Category Archives: random spottings

No, I’m not going to make you guess where I took this photo of a pickle in a pouch. I’ll just go ahead and tell you that I spotted it late night at a liquor/convenience store on Division Street in Wicker Park over the weekend. It managed to both scare and fascinate me, and I am wondering if anyone has ever actually tried one of these (contents: one pickle, as if that’s not apparent through the plastic). But hell, it can’t be much worse than risking one of the peanut butter cracker packs on the same shelf. The company Van Holten’s is actually Milwaukee-based, and has been around since 1898 which is pretty cool, but a pickle in a plastic bag tucked away on the bottom shelf of a convenience/liquor store that sells everything from plastic protractors to cleaning products? I’m not convinced. If someone has attempted to uncover the mystery of the pickle in a pouch, please enlighten..

Gentleman! If you want to impress your lady with something sweet and chocolatey this Valentine’s Day, I’d stay far away from some of the custom creations I spotted in the window of the Fudge Pot this week. I mean, I can appreciate a solid chocolate Jimmy Choo as much as the next gal, but the PMS block? Eh..I don’t recommend. The ring and diamond are kind of cute, but trust me, they’d prefer the kind they can wear around their fingers and not on their hips. Play it safe and stick with the martini, or peruse the rest of the classic (and non-cliché) Valentine’s Day goodies stocked in the delish Old Town confectionary. 1532 N. Wells Street.

Print magazines may be in trouble, but I hope they never get rid of Meatpaper, a very cool San Francisco-based meat culture magazine I recently discovered. The design of the print publication rocks, and I love the Web site where you can see “featured meat art” and a great “meat love” animation dug up from 1989.

Sumptin’…I don’t know what..is happening to the Sonotheque façade in the way of a renovation (anyone know?). I guess it was time for a facelift on the six-year-old West Town music lounge, but I hope they keep the old Casey’s Liquors sign still painted on the outside brick wall. I remember getting kegs from Casey’s back in my Racine/Lake loft-party days, and the sign brings back memories. Sometimes they’re facing alleys or are partly cut-off by building additions, but I love spotting these hidden signs from the past on brick walls around the city, anyone know of any other great ones? Sonotheque, 1444 W. Chicago Avenue