Meter mess has an upside for some of us
Parking rate hike is obscene, but at least you can find a spot now
In the movies, parking is rarely a problem, unless it's for comedic effect. Whether the film is set in Smalltown USA or Manhattan, if someone is racing to the courtroom or the church, there's always a spot available right in front.
Guess there wouldn't be a whole lot of drama in seeing Shia LaBeouf going around and around in a garage, finding a spot on Level 14 and taking the elevator down as an automated voice says, "There are no cashiers at the exits . . ."
In real life, finding an open metered spot in downtown Chicago was akin to coming across a shiny silver dollar on the sidewalk: Today's my lucky day!
At least that's the way it used to be. Now, you've got a legit shot at finding a space on the street. That's the one upside to this whole metered parking debacle.
Yes, the rate hikes were obscene, the city blew a potential $1 billion in revenue by farming out the business, and the pay-and-display boxes have been plagued with mechanical problems.
However. The one silver lining in this cloud is people who live, work and play in the city can sometimes find a spot so they can run into the dry cleaners or drop something off or take a quick meeting, whereas in the past so many spots were taken by "squatters" who would find a spot early and feed the meter every two hours.
The last time I saw David Carradine, he was puffing on a cigarette and suggesting we go out and find a bar.
A bit unusual, given that we were in a radio studio and it wasn't yet noon.
I was doing a guest bit on Erich "Mancow" Muller's show. This was before Mancow signed on with WLS-AM. He was doing a syndicated show from a studio in the Loop.
When I walked in, Mancow was behind the control board, and there were about a half-dozen other folks behind guest microphones, including local director Adam Rifkin ("Look"), porn star Ron Jeremy -- and Carradine, who couldn't have cared less about any nonsmoking rules.
They were all there promoting a film titled "Homo Erectus," directed by Rifkin and featuring Jeremy as "Oog" and Carradine in the dual role of "Mookoo/Uncle Unky." I was there to promote a book about conspiracy theories.
At one point, Mancow was doing a live read or throwing it to news -- some official bit of business -- but Carradine just kept talking to me, on mic. "I usually don't like critics, but you're OK," he said, or words to that effect. "We should find a bar."
We never did find that bar and I never did see "Homo Erectus" -- but I'll bet not even Carradine saw 80 percent of all the movies and TV shows he did.
The Internet Movie Database lists no fewer that 13 roles for Carradine on films or in TV shows for 2009 alone, from "Crank: High Voltage" to "Night of the Templar" to "Money to Burn" to "Six Days in Paradise."
The obituaries for Carradine inevitably mentioned "Kung Fu" and his titular role in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films. Great work, but we shouldn't forget "The Long Riders," "Bound for Glory," "The Serpent's Egg," "Death Race 2000."
In "Kill Bill Vol. 2," Carradine gives one of the great monologues in recent years:
"Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is there's the superhero and the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man.
"Superman didn't become Superman, Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red 'S'. . . those are his clothes. What Kent wears -- the glasses, the business suit -- THAT'S the costume Superman wears.
"Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak, he's unsure of himself, he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."
We still don't know what happened to Carradine in that hotel room in Bangkok -- though the reports are getting funkier by the minute -- but how odd that four of his 2008 films were titled, "Last Hour," "My Suicide," "Death Race" and "Hell Ride."
Maybe if the Lakers/Magic and Dodgers/ Phillies hadn't been on, I might have watched the Tonys on Sunday night.
Probably not even then.
But I did catch the YouTube vid of Neil Patrick Harris' closing number, which included the instant classic line, sung to the tune of "Tonight, Tonight": "This show could not be any gayer, if Liza was named mayor and Elton John took flight!"