Twitter tweets for 2008-08-10

August 10th, 2008

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Twitter tweets for 2008-08-09

August 9th, 2008

  • What, is this the 1950s? Georgia declares war on Russia. http://tinyurl.com/5zaxlg #
  • Ugh. Need to go to Target. On a Saturday afternoon. Wish me luck. #
  • Enjoying the sounds of The Last Shadow Puppets #
  • Glasgow’s Sons and Daughters at the Double Door Sept. 6, 9pm. Who’s in? #
  • O. M. G. Kristen Hersh is going to be at the Old Twon School of Folk Music on Dec. 7. #

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Twitter tweets for 2008-08-07

August 7th, 2008

  • When installing WordPress plugins, it’s quite helpful to RTFM! You’d think I would know that by now, wouldn’t you? #
  • That was fun! A 4.5 hour cable/internet outage! Yay for Comcast! #

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Suggestion for Chicago: Congestion Charging

July 12th, 2008

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Despite average area gasoline prices being over $4.25 per gallon, the City of Chicago has a traffic problem. A major traffic problem. The city and county also have a revenue problem, as evidenced by the Cook County board voting to raise the sales tax another one percent, bringing our sales tax up to 10.25% in the city. I have a suggestion that might help both problems at once.

In the United Kingdom, London has introduced a ‘Congestion Charge’ to get into Central London. New York has considered something like this, but the fact that they have some high bridge tolls to get into Manhattan kind of negates the need for such a charge. London’s congestion charge is £8, or roughly $16. I’m not suggesting something that drastic. I’m suggesting a $5 congestion charge to get into four of the most congested parts of the city:

  • The Loop
  • River North (including the Gold Coast, Old Town, and Streeterville)
  • Lincoln Park (including New Town)
  • Lakeview (including Wrigleyville, Boystown and East Lakeview)

The boundaries, in my plan, would be Roosevelt Rd. to the south, along Halsted St. to the west from Roosevelt Rd. to North Ave., then Ashland Ave. from North Ave. to Irving Park Rd, and Irving Park Rd. forming the north boundary, and Lake Shore Drive being the easternmost boundary.

There would, of course, be a few exemptions. Travelling through these zones via the Kennedy Expressway and Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94), The Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), The Stevenson Expressway (I-55), or Lake Shore Drive (US 41) wouldn’t incur these charges. Exit these roadways, pass through the collection area, and you’ll be charged. Another exemption would be CTA buses and trains, as the aim of the congestion charge is to get people off the thoroughfares and to use public transportation more often. Taxi cabs would have to pay the congestion charge, but they would be allowed to pass on the $5 congestion charge to the customer. And of course pedestrians would be exempt. Bicycles, however, would be charged a lower fee of $2.50. People who live within these boundaries would also be exempt, and would be able to get a special transponder for their vehicles that indicates to the collection points that they are residents of this area.

Congestion Charge collection could be linked up with the Illinois Tollway system’s I-PASS transponders to make the whole thing easier. Enforcement could be setup with traffic cameras, recording license plates, and automatically mailing out $120 fines (plus the $5 congestion charge and a $25 ticketing fee, of course).

So what do you say, Chicago? Would you be in favor of congestion charging if that meant we could repeal the additional sales tax?

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New Music: Sons & Daughters

May 13th, 2008

Sons & DaughtersThose who know me well, know that I tend to lean towards British pop and rock versus some of the crap that comes out of the RIAA machine here in the U.S. I like everything from Joy Division, to The Smiths/Morrissey, The Cure, to Radiohead and Coldplay. Sons & Daughters, a four-some from Glasgow, have really knocked my socks off. Their debut song “Darling” quickly become one of my favorites.

As I’ve explored the band’s music further, I’ve found that most of their other songs have a very different sound to them. In songs like “Dance Me In” and “Taste the Last Girl,” lead singer Adele Bethel’s voice takes on a much richer and darker tone, reminiscent, in a way, of Siouxsie Sioux’s early days. Another song to have made it to hit status in the UK was “Gilt Complex” which curiously reminds me of a mash-up of pre-disco post-punk Blondie meets early-Siouxsie meets, perhaps, Cat Power.

Sons & Daughters are on Domino Records, which in my opinion is producing some of the best music to come out of the UK right now, including such bands as the Arctic Monkeys, The Kills, Tricky, Franz Ferdinand, Junior Boys, and Animal Collective. If you have the chance, check them out on iTunes, or go to their site where you can watch their videos and download upcoming songs.

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