NCAA picks easier than Iowa caucus rules?
March 19, 2009
President Obama is using the bully pulpit of the White House blog to address a pressing issue: the Presidential picks for the NCAA basketball tournament. Last year, Obama’s picks were suspect for favoring teams from key primary states, so we’ll see how he does without election year pressures hanging over his head. His final: UNC over Louisville. Sad to see the Illini didn’t get any hometown love. He reviewed his picks with this week on ESPN.
UPDATE: It should be noted that the President of the United States of America correctly picked UNC as the winning team. However, bad picks in the early rounds probably killed his chances of collecting any cash from the West Wing tourney pool.
Chicago Reader launches redesign
March 12, 2009
The Chicago Reader has rolled out a new design for its Web site. For the user, there’s an improved navigation system up top & a new emphasis on the blogs that have grown to be an important part of the Reader’s offerings. Above the fold, you get this week’s cover story, the latest blog posts, today’s critics picks, and a list of recommended articles from around the web. On his Chicagoland blog, web editor Whet Moser mentions the redesign is a work in progress, with a number of pages and sections still to be ported over to the new layout. I see it as a big improvement for an organization that was very, very late to embrace the web. There are still a number of financial challenges facing free print publications like the Reader, but moving in this direction will, at the very least, give it a fighting chance.
Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments
March 10, 2009
Here’s a quick shout-out and congrats to friend of Lackner/Andrews, Emily Ecton, on the release of her new book, Night of the Living Lawn Ornaments. When she’s not writing top shelf mysteries for the hyper-literate youth of America, Emily is a producer for Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.
Maritime Fest featured on Chicago Tonight
March 2, 2009
The Chicago Martime Festival was a weekend pick in Timeout Chicago and discussed during their weekly Chicago Tonight feature. Phil Ponce sounds ready to sport his eye patch. Video after the jump
