[Show as slideshow]

(Special thanks to Brigette Sullivan of Outer Focus Photos for her help on this project.)

From the Chicago Tribune...

Marlo Thomas coming to Chicago to promote new book ‘Growing Up Laughing’
Actor, author interviewed popular comedians to find out where sense of humor comes from

A lesson learned with laughter, it is said, is a lesson learned well.

In learning about comedy, Marlo Thomas had some of the best teachers in the world in her father, Danny Thomas, and other legendary entertainers such as Milton Berle and Sid Caesar who were fixtures in the Thomases’ household.

Thomas shares much of what she learned in her new book, “Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny” (Hyperion).

In a homecoming of sorts, she will be in Chicago next week for several appearances to promote the book.

After marrying talk show pioneer Phil Donahue — who brought his show to Chicago — Thomas lived in Wilmette from 1980 to 1985. In an interview with the Tribune, Thomas recalled the friends she made during those years and Chicago’s restaurants and theater scene.

Read the entire article at the Chicago Tribune.

Other guests include Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist Rhymefest and Chicago folk musicians Sones de Mexico Ensemble. Rhymefest is running for alderman. Check out his announcement video:

WHAT: “The Interview Show”  at The Hideout

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 5. 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

WHERE: 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., Chicago.

TICKETS: $5 at the door.

• Last year, David Ormsby did an excellent survey of Illinois political blogs. Give it a look and see if any look familiar to you.
• Community Media Workshop recently did a survey of Chicago-area blog. Click here to have a look at it.
• Sock puppetry discussions are on Cap Fax and Daily Herald and New York Times.
• There seemed to be some interest in FourSquare. Here are a couple of articles that discuss how this new technology may become more pervasive in coming election cycles. As I mentioned, Facebook will soon unveil their own version (“Places“) of the technology. We’re going to have to see how this technology plays out. Personally, I think it will be a great organizing tool but it’s still new, with relatively few people using it. We’ll see if FB Places changes this.

Thanks for coming out, and apologies for my coughing fits. Give me a shout if you have any questions or want to talk about anything in more detail.

Over in the MSM world, Charlie Wojciechowski from NBC5 did an excellent piece, including some good quotes from Dan and Andrew at the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op. Check it out:

A Fresh Squeeze is a lovely “green living” website that focuses on Chicago sustainability. Today’s story is a great feature on the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op:

A core group of local restaurants have chosen to participate in a new initiative sponsored by the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op in efforts to create more sustainable dining conditions in the Chicago area for restaurant-goers.

Restaurants that choose to seek the “Guaranteed Green” status have one year to prove their sustainability in eight different areas of their businesses: water efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, sustainable furnishings and building materials, sustainable food, energy management, management of disposables, chemical and pollution management and community outreach and training. Each restaurant that receives the “Guaranteed Green” must be certified by either the Green Restaurant Association or Green Seal, two independent, national not-for-profits that have created comprehensive environmental standards for restaurants. Guaranteed Green restaurants will have an emblem placed in their front window next to the logo from the certifying agency.

Read all about it at afreshsqueeze.com.

“I never wanted to use Twitter solely as a marketing tool. 90 percent of my business is behind closed doors and I wanted to use this as a means of making fans of the restaurants vested members of the Frontera family. It’s hard to do that within the context of, say, a public appearance or a book signing. I want to hear what people have to say, be able to have a conversation with them, and create a forum for discussion.”

Clearly, the guy knows his way around social media as well as he knows his way around a kitchen. Too bad he didn’t tweet our press conference last month. Of course, Ina’s has a no cell phone policy so maybe he didn’t want to take a chance.

Speaking of which, Ina has been known to pontificate on occasion. Find her at breafastqueen1.

We’ve helped out Progress Illinois on a few projects in the past, and of course, we’re big fans of the Hideout… co-owner and bureaucrat extraordinaire Tim Tuten was extremely supportive of Tom Geoghegan’s campaign for Congress:

.

Check it out… we’ll see you there.