gorillaz returns after six years with the apocalyptic “Hallelujah Money” video, the first taste of their new record which is coming later this year.

The band has issued this song on the eve of the Inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump to serve as commentary on a politically-charged, historical moment. #wearestillhumanz

Hallelujah Money (feat. Benjamin Clementine)

More from UPROXX here.

What do you think?

Sidenote: Came across this Demon Days album cover made out of vinyl by 

gorillaz-vinyl

Pretty Rad 😀

<3 @laurenoneil

 

Portillo’s is offering one of the sweetest Valentine’s Day treats

January 18, 2017 | Marconi🍕

vdportillos

(from timeout.com)

Valentine’s Day is the time of year for heart-shaped foods, whether you’re craving pizza, chocolate or pancakes. This year, Portillo’s is getting in on the celebration—thankfully, the Illinois chain isn’t debuting a Chicago-style hot dog that has been twisted into an (even more) unnatural shape. From February 10–14, Portillo’s will be offering a heart-shaped version of its popular chocolate cake—the one that you usually consume in milkshake form. Each cake is $14.99 and can be pre-ordered on Portillo’s website for pick up at your local Portillo’s location (including the chain’s newest Chicago restaurant on Taylor Street).(MORE HERE)

Finally I know what to get myself for Valentine’s Day!!

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A Music Video…Made On A Dot Matrix Printer

January 18, 2017 | Eric

A Canadian indie rock band called Young Rival thought it would be cool to make their music video on a dot matrix printer.  I doubt they thought the process would take TWO YEARS.  Read on after the video:

Every frame of a digitally shot video was printed out old school, on a honest-to-goodness dot matrix printer.  Each frame was then scanned back into a computer in a kind of “stop-motion” animation to create what you saw above.  Could modern effects have produced the same product?  Yeah, maybe.  But the video’s “analog” backstory is the thing that gives it energy, no?

The process wasn’t without its issues.  From Vice’s The Creative Project:

“The video opens on four dot matrix printers sitting on a table, however only one of the four printers is actually shown printing, and there’s a reason for that. “We bought our first printer on ebay, and abused it with so much printing that it stopped working beyond repair. Then we bought another one on ebay, and the same thing happened. Since we are fools, we thought we’d try one more used ebay printer. Same result. We finally caved and bought a brand new one, and that is the one that held out until the bitter end.”

The printer also took FOREVER to print each page and they could only send like, 30 images at a time or else the whole thing would overload.  They would have to print overnight….which meant coming in the next morning to jammed or imperfect copies.

This is why it took two years from the release of the song to get the accompanying video.  And I think its worth a view.  — [eric]

 

Wrigley Field Is A Construction War Zone

January 18, 2017 | Eric

According to a report from DNAinfo, this is what Wrigley Field looks like this week:

extralarge

Yikes.

Some may consider the rebuild of the team complete, but the 1060 Project trudges on.  Each offseason, Wrigley Field has checked a few projects off each year.  And old girl looks GOOD.  You’ve seen the improvements:  The bleachers, the scoreboards, the home clubhouse…and this winter they’ve been working on the concourse behind home plate – hence, the equipment on the field.

According to the team, the field will be ready for opening day on April 10th.  That’s aggressive…but you know damn well they will hit that mark.

However, some things will not.

The concession stands, for one.  They might be ready to roll until May or June.  That could make for a very interesting start to the season.  Remember the bathroom situation from a couple years back?

Ditto for the new outdoor plaza…they expect that to be ready by summer.

The culprit of the construction cram?  A deep post-season run that ultimately delivered the club’s first World Series title since 1908.  So I say, let’s just suck it up and quit our bitchin’ 😉 — [eric]

The Killers get in the ring with MIke Tyson on new album (sort of..)

January 18, 2017 | Kevin

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The alt rock pride of Las Vegas, the Killers are prepping a new album for 2017 and revealed some details about it in Q Magazine. Singer Brandon Flowers says the band has been working in the studio in the studio since September between various concert dates including a recent NYE gig which a cameo from a Beatle, watch that here.   Flowers is apparently a big boxing fan, because there will be a track on the yet-to-be-titled album called ‘Tyson vs Douglas’ about the infamous 1990 heavyweight boxing match. “I don’t know why but I think about it all the time and i finally tried to tackle it in a song, what it meant to have this hero of mine get torn down, and then everything that happened after that.” says Flowers.

“Another is called ‘Run For Cover’ and that comes from Day & Age, so it’s 8-years-old. It started with Stuart Price, and it still sort of has his stamp on it—but we’re funneling it back through the band eight years later with a different producer. I never got the lyrics right and I think I’m gonna get it right this time. ‘Run For Cover’ looks like it’s got a good shot [of being on the album].”

Overall this album is supposed to be “heavier” than anything the band has done before, which could mean a lot of things. The most clear thing is we will get a look at the now-established band as men who lived through some things. “Now it’s about re-imagining The Killers as men now. People with life experiences and blood on their hands, seeing what we look like with callouses and lines around our eyes.” says Flowers, who stayed busy since the last Killer album 2012’s ‘Battleborn’ with his second solo album, ‘the Desired Effect’.

While your here check out my favorite Killers track, ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ from a performance on ‘Late Night with David Letterman’.

‘Beer yoga’ is a thing, now

January 18, 2017 | Marconi🍕

beeryoga

(from mashable.com)  IMAGE: BIERYOGA/FACEBOOK

Nothing like putting down an icy cold beer. Except, of course, achieving a higher state of being and eventual transcendence of the Self through the practice of yoga.

But what if you could do both, at the same time?

Yes: Beer yoga is here. After being enjoyed by Berlin hipsters, it’s now found its way to Australian shores—a land where beer’s most definitely a religious practice, at least as much as yoga. And not in the best way.

Germany’s BierYoga A.K.A BeerYoga bills itself as the “marriage of two great loves—beer and yoga. Both are centuries-old therapies for mind, body and soul,” according to its website.

And if you think they’re just being cute, think again. (MORE HERE)

IMAGE: BIERYOGA/FACEBOOK

“BeerYoga is fun but it’s no joke,” founder and yogi Jhula writes. “We take the philosophies of yoga and pair it with the pleasure of beer-drinking to reach your highest level of consciousness.” But even Jhula wasn’t the first person to promote enlightenment through yoga under the influence of alcohol. The instructor told Ex Berliner they first saw it done at (American culture festival/desert apocalypse party shitshow) Burning Man.

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U2: Seven Geeky Facts About “The Joshua Tree”

January 17, 2017 | Eric

U2 is adding a second tour date in Chicago…Sunday, June 4th, the day after their now sold out show at Soldier Field.

The reason I’m so up on this tour?  They will be playing “The Joshua Tree” in full each night  in honor of the 30th anniversary of its release.

So today, I give you NME’s Seven Geeky Facts about that record:

You can win tickets to the now sold out date on June 3rd by entering here.  And don’t forget to check out Alt_Backspace on Sunday mornings with Brian — a total trip to the 80s and 90s alternative kingdom

1.15.17 – Alt_Backspace

January 16, 2017 | Web Team

1. Green Day – J.A.R.
2. Afghan Whigs – Debonair
3. Morrissey – The Last Of The Famous International Playboys
4. Our Lady Peace – Clumsy
5. U2 – In God\’s Country
6. Jane\’s Addiction – Mountain Song
7. Bad Religion – Infected
8. Siouxsie & The Banshees – Cities In Dust
9. The Posies – Dream All Day
10. The Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored
11. Nirvana – Territorial Pissings
12. Depeche Mode – People Are People
13. Urge Overkill – Sister Havana
14. Beastie Boys – Paul Revere

1. Pearl Jam – State Of Love And Trust
2. Big Country – In A Big Country
3. Juliana Hatfield – Universal Heart-Beat
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers – My Friends
5. Icicle Works – Whisper To A Scream
6. Smashing Pumpkins – Rhinoceros
7. Soul Coughing – Super Bon Bon
8. R.E.M. – Stand
9. Faith No More – Midlife Crisis
10. Fountains Of Wayne – Radiation Vibe
11. Nine Inch Nails – Head Like A Hole
12. Echo & The Bunnymen – Bring On The Dancing Horses
13. Lit – Miserable

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