The Nooner | Chicago news and beyond | November 9, 2011

The Nooner: Chicago news and beyond
Today’s news is about bike-riding pin-ups, new L cars and Japanese clothing.

Cycling pin-up news roundup
Pin-up calendar models sometimes have regrets, but none more than those that posed for the TYK calendar this year. Some believe that the profits from the sales of the calendar may not be going to the Chicago Women's Health Center as they did in 2009 (see photo above). In other women-who-cycle news, TOC's Martha Williams will be at the Eskell/Bike Fancy Birthday Bash this Saturday hyping her photo blog Bikefancy, which one hopes will do a calendar someday.

Mayor Plus
Feist fan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is now on Google Plus (or + if you prefer.) You can click on the mayor's office Google+ page and "add to circles" to stay in touch and you know, propose legislation. Oddly enough, he joined up the very same day that I finally set my Google+ up. Coincidence? Definitely.

Outie 5000s
The CTA unveiled some badass new railcars which will be servicing the Pink Line today, the first addition to the rail fleet since 1992. If you rode one earlier, as I did, you were testing a "prototype." But these are the real deal, the first of 706 brand new, full production model cars made by Bombardier Transportation. Forrest Claypool says the new cars "have wider aisles and roomier interiors, electronic destination signs and security cameras in each car for enhanced safety," plus a fail-safe button that drops Chicago dogs from the ceiling in the event of emergency, we're hoping. 

Filling the Gap
Remember a few years ago when we all complained that we didn't have some of those hip international clothing chain outposts that NYC had? Be careful what you wish for—we seem to be getting them all with the announcement that logo-free Japanese retailer Uniqlo will be following the likes of Zara and TopShop and venture into the Chicago market. Expect a big store, as the NYC outpost is 89,000 square feet—or something like that, it's huge.

Post-election score keeping
An election day yesterday in many states saw some big changes. Virginia's GOP saw slight gains in the Commonwealth's House of Delegates. NJ Democrats held on in the state legislature. Ohioans voted down a law limiting union rights. Mississippi voted down a "personhood" ballot measure. Self-proclaimed Tea Party President and hardliner on immigration, Senate President Russell Pearce, was recalled in Arizona. For the most part, it was a good day for the Dems.

Illinois GOP meltdown
Joe Walsh emotionally defends big banks—and in an earlier section suggests that Senator McCain should have retired years ago in this video from “Cup of Joe with Joe Walsh” event on Sunday in Gurnee, Illinois. He also gets some good debate from a sharp lady on a barstool. Mostly, he just seems like a guy who's not used to being questioned totally losing it—reminds me of a Little League coach I once had.

See the fake Smiths
Morrissey may have postponed this week's gig but you can still see the Smiths live, or some guys playing the Smiths as the Handsome Devilz play Debonair Social Club Thursday night at 10pm.