Author: Matt Maldre

Every year Chicago has their fireworks a day early on July 3rd. It gets millions of people gathering to the lakeshore resulting in a very packed event. Here’s six tips I realized this year: Don’t get there earlyYes, this is…

Estonians rule, this is our 8th year in a row winning the World Wife-Carrying Competition. I’m proud to be Estonian. Long live Estonia!!! This was the FOURTH victory for Margo Ussorg and the third in a row for his family.…

How about seeing a team in the area you haven’t seen before? Where tickets are cheap. Where the players aren’t paid millions. Here’s a list of professional indepedent and minor league teams in Chicago. Since these teams play at different…

Looking for a fun unusual sport to play or watch in Chicago? I’m not talking about the typical basketball, volleyball or football. How about archery, croquet, bocce and more? Here’s a list of links to calendars for less popular sports…

With Sandra Day O’Connor retiring, everyone is freaking out about how George W. Bush gets to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice. But c’mon people, it’s about time we get a new justice. The last one chosen was in 1994–nine…

The Chicago Tribune is offering this new subscription deal, called Employee Advantage, for all friends and family of Chicago-area Tribune employees. You can subscribe to the Chicago Tribune for 75% off the full price. $1.35 per week, 7-day home delivery…

Seeing that people are not allowed to photograph Chicago’s newest most provocative sculpture of a 110-ton reflective bean, I’m going to get my hands on a mini reflective bean and photograph that all around the city of Chicago. Problem is…

There are a lot of members on ebay that have a VERY similiar name to spudart. So similiar, it’s rather eery. sp.dart, spudat, spudhart, spudrt, scudart, spudar, spudark. A bunch of the names are from Germany. Which is where J‚Äìrg…

There’s no book or website dedicated to the piers of America. They have such a fascinating history as many of them were built in the early 20th century, fell into disrepair in the mid-20th century, then revitalized in the late…

Navy Pier is Chicago’s number one tourist destination with more than 8 million visitors annually. There are so many advantages to the pier structure. It’s by the lake where people can enjoy the water. Desintation for boat tours. Because how…

This Easter Island head is known to fall over easily.

Chicago was the first city to have a nationally recognized large-scale city-wide temporary public art exhibit with its cows in 1999. Other cities soon followed suit, while every year Chicago has come up with a new variation on the theme.…

Just imagine if the Chicago River was clean you could swim in it downtown. That would be so nice. To have beaches right in the middle of dowtown where people can do beachtype fun stuff. (for the non-Chicagoans: The Chicago…

What other sounds do farts make? Leave them in the comments please.

Chicago Outdoor Film Festival-Grant Park Butler Field, Grant Park 100 S. Lake Shore Drive Jul. 12: 8:59 p.m. “Citizen Kane” Jul. 19: 8:54 p.m. “Annie Hall” Jul. 26: 8:48 p.m. “My Darling Clementine” Aug. 2: 8:39 p.m. “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”…

Baltimore Orioles’ Rafael Palmeiro, left, and Sammy Sosa, right, pose with Cincinnati Reds’ Ken Griffey Jr. prior to the game Saturday, June 11, 2005, in Cincinnati. All three players have more than 500 home runs. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) This photo…

I love getting emails from people. It’s so nice. There’s just a couple things that would make it even more pleasant… 1) use http:// in links When emailing a link to someone, please PLEASE PLEASE include the “http://” in the…

Baskin Robbins has this countertop sign advertising Hot Wheels CAKES. It’s funny how exciting and dramatic they make CAKES to be here.

There have been 15 Cubs since 1990 who hit 20 or more homeruns in one season. There have been 9 Cubs since 1990 who hit 30+ HR There have been 2 Cubs since 2000 who hit 40+ HR Position Name…

The McDonalds in downtown Chicago on Michigan Ave right behind the Wrigley Building is store #4444. I just saw this on my receipt. Numbers like this make me happy.

Catch a ball and your opponent who threw the ball is out. In a game with returnies, someone from your team also gets to come back in. Here’s a couple tips on catching a dodgeball. I like to catch balls…

Church: sit in the middle of the row/pew, not at the end. Conference room: sit at the seat furthest from the door Bus: Stand towards the back, not the front. Elevator: Stand away from the door. General rule of thumb,…

0 of 4 people rated my review of Sammy Sosa’s boombox as helpful. What?! Don’t people want to know what boombox Sammy Sosa owned? It’s the Panasonic SC-AK33 Compact Stereo System. Here is the review from March 10, 2003: This…

The Mac OS X calculator is so huge compared to the old classic mac calculator. I miss you old school calculator. The new one looks like it’s for senior citizens. The old one just oozes out techno geekness. 8-F

AP says, “This photo released by McDonald’s Corp. show a new, slimmer and sportier Ronald McDonald, the latest evidence the fast-food chain isn’t clowning around about its image. A TV commercial making its debut Friday, June 10, 2005, will show…

This is a very rough order of things that to look at when on a press check. While these are put into order, I usually don’t go through it like a list. It’s usually just all merged together and I…

“At Home with Marni Jameson” was a column syndicated by Tribune Media Services. This was an identity developed for the column. Fun strong font with a little bit of retro flair in the word “with” and little monopoly-esque style legs.…

Taking your opponents attention away from the game is a great way to strike when they aren’t looking. Here’s a couple ways to do that. Have someone on your team do a cartwheel, and then totally peg ’em. Do a…

There should be one standard calendar file format. Let’s say you are at a website and see an event you would like to add to your calendar. It would be so nice if you could click on just one link…