Friday Links: The Majesty of The Great Lakes And Surrounding Prairie Edition

"I have loved you like darkness loves the base of a throat yet songs I could sing for you won’t come. City of Lou Malnati’s and Giordano’s," - Phillip B. Williams, "Declaration"

When J.B. “Big Pritz” Pritzker—current Governor of the State of Illinois and billionaire who once took all the bathrooms out of his house to duck taxes—becomes POTUS in 2024, we can bet the fascist right is gonna be mad. Here’s a billionaire political outsider who’s actually competent at his job, unlike their twice-impeached asswipe? A big-D Democrat who can actually muster support from the Left because let’s face it, America loves Big Boys? Look how mad the right got at Fetterman. They’re gonna be mad. The United States is already in a soft civil war, we have to prepare for eventualities. Like this:

Nomadic Warriors for Pritzker⚔️ @Nomads4Pritzker

We prepare for every eventuality, so what might a Great Lakes-specific Khanate look like? How might the rest of the continent react? While our vision is for a continental empire, our viziers have hypothesized this as an initial political situation.

Now, I’m not enlisted as a Nomadic Warrior. I have bad joints, bad sinuses, and a child. But I am a socialist for Pritzker (not to be confused with the Twitter account Socialists For Pritzker). If Khan Big Pritz were to look for a scribe, send him over to shipwrecked sailor.

What I’ve Been Reading This Week:

do I become a parody of myself? Very well, I become a parody of myself

Back when I was working sorting and shipping at a used bookstore in Evanston, IL, I came across this little gem, published 1968. Do I know who Dwight Boyer is? No. Do I much care? Also no. Do I love having a book called Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes sitting proudly in the “Chicago” section of my home library? I love it very much. The chapters have delightful titles like “The Flying Dutchman of Lake Superior” or “…With the Best of Intentions” or “Knives in the Lifeboat!” or “The Prophetic Passing of Captain Napier.” The amount of information I actually retain when I read this book is minimal. The stories are frequently follies of capitalist greed or a captain’s arrogance. They’re tragic, sometimes mysterious, and a little window into the lives of sailors from a long time ago with an author who writes like he’s from a long time ago. It’s fun to read a chapter here and there every now and again.

LINKS!

• I’ve linked the great Behind The Bastards podcast here before, and the latest four-part series on Napoleon III is excellent (parts one, two, three, four). I’m linking here not for the interesting revelations that the Worst Bonaparte was basically the model for Mussolini’s March on Rome and the US occupation of Afghanistan, nor for the hilarious story of Napoleon III drunkenly shooting a guy in the mouth in a panic because his coup was failing. I’m linking here because now I can tag the esteemed

  Shatter Zone
  and call him out for his “nuke the Great Lakes” shit-stirring. Again, I’m not a Nomadic Warrior, but I believe the goals of the Big Pritz Khanate and Cool Zone Media can be aligned. That said, such braggadocio in ad break bits are not guaranteed to be taken as comedy by the Khan, and Cool Zone Media would do well to reconsider their rhetoric before provoking an incursion.

• Curious City did an episode recently on Chicago’s Little India, a place I’ve lived more or less walking distance to ever since moving here for undergrad at Loyola centuries ago. In fact, my recent move puts me closer to Little India than I’ve ever been. It’s an awesome place, and I was really interested to hear how some of the Indians who grew up there but have since moved to the suburbs still find it an invaluable place. Where else in the city is such a hub of vegetarian cooking and a decent spot to buy a saree? Long live Little India.

• She got a little overshadowed by the Chadwick memorial and the introduction of Namor, but a reminder that Riri Williams AKA Ironheart was also a rad part of Black Panther 2, and the best version of the character has been written by Chicago’s own Dr. Eve L. Ewing.

• The Present Age
  is an excellent newsletter for media criticism—increasingly valuable as the mainstream media increasingly embraces the current moral panic over trans people while continuing to not report on climate change. Written by Chicago’s own Parker Molloy, TPA has a year-end goal of 20k subscribers, and they’re very close, so…go help them out and get yourself educated in the process, huh?

• Let Chicago Historian and veteran ComEd worker Shermann “Dilla” Thomas tell you about the Chicago flag, then Harold’s Chicken, and after watching those videos, go take one of his tours.

• Today’s a good day to check out Chicago band Solipse, consisting of the homies Charles Austin, Brendan, Joel, and Smags. In a pre-parenthood life, I played bass for them on Division Street. Their latest Live Works session is on YouTube.

• If you’re in the 48th Ward, vote Nick Ward for Aldergoon.

• MJ highlights to close out? MJ highlights to close out.

Sorry you got an email,

Chris