The Daily Parker

The New York Times had two opinion pieces today that seemed to go together.

In the first, literary critic Hillary Kelly notes the prevalence of pop-culture stories about people not so much in dystopia, but stuck in something else:

On one sci-fi show after another I’ve encountered long, zigzagging, labyrinthine passageways marked by impenetrable doors and countless blind alleys — places that have no obvious beginning or end. The characters are holed up in bunkers (“Fallout”), consigned to stark subterranean offices (“Severance”), locked in Escher-like prisons (“Andor”) or living in spiraling mile-deep underground complexes (“Silo”). Escape is unimaginable, endless repetition is crushingly routine and people are trapped in a world marked by inertia and hopelessness.

The resonance is chilling: Television has managed to uncannily capture the way life feels right now.

We’re all stuck.

What’s being portrayed is not exactly a dystopia. It’s certainly not a utopia. It’s something different: a stucktopia. These fictional worlds are controlled by an overclass, and the folks battling in the mire are underdogs — mechanics, office drones, pilots and young brides. Yet they’re also complicit, to varying degrees, in the machinery that keeps them stranded. Once they realize this, they strive to discard their sense of futility — the least helpful of emotions — and try to find the will to enact change.

I think she has a point. And just a few stories later, we get a glimpse of why that kind of story may reflect the experiences of our 2020s existence. Urbanist Stephen Smith has studied residential elevators, here and in the rest of the world, and concluded that the particular failings of the way we build elevators in the US reflect larger failings that have held us back from addressing problems that Europe and the rich Asian countries have already solved:

Elevators in North America have become over-engineered, bespoke, handcrafted and expensive pieces of equipment that are unaffordable in all the places where they are most needed. Special interests here have run wild with an outdated, inefficient, overregulated system. Accessibility rules miss the forest for the trees. Our broken immigration system cannot supply the labor that the construction industry desperately needs. Regulators distrust global best practices and our construction rules are so heavily oriented toward single-family housing that we’ve forgotten the basics of how a city should work.

Similar themes explain everything from our stalled high-speed rail development to why it’s so hard to find someone to fix a toilet or shower. It’s become hard to shake the feeling that America has simply lost the capacity to build things in the real world, outside of an app.

Behind the dearth of elevators in the country that birthed the skyscraper are eye-watering costs. A basic four-stop elevator costs about $158,000 in New York City, compared with about $36,000 in Switzerland. A six-stop model will set you back more than three times as much in Pennsylvania as in Belgium. Maintenance, repairs, and inspections all cost more in America too.

The U.S. and Canada have also marooned themselves on a regulatory island for elevator parts and designs. Much of the rest of the world has settled on following European elevator standards, which have been harmonized and refined over generations. Some of these differences between American and global standards only result in minor physical differences, while others add the hassle of a separate certification process without changing the final product.

As kids in the 1970s we dreamt of flying cars and arcologies. As I shuffle through middle age in the 2020s, I dream of the social safety net and built environments that Europe takes for granted. Give me a train to New York that takes 5 hours and the end to people going bankrupt because of a treatable illness and you can keep your flying car.

Welcome to stop #109 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Bosacki's Brewery, 610 E. Hawley St., Mundelein
Train line: North-Central Service, Mundelein
Time from Chicago: 68 minutes
Distance from station: 800 m

Don't let the façade dissuade you from visiting this place; it's an absolute gem. Greg Bosacki loves brewing beer, and he has made some unusual and surprising ones over the years. I spent so much time talking with him about beer and the other breweries in Lake County (including a few that have closed) that I forgot to take notes on the beer until after I left.

He let me try four of his beers (no charge) so I could decide which pint to get. I started with the Improper English Ale (4.6%, 19 IBU) that tasted just like a real ale in the Ancestral Homeland. (This prompted a discussion about the Real Ale movement and how you have to ask for a cask beer if you want the real thing in central London.) His English IPA (5.3%, 54 IBU) could have gone around the Horn on a packet ship, and yet it was eminently drinkable and not as bitter as the IBUs would suggest.

Then Greg got to the real passion projects: the Frumentum (Corn) Lager, from a mid-19th-Century recipe he developed to elicit how beer would have tasted on the western frontier (i.e., Chicago) in the 1850s. Last, he gave me a taste of the Uncommon Kentucky Ale, one of the more common styles of beer from before prohibition, traditionally made by moonshiners who wanted something more for sippin' than their 100-proof hooch.

Don't even get me started on the puzzles. I spent several minutes trying to figure out one of the metal ones at the bar, and didn't even attempt these Rubik's cubes. I did manage to get the two bent nails untangled, and get them back together again. Greg will give you clues if you ask him.

Who knew Mundelein had such a treasure? Next visit to Mundelein, I'll get dinner at Tonality, then a unique beer at Bosacki's.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Yes
Televisions? One, avoidable
Serves food? BYOF
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Welcome to stop #108 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Tonality Brewing, 169 N. Seymore Ave., Mundelein
Train line: North-Central Service, Mundelein
Time from Chicago: 68 minutes
Distance from station: 400 m

One of Chicagoland's newest breweries, Tonality opened in November in the shadow of Mundelein's water tower, ensuring they will always have enough of their principal ingredient to keep making great beers. They also have really good food, which their house manager claimed is 95% made from scratch. I can only attest to the potato chips, which were really good.

But the beer is worth the trip. Beermiscuous in Lakeview has some of their beers while they work out other distribution deals, but only a few of them, and not the best of the tastes I had.

On the left we have the Rich Life Bohemian Pilsner (4.2%), which has a lot of flavor for a Pils. (The haziness of my sample is merely because it was near the end of the keg.) The Notoberfest festbier (6.2%)—so named because they missed opening in September last year—had big malt with honey and apple notes, and a long finish. Next came the Cosmic Wolf NEIPA (6.6%), which had peach and banana notes, and drank more like a lager than a double dry-hopped IPA. I rounded out my official flight with the Fadeaway West Coast IPA (8.8%), a dangerous, flavorful beer I would drink very carefully. Mo, the bartender, also let me try a swig of the Crepuscular Russian Imperial Stout (12%), which exploded in my mouth with chocolate and vanilla flavors that completely concealed the alcohol. I also got a taste of the Faraday Phenomena IPA (5.5%), a solid, well-balanced ale I could sip outside on their patio.

I would love to go back to Tonality, if only Mundelein weren't so far away. Perhaps, on my way back from Wisconsin next time I go up.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? Yes, avoidable
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Welcome to stop #107 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Harbor Brewing, 136 Cedar Ave., Lake Villa
Train line: North-Central Service, Lake Villa
Time from Chicago: 91 minutes
Distance from station: 100 m

The North-Central Service doesn't have the worst schedule in the Metra system; it has the third-worst. With only 7 trains a day, and only one train going in the reverse-commute direction, it takes some planning to get from downtown Chicago to Lake Villa. And, sadly, the return train comes only 45 minutes after the Antioch-bound train drops you off.

Still, Harbor Brewing knows how to create a great beer garden and taproom. Like their Winthrop Harbor location (much easier to get to), they have lots of room outside, and lots of beers inside. The Lake Villa taproom opened in 2022 after they outgrew the Winthrop Harbor spot west of the tracks. (The lakefront location is still open.) Lake Villa is one village over from Wisconsin, so the train passed through some soybean and corn fields on the way up. But that far from the city means it's quiet and quite relaxing—even if you only have 40 minutes to spare.

Because of the short connection time, I only got two half-pours. The Full Sun New England pale ale (5.6%, 25 IBU) was decent, with nice hop/malt balance and a little bitterness that I liked.  I also enjoyed the Nature Walk pale ale (4.7%, 32 IBU) as a drinkable, easy beer for a summer afternoon.

I would definitely go back. And I may need to stop by their lakeside beer garden again this summer.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Yes
Televisions? Yes, avoidable
Serves food? No, BYOF
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Since President Biden shat the bed at the debate against the demented, convicted-felon, narcissistic imbecile XPOTUS last week, the Democratic Party cognoscenti have lost their minds. Everyone who doesn't have an office in the West Wing seems to want the President to withdraw from the race, despite only 123 days left before the election.

Now, I believe firmly that a healthy party self-corrects, and if a party fails to do so for 14 years, it deserves its worst loss in history.

But the reality is, we head into the Democratic National Convention next month with almost every delegate pledged for the Biden/Harris campaign. The only alternative to President Biden right now is Vice President Harris. Any other path would grossly violate the democratic principles the Democratic Party stands for.

Not to mention, changing candidates requires the President's assent; he has to release or direct his delegates in order for anyone else to win nomination. Not to mention, if the nominated candidate were anyone other than the Vice President, the XPOTUS's team would gleefully sue the campaign on the grounds that no one else was elected.

Believe it or not, professional pessimist Josh Marshall thinks the XPOTUS's campaign have to be shitting bricks worrying about us nominating the Vice President, because the President's age has really been their only winning argument:

Trump’s campaign has spent three years thinking it was running against Joe Biden. Well – if this set of events transpires – he’s not. He’s running against someone young and vital. His entire plan of battle goes out the window. It’s hard to overestimate how important that is. But that’s not the case for Democrats. They’re still running against a deeply unpopular candidate, who outlawed Roe v Wade, who staged a coup against the state, who’s a convicted felon, who most Americans don’t want to see as President again. The whole two very old very unpopular candidate model, well, that’s out the window. Harris at the top of the ticket pushes abortion even higher into salience. Republicans will try to shift things back to questions about Joe Biden. Why this? Why that? Harris has a perfect, taunting rejoinder every time: “Focus, Donald. You’re not running against Joe Biden anymore. You’re running against me, Kamala Harris.”

I think he makes a good point. I would also say that the XPOTUS has more liabilities coming into this election than anyone in history. Not just his 34 felony convictions; not just his wildly anti-democratic rants; not just his track record with the pandemic, abortion, and the Federal courts in general. Oh, no. If you want to debate whose cognitive decline matters in this election, I'll take Sleepy Joe over the Stark Raving Loony leader of the Republican Party:

We live in interesting times.

A few hours ago, HM King Charles III invited Sir Keir Starmer (Lab) to become his Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, and form a government in his name:

Keir Starmer has said the “sunlight of hope” is now shining in Britain again as Labour won a landslide UK election victory, bringing a crushing end to 14 years of Conservative rule.

Labour had won 411 seats, while the Conservatives were on just 119, with five left to declare by 9.30am. The government’s likely majority is set to be about 170 seats. The party dominated in Scotland, with the SNP reduced to eight seats so far, while the Liberal Democrats gained at least 71 seats – their best performance ever.

There were five shock victories against Labour for pro-Palestine independent candidates, with Jonathan Ashworth, one of Labour’s election chiefs, voted out in Leicester South, and the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn winning in Islington North. Plaid Cymru was expected to win four seats.

At the last general election, in 2019, the Conservatives had a majority of 80, with 365 seats to Labour’s 203. The SNP won 48 seats and the Lib Dems had just 11.

Former PM Liz Truss lost her seat, as did former leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, incumbent leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, and Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps. Outgoing PM Rishi Sunak has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party.

It wasn't all good news: racist demagogue Nigel Farange (Reform) won a seat in Westminster, and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, expelled from the Labour party for anti-Semitism and also leading the party to its worst loss in generations, won election as an independent in his constituency in Islington. (For US readers, Islington is the Logan Square or—and I am aware of the irony—SoHo of London. So exactly the kind of area that would elect someone like Corbyn.)

Proportionally, the Scottish National Party had the worst night, losing 38 of its 47 seats, while the Liberal Democrats jumped from 8 to 71 seats and will get to ask questions on Wednesdays again.

Right now, Labour front-benchers are meeting individually with Number 10 to find out what exciting new jobs they get in government. But as the Zen koan that the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg just posted, "none of these appointments are confirmed, until they are confirmed." Angela Rayner has become the deputy PM, and it looks like Rachel Reeves will has become the UK's first female Chancellor, an office that often leads to election as PM later on.

It took 14 years for the UK's voters to remember why right-wing governments suck. I just hope the Labour government takes at least that long to fall apart. We all need a strong center-left government somewhere in the West while Putin still breathes.

Welcome to stop #106 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Industry Ales, 230 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago
Train line: All of them
Time from Chicago: not applicable
Distance from station: 100 m from Adams/Wabash, 1.6 km from Ogilvie Transportation Center

Chicago's newest brewery opened in April in what used to be Kramer's Health Foods next to the 125-year-old Central Camera store in the Loop. I am impressed.

My Brews & Choos buddy and I went there Wednesday directly after visiting Chicago's oldest continuously-operating brewery around the corner. She had a light lunch earlier in the day so she could save room for the vegetarian pierogis on Industry's all-day menu, which were definitely worth the wait.

We shared a flight of four beers. We both found the Zeal for Zielke New Zealand pale ale (5%) surprisingly bitter, but very clean for a pale, with along finish, an even palate, and no big flavors. The Out of Focus hazy IPA (5.5%) was lighter than expected, with some melon and orange notes. The County Clare Irish dry stout (4.6%) had a very dry, light mouthfeel, with coffee and chicory flavors that I loved and she did not. Her pick, the Hinomaru Japanese red ale (6.0%) was surprising (I don't typically like red ales), dry, light, balanced, with a quick finish. ("Light" came up in every discussion; maybe the pierogis affected our perceptions?)

The only odd note to the late-afternoon visit was the armed guard at the door. I asked co-founder Dan Rook about it, and he reminded me that the Loop has had some incidents in the last few years, not least of which when rioters burned out the Central Camera store next door in 2020. Fair point; but I can't imagine Spiteful needing that kind of security.

Still, we both liked Industry Ales a lot, especially its vegetarian-friendly menu. Given its proximity to Symphony Center, the Auditorium and Studebaker Theaters, and Millennium Park, I expect we'll get a bunch of people over there soon.

Beer garden? Sidewalk patio under the El
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? Yes, avoidable
Serves food? Yes, full menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

Welcome to stop #105 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Adams Street Brewery, 17 W. Adams St., Chicago
Train line: All of them
Time from Chicago: not applicable
Distance from station: 100 m from Adams/Wabash, 1.3 km from Ogilvie Transportation Center

The Adams Street Brewery traces its history back to 1887, and has existed in the same location in the Chicago Loop since 1898. It stopped brewing during Prohibition, but the Berghoff Restaurant above the brew works remained open throughout. I doubt much has changed in the past 126 years except the prices and the clever beer names.

I decided against having lunch there when I visited yesterday, only because I had plans to meet friends later in the evening and I didn't want to gorge on the authentic German food from the Berghoff. Who doesn't want a $26 Wiener Schnitzel on a hot July day?

Instead I tried two beers, and a sip of my Brews & Choos buddy's as well.  The What-Duh Helles Lager (5.3%, 24 IBU) was a solid Helles, light, with banana notes, a long finish, and a malty but not too sweet body that would have gone great with the aforementioned Schnitzel. The Dat's Da Joose New England hazy (6.2%, 25 IBU) was...eh? Definitely juicy, not particularly hoppy, and not much of a finish. My friend ordered Da Drizzly dry-hopped sour (4.0%, 10 IBU), which surprised me, as I don't typically like sours. It was clean and refreshing, not too sweet or sour, which my friend declared "very exciting." I thought it was OK.

I didn't find any mention of flights on the menu until after I'd ordered, when the bartender mentioned it in passing. (It's actually one of the only breweries I've been to that offers beer by the liter.) I might have tried a couple of others had I known. But given the brewery's location, and how long it has been there, I think I can find a way back...say, in mid-September?

Beer garden? No
Dogs OK? No
Televisions? Yes, avoidable
Serves food? Yes, full German menu
Would hang out with a book? No
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

The UK general election is going on right now. UK law prohibits editorializing or publishing poll results while polls are open. The major exit polls will come out at 22:00 BST (4pm Chicago time), at which point I will be madly refreshing The Guardian.

For now, if you live in the UK, just vote. No matter which way it goes, I'll still visit.

I'm about to leave the office for the next 4½ days. Happy Independence Day!

And who could forget that the UK will have a general election tomorrow? To celebrate, the Post has a graphical round-up of just how badly the Conservative Party has screwed things up since taking power in 2010:

There’s a widespread feeling among voters that something has gone awry under Tory government, that the country is stagnating, if not in perilous decline.

Nearly three-quarters of the public believes that the country is worse off than it was 14 years ago, the London-based pollster YouGov has found. More than 46 percent of people say it’s “much worse.” And to some extent, economic and other data back that up.

Before Brexit, a different word hung over Conservative policy: “austerity.”

Cameron pushed spending cuts intended to reduce government debt and deficit. The goal was never achieved — public debt this year hit its highest rate as a percentage of economic output since the 1960s — but austerity had many side effects, including huge cuts to local governments that hit services such as schools and swimming pools.

Britain’s beloved National Health Service was one of the few places to see funding rise in real terms during this period, but it mostly failed to match pre-2010 trends, let alone keep up with spiking inflation, immigration and the needs of an aging population. Under the Conservatives, waiting times for treatment have surged.

I'm sorry I can't be there tomorrow, but I will be there in September, eagerly questioning my friends about the election and its aftermath.

For this weekend, though, expect some Brews & Choos reviews, and probably some blather about other things as well.