The Daily Parker

As I wait for a build pipeline to run, I'm reading these:

• Harvard law professor Richard Lazarus argues that the recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity doesn't shield the XPOTUS from the most serious charges he faces.
• Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a professor of Thai politics, sees recent events in Thailand as heralds of the coming end of the monarchy's control.
• Why do people just stop dating?

Finally, author John Scalzi doesn't want you to idolize authors—especially not him:

Enjoy the art creative people do. Enjoy the experience of them in the mediated version of them you get online and elsewhere, if such is your joy. But remember that the art is from the artist, not the artist themselves, and the version of their life you see is usually just the version they choose to show. There is so much you don’t see, and so much you’re not meant to see. At the end of the day, you don’t have all the information about who they are that you would need to make them your idol, or someone you might choose to, in some significant way, pattern some fraction of your life on. And anyway creative people aren’t any better at life than anyone else.

Looks like the build is almost done...

Yesterday, Cassie and I walked 16.4 km (just over 10 miles), including a 10 km walk that I'd planned only to be a bit less than 7 km. I wanted to stop by Ravinia Brewing's Logan Square taproom, but alas, when we got there, the patio was closed. So we went to Burning Bush instead. In all, we spent most of the day outside in the perfect weather. We'll do more of the same today, just not quite as much walking.

Another brewery that didn't make the cut for the Brews & Choos Project—it's too far from the nearest Metra station—made the culinary news Thursday when the state fined them for their latest infusion:

The state has fined a suburban brewery an undisclosed amount after they served a special infusion of Jeppson’s Malört with cicadas, celebrating the insects’ 2024 emergence. Noon Whistle Brewing Co. in Lombard made headlines in May for combining Chicago’s infamous liquor with bugs foraged from a neighboring park.

The Illinois Liquor Control Commission’s March report includes a blurb that does not mention Noon Whistle, but it refers to a licensee selling an infusion containing cicadas: “The licensee was cited for the violation and was provided education on the issue.” A message to an ILCC rep wasn’t immediately returned. Noon Whistle’s co-founder Mike Condon confirmed the fine over email and wrote he preferred not to share more info.

Chicago went through a phase, in the late 2010s, when bartenders were gleefully infusing spirits, like bourbon, with pork. There weren’t reported fines. However, presumably, they weren’t hunting pigs and curing their own bacon. They weren’t hunting wild pigs, they were buying a product from a store or butcher. There’s no such facility to procure food-grade cicadas.

Cassie, for her part, enjoys the occasional cicada. She snapped one up just this morning on our first walk. It was still buzzing when she swallowed it, so I can only guess how it felt going down. I'm sure Malört would not have made it better.

Welcome to a second visit to stop #77 on the Brews and Choos project, previously reviewed in August 2022.

Brewery: Banging Gavel Brews, 6811 Hickory St., Tinley Park
Train line: Rock Island District, Tinley Park
Time from Chicago: 35 minutes (Zone 3)
Distance from station: 100 m

I'm re-reviewing Banging Gavel Brews after only two years because they didn't have an indoor space until December. And just look at that beautiful building! (Yes, I say while blowing on my fingernails, that is in fact my photo from Thursday evening.) Maybe it was the contrast with the exurban nightmare I visited just an hour earlier, maybe it was the perfect summer evening, maybe it was the delicious croquette I ate, but this place just shot into the Top 10 with one visit.

They really did an excellent job with the renovation. I wish I'd seen inside the house in the 1860s when Karl Vogt went bankrupt building it. Or in 1912 when it had four small apartments, or in the early 1950s before Tinley Park disappeared into Suburbistan.

They still have the huge beer garden to the east, and a huge fire pit on the north. Since it wasn't busy Thursday evening, I had my 2024 Trolley Beer (APA, 5.25) and by Clouding the Issue (DDHNEIPA, 7%) on the porch, watching the sunset and the occasional freight train. After, I walked three minutes to the platform, hopped on the Rock Island, and made the connection to the UP-N to home with minutes to spare.

The Rock Island has the most frequent service of any line except for the BNSF, with stops close to six other really good breweries. I may make a day of it again this summer.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside
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 #115 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Arrowhead Ales, 2101 Calistoga Dr., New Lenox
Train line: Southwest Service, Laraway Road
Time from Chicago: 62 minutes, Zone 4
Distance from station: 400 m

For all you urbanists reading the Brews & Choos Project posts because you want to get fresh beer without driving...you won't like Arrowhead Ales. But I did promise to go to every brewery I could reach, so for the sense of completeness, and to celebrate the fact that I've now been on every commuter rail line in Chicago, here we go.

You can get a sense of the walk from the nearest Metra station by reading my previous post on why I didn't walk anywhere from the huge strip-mall containing this brewery. The train platform extends almost all the way to Laraway Road, but then you have to cross six traffic lanes (fortunately with a big median between them) and traipse through grass for about a hundred meters until you get to an asphalt strip. Then you have a huge vacant lot (it's for sale!) on one side and the road on the other. When you get to the entrance to the strip mall, you have another 200 meters of parking lot to cover before getting to a brewery/restaurant that looks like every other suburban restaurant in North America.

Ah but what about the beer? Yeah. I mean, it's brewed on-site, so it's fresh, I'll give it that. The New Lenox Pilsner (4.5%, 21 IBU) was very light, quite malty, and decent, I guess. The Weed Wacker (sic.) American pale (6.2%, 38 IBU) would be better named in the Loop, which actually has a Wacker Drive and not a lot of weed whackers. It had a maltiness that didn't quite fit the APA profile I expected, with a slight astringence and a long finish. (My note: "Nah.") The Galaxy Gator hazy IPA (6.8%, 36 IBU) had more malt than citrus, but wasn't too bad, despite being a bit bitter. I did like the Imperial Coconut Killjoy porter (9.1%, 25 IBU) because I couldn't taste the coconut, but I did get the marshmallow and chocolate. Again, not too bad, but not something I'd search for at Binny's.

The semi-outdoor area wasn't too bad, despite the 4-year-old girl literally running in circles around her parents' table. Obviously no dogs allowed as you have to go through the restaurant to get there.

So, yeah, I left feeling a deep and abiding sense of Meh. The density of the far-south suburbs just won't support much that is unique or interesting, which just adds to the never-ending cycle of mediocrity and uniformity the North American car-based suburban pattern encourages.

But hey, I've now been on all of the Metra lines. Box ticked.

Beer garden? Semi-outdoor space
Dogs OK? No
Televisions? Yes, avoidable
Serves food? Full but boring menu
Would hang out with a book? No
Would hang out with friends? Under duress
Would go back? No

My plan this evening will take me to Arrowhead Ales in New Lenox, the only Brews & Choos brewery on Metra's Southwest Service. Because the SWS has such an inconvenient schedule, getting home requires me to get to the Rock Island District station 4.3 km away.

Now, I could simply take a Lyft, but given that I'll have almost 2 hours between arriving at Laraway Road and the train departing New Lenox (with another train an hour later), and also given the weather forecast, I plan to walk there.

The only trouble is, the brewery sits in an exurban, 100% car-oriented area, 1,800 meters from the nearest sidewalk:

The intersection of Laraway Road and County Route 4, where I take the right turn towards the village of New Lenox, requires me to Frogger across a total of 11 traffic lanes and 3 high-speed turn lanes:

Then, walking against traffic (always do this!), I have another 1400 meters of 4-lane county highway to follow before I finally reach the village limits. At that point the 4-lane county highway becomes 2-lane Cedar Road, so even in the spots without sidewalks the traffic speed should be much lower.

Wish me luck! And stop funding highway expansion!

The hot, humid weather we've had for the past couple of weeks has finally broken. I'm in the Loop today, and spent a good 20 minutes outside reading, and would have stayed longer, except I got a little chilly. I dressed today more for the 24°C at home and less for the cooler, breezier air this close to the lake.

Elsewhere in the world:

• I was waiting for Russia expert Julia Ioffe to weigh in on last week's hostage release.
• The Chicago White Sox failed to set the all-time record for most consecutive losses in the American League yesterday by winning their first game in the last 23.
• Of the $1.2 trillion Carbon Reduction Program funds allocated to reduce fossil-fuel emissions, $130 billion has been spent so far: but only $26 billion on rail, and $70 billion on highways. 
• Even though Deutsche Bahn has faster, timelier, more convenient, more comfortable, and just more trains than the US, Germans say their national railroad is on the wrong track.
• Deadhorse, Alaska, which lies at 70° north latitude, set an all-time record yesterday with a high temperature just below 32°C.
• After CrowdStrike told Delta Airlines to go pound sand a couple days ago, Microsoft told the carrier off yesterday.
• Be careful taking dogs to fresh-water swimming holes: warmer weather has made blue-green algae blooms more common.

Finally, today is the 60th anniversary of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. If you don't know what that is, read up. It's probably the most direct cause of most of our military policy since then.

This shit amused me:

• The Chicago White Sox have tied the American League record of 21 consecutive losses, with the MLB all-time record of 23 a distinct and shitty possibility.
• CrowdStrike has taken enough of Delta Airlines' shit, thank you.
• In addition to all the other shit that Hurricane Debby turned up over the weekend, the storm flushed 25 kilos of cocaine onto a Florida beach. Apparently, this happens all the time.

Finally, Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the Dave Matthews Band tour bus dropping 350 liters of very literal, very stinky shit onto a boatload of sightseers in the Chicago River. "The culprit turned out to be the band’s tour bus driver, then-42-year-old Stefan Wohl, who pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct and discharging contaminates to cause water pollution. He got hit with 18 months on probation, 150 hours of community service and had to pay a $10,000 fine to Friends of the Chicago River."

I mean, what the shit?

Welcome to stop #114 on the Brews and Choos project.

Brewery: Knack Brewing, 789 S. McMullen Dr., Kankakee, Ill
Train line: Amtrak Illini, Kankakee
Time from Chicago: 70 minutes
Distance from station: 900 m

I have to say, both Kankakee and Knack Brewing surprised me. I'll have more about the city in a subsequent post. For now, I'll say that this little 2-year-old mom-and-pop brewery in a rural city 100 km from my house was worth the trip—especially with the $15 round-trip fare I got from Amtrak.

The taproom doesn't have a lot of space, though it's bigger than a couple of taprooms I've visited. It has a modern vibe with a lot of whimsical touches, including a corkboard in the washroom where you can put up a photo of your dog, since they don't allow dogs inside. The back patio has a view of the river, but the front window faces an abandoned dive bar across a 4-lane stroad that gets maybe 100 cars an hour.

They make lovely beers, too. I started with the Lil' Dhrop hazy IPA (6.2%), a delicious beer with grapefruit and citrus notes and a great finish. The Thrilla Kölsch-style ale (5.2%) combined the lightness and summery drinkability of a Kölsch lager with the depth of an ale. Sure, it wouldn't pass the Reinheitsgebot, but I would have taken a pint outside if the heat index had been a bit lower. The Classic2 American IPA (6.8%) had a subtlety that you wouldn't guess from its higher alcohol content, with a dryness and lightness I really liked. And as much as I liked the Fortillo Tho hazy IPA, its 8.2% ABV took a bit away from its flavor. Since I had another hour after that flight, I went back to the Lil' Dhrop and my book, and relaxation.

They had an art fair and a food truck going in the parking lot right when I arrived, which unfortunately closed just as I got hungry. Next time I visit, I'll plan a longer stay.

Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? None
Serves food? BYOF
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes

The XPOTUS's handlers cut short his appearance this afternoon at the National Association of Black Journalists convention just 2 km from where I'm sitting. The XPOTUS began by insulting the hosts and the panelists. Then, when one of the panelists had just brought up Project 2025 (the Republican Party's blueprint for rolling the country back to the 1850s), the moderator suddenly interrupted and said the campaign had told her to wrap it up. The 37 minutes of Harris Campaign footage the XPOTUS had already provided will have to do, I guess.

In other end-of-July news:

• Julia Ioffe wonders what Kamala Harris's foreign policy will look like.
• Army Lt William Calley, the only American service member convicted of a crime after the My Lai massacre in 1968, died in April.
• Did Coinbase just commit the largest campaign finance violation in history?
• The Exchange Club of Naperville has permanently ended its Ribfest after 35 years, citing the cost of renting the space and declining revenues since the pandemic.
• The US Navy has nearly completed swapping out crews and equipment between the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and the USS George Washington (CVN-73) as the latter prepares to move permanently to Japan.

Finally, the Justice Dept has accused the Norfolk Southern Railroad of illegally delaying passenger trains, after Amtrak suffered an ungodly 11,500 minutes of delay in just the first three months of this year. "Freight-train interference" is the principal cause of delays for US trains because the country has almost no dedicated passenger mainlines. The freight railroads that own the tracks have a statutory obligation to prioritize passenger trains, but no other incentives to do so. It's about the dumbest way to organize passenger rail anyone could come up with, other than separating out the track from the operations. I mean, we're dumb, but we're not that dumb.

The US election is 98 days away, and August starts Thursday. Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...into the future...

And yet, the ever-present Now keeps us here:

• Both Paul Krugman and Molly White are baffled that the XPOTUS is making cryptocurrency a campaign issue, when almost none of their voters understands the first thing about it. (Hint: their biggest tech-bro donors care about it a lot.)
• James Fallows introduces us to Minnesota governor Tim Walz (D).
• Chuck Marohn shakes his head sadly at the installation of an ice machine on a lot previously occupied by a restaurant in Brainerd, Minn. It's an example of how the suburban car-oriented development pattern has made it impossible for kids to be kids.
• New research finds there are six different kinds of depression rooted in which parts of the brain are disrupted. Great.

Finally, Bruce Schneier warns that automobile companies and their suppliers have many disincentives to providing software updates for the entire lifetime of their products. Microsoft stops supporting Windows versions after just a few years, while cars live for decades.