FlaSoxxJim

First of all, full disclosure: In high school I was a hotdog vendor at Lincoln Park (and Buckingham Fountain, Shedd, and Oak and North Street Beaches, as well as Bears games) so I have a sentimental attachment to Lincoln Park. Also I have a lot of zoo geek knowledge of the place. I worked in this snack stand that was built in 1899(!) ... and I don't think the french fry oil has been changed yet. I love both zoos and can't objectively decide which one is "better". Brookfield is more modern with nicer ammenaties for the animals and the human guests. But I'm giving the nod to Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park is an amazing, historic accomplishment as a zoo run (untill 1995) as part of the Park District operations. Of the other zoos I've been to in that vein, I'd say it's better than the Zoological Gardens at Phoenix park in Dublin and way better than the Central Park Zoo, But not nearly as nice or as well finded as Taranga (sp.) in Sydney (full disclosure 2: I'm a zoo and aquarium junkie). The fact that it is still free speaks volumes about their commitment to being a zoo for the people. It is one of the last major cultural attractions (and it IS a cultural attraction, it was founded in the 1860s) left in the country that does not charge admission. There is a lot of animal history from Lincoln Park too, with the most famous examples being Bushman the lowland gorilla, one of only 5 gorillas in the country when it arrived in 1931 and the most popular resident there until he died 20 years later (at which time he took up a decidedly less active existence at the Field of course...). Getting the giant pandas was a major coup, and their lowland gorilla exhibit is world class. Having the occassional stupid kid get ripped apart by the polar bears is not so good maybe, but I guess that is natural selection. Great old Chicago architecture at Lincoln as well. The Cafe Brauer (unused for 50 years other than as the vendor commissary prior to it's renovation in 1990) is classic Prarie-style ala' Frank Lloyd Wright, and the majestic glass Lincoln Park Conservatory building is 100+ years old and looks like it's something out of 19th century Europe. With the rich history of respected directors, it's really tough to see the zoo going through a bad stretch now. Marlin Perkins famed directorship of the 1940s was the launching point for his iconic Wild Kngdom television career. Perkins' directorship was eclipsed by the amazing 30 year run of Lester Fisher as director, who brought the zoo into all the homes of us old farts through his weekly "Arc in the Park" appeances on the Ray Rayner Show. Diring Fisher's tenure the zoo became a major player in captive animal conservation efforts, and it still is.

Happy Happy BeGood and Spiff!

Thanks for merging topics, Oh Great Soxtalk Gods.

For those of you who don't listen to "Commie Radio", er, I mean NPR, Frank DeFord's commentary this morning is on the Sox and the fact that Frank thinks they have the finest nickname in baseball. Here's the link to the audio file page: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4656212

Cerb!

Well, I believe him.

There are still hundreds of people down here with temporary tarps on their roofs from the last go around, and I still have friends living in FEMA trailers while their houses are being repaired. There are not many folks looking forward to another busy season. In related news, some friends of mine are about to have a baby that is also directly related to the hurricanes of 2004. I guess there's only so many board games you can play before you have to find something else to do when the power is out for a few days...

You're old

Bea Has a Posse!

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 13, 2005 -> 01:57 PM) Yeah, he beat up on a bunch of high school kids. I am sure that would go over real well. Its a no win situation at best. Come on, they called him out and it's the students that would look silly if they got their hats handed to them in a WWII knowledge bowl. And no, I don't really think he would win, either.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ May 13, 2005 -> 01:42 PM) I highly doubt Rush is afraid of kids...he'd come off looking bad whether he debated them or not....If I was him I would let it go... How would he come off bad if he acepted their debate challenge and then won? It would vindicate his statements to a degree. He comes off looking bad if he's unwilling to accept their challenge, and of course he would come off as as moron if he accepted the challenge and tanked.

I'm formally challenging wino... winner take all.

Fun Fact for Friday the 13th: It's estimated that between $800 million and $900 million is lost in business each Friday the 13th because people won't travel, go to work and tend to business in general. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=751011&page=1 Another Fun Fact: There are 21 million idiots walking among us – only not today because they're busy hiding under their beds.

QUOTE(fathom @ May 12, 2005 -> 09:29 PM) Ironic that the most trouble he had was against an A ball player. Yeah, nice debut game for that Fiorentino kid. He'll rremember that his whole life.

QUOTE(DonkeyKongerko @ May 12, 2005 -> 09:26 PM) So...Garland vs. Willis in the All Star Game? I'll take that

We'd better get enough runs to get Hermy a break tomorrow

QUOTE(Nokona @ May 11, 2005 -> 09:32 PM) Best game i was ever at. God that was sweetness. Getting in Zambrano's head is certainly teh key to throwing him off his game. Timo and Pods should both be able to do that on the bases this year.

QUOTE(soxhawks @ May 11, 2005 -> 08:15 PM) i can already smell a white sox weep in wrigley All i can smell is the urine.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ May 11, 2005 -> 10:46 PM) when does the price drop on extra inning again? Last year it didn't drop until well into the second half, iirc. They do have an early sign up price that's like $30 less than the regular price, but I've managed to miss that window twice now.

LOVE my Extra Innings package! This is the second year I ponied up for it (early Father's day gift to myself) and it's great. It's not entirely true that you get all the games (CIU games are not picked up and local games like the past Rays series are blacked out). Also, it's always a toss up whether you're gonna get Hawk and DJ or the other team's broadcasters, but I can live with that. Extra Innings on top of the $15 subscription for Gameday Audio has me almost entirely covered. I suggested to my wife that I still need XM radio to get the games while I'm in the car. Take a guess how well that suggestion went over.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ May 11, 2005 -> 10:00 PM) Tapón, as WHarris1 said. Go to freetranslation.com and type "Stopper" then click "FREE Translation." No, Hustler is right. Tapón = stopper as in a cork (or top cover as Hustler said). I thiml Para would mean "it stops." Not to be confused with Parado, which is what Shingo will be if Dustin keeps going like he has. (go ahead and babelfish it)

Our oh-so self-righteous President Bush Lied to America to get the war he wanted??? I'm shocked – shocked I tell you.