Ocelopotamus

News, culture, and politics. Not necessarily in that order.

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Entries Tagged as 'Illinois'

Welcome Back, Otter

December 12th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Chicago, Illinois, Nature, News, Science

Forget about the possums, the raccoons, even the coyotes turning up in our urban environment. There are now officially otters in the Chicago River. Thousands of commuters were walking past Union Station on the day that Chris Anchor happened to see a dream made flesh. Furry otter flesh, to be exact. I know, I know. […]

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Coming in November: The History of Chicago Punk on Film

October 26th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Chicago, Culture, Film, History, Illinois, Music, New Wave, Peoria, Video

My friend and colleague Chris Tillman and her husband Joe Losurdo, working under the name Regressive Films, have collaborated on a new documentary about the history of punk rock in Chicago. Titled You Weren’t There — A History Of Chicago Punk 1977-1984, the film will have its world premiere on Saturday, November 24 at the […]

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Roundup: Picketing Flamingo Edition

July 23rd, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Picketing Flamingo Edition · Apple, Blogs, Chicago, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Design, Essays, Foreign Policy, Health, HIV/AIDS, Illinois, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech, Travel

“Iraq hasn’t even begun”: Writing in the LA Times, Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European studies at Oxford University, examines the long-term consequences of the debacle in Iraq, and concludes, “Looking back over a quarter of a century of chronicling current affairs, I cannot recall a more comprehensive and avoidable man-made disaster.” Digby on […]

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Weekend in Peoria, and a Sign of the Times

June 27th, 2007 · 10 Comments · Books, Culture, Food, Illinois, Journal, Labor, LGBT, Meta, New Wave, Peoria, Photos, Restaurants, The Economy, Stupid, Vegetarian & Vegan

You may have noticed things have been a little slow around the OcPot this week, because I spent the past weekend visiting my parents in scenic Peoria, Illinois. I’m now paying the usual price for taking a couple of days off, with everything I have to do piled up to twice its normal height. It’ll […]

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The Disappearing Bird Act

June 17th, 2007 · Comments Off on The Disappearing Bird Act · Climate Change, Illinois, Nature, News, Science

The populations of 20 common US birds — including a range of familiar “backyard birds” such as sparrows, chickadees, whippoorwills, and larks — are in decline, according to a new report from The National Audobon Society. The 20 species in question have less than half the populations they did in 1967. A variety of factors […]

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