From dung beetles and rotten fish to fertilized duck eggs and brain tacos, we've watched Andrew Zimmern freak us out eating unthinkable things we didn't even know existed on Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods!" But let me tell you from a personal relationship, he is far more than just able to shock & excite. He's worldly, intelligent, entertaining, magnetic, funny and well versed in all things culinary & culture- and I really think you should meet him while he is in town next week!
So you know, I also am an Andrew fan in part because he is a huge fan of Chicago, calling us "America's Greatest Food City" when I interviewed him for the olympics, and recently came to chicago to do a show just on us, actually inviting me to join him when eating & filming from chicago's southside (See video above). Also, how cool of a friend is he to invite a Chicagoan like me to come with him to eat & film in Namibia - will never forget it.
Anyway, I can't say enough about him, but that you should check him out next Thursday, April 28th, when he's speaking at Harper College in Palatine, IL. If you can. He'll be talking about how foods can be key to a culture's sustainability & more! Click here for tickets & info, or call (847) 925-6100.
Thanks to whoever snapped this pic of me & common last night and tweeted it out! this is us walking into his premiere party for his new movie "just wright" (click here for trailer) w/queen latifa (who I met a couple times and have to say is one of the sweetest people ever!), in sunda's new private party room! (kr, you can link that to a sales page?)
I especially love this pic because not only is common from chicago (you must click here to hear us rap about our love for it!) (kr, that would be the 2016 vid), but of all the pro athletes there to support, so is nba star bobby simmons behind us from the bucks! Small world.
Most important of all, big shout out to you common, and you allied who produced the premiere, for bringing what probably should have happened in Hollywood, home to where you will always have us behind you, chicago!
Thanks to whoever snapped this pic of me & common last night and tweeted it out! this is us walking into his premiere party for his new movie "just wright" (click here for trailer) w/ queen latifah (who I met a couple times and have to say is one of the sweetest people ever!), in sunda's new private party room!
I especially love this pic because not only is common from chicago (you must click here to hear us rap about our love for it!) but of all the pro athletes there to support, so is nba star bobby simmons behind us from the bucks! Small world.
Most important of all, big shout out to you common, and you, allied, who produced the premiere, for bringing what probably should have happened in Hollywood, home to where you will always have us behind you, chicago!
Soooooo random I know! everyone hit me on facebook & twitter (some w/screen shots like above) like crazy when they saw me on "the hills" season premiere last night... many asked how that happened... and long story short... it was a chicago thing!
I actually most of the characters in chicago while visiting my restaurants sunda & rockit! They have always been super nice and have kept in touch, and when heard I was out there, they invited me with- I just had no idea that it was to film! Thank god they didn't play 99% of what went on that night- omg, it was nuts.
As for deeper chicago connections, I interviewed brody about the chicago 2016 olympic bid (click here to see it), and kristien cavalleri is from here! She and I met on stage infront of thousands both hosting a victoria secret event at northerly island a couple years ago (here's a pic), and we have stayed friends ever since... guess staying friends w/ everyone leads to all kinds of things... til next time!
Soooooo random I know! everyone hit me on facebook & twitter (some w/screen shots like above) like crazy when they saw me on "the hills" season premiere last night... many asked how that happened... and long story short... it was a chicago thing!
I actually have met most of the characters in chicago while visiting my restaurants sunda & rockit! They have always been super nice and have kept in touch, and when heard I was out at the superbowl, we all hooked up- I just had no idea that it was to film! Thank god they didn't play 99% of what went on that night- omg, it was nuts.
As for deeper chicago connections, I interviewed brody about the chicago 2016 olympic bid (click here to see it), and kristin cavallari is from here! She and I met on stage infront of thousands both hosting a victoria secret event at northerly island a couple years ago (here's a pic), and we have stayed friends ever since... guess staying friends w/ everyone leads to all kinds of things... til next time!
A lot of people who follow me on twitter freaked out this week when I mentioned that I liked the little kid in the movie "up!" because he was half asian like me! people couldn't believe I was half asian? it was so crazy to me... but guess I maybe I don't talk about it a lot out side of my asian restaurant sunda, so figured I would here, in my normal tone of celebrating chicago culture, art, entertainment, performance,... especially when for a good cause...
My mom is from the philippine islands, and not only have I visited many many times, but I still have family there. Well, as you may have been watching on the news, starting in September, the Philippines has suffered through 4 devastating typhoons that have caused immense damage to a tremendous amount of people. The first typhoon alone drenched the island with its heaviest rainfall in 40 years, and three more have hit over the past month. Needless to say, it has been a priority for me to help the struggling victims get back on their feet in my own way, which I have done through gawad kalinga (www.ancopusa.com), but wanted to share a great way for all to get involved if can locally with some amazing people and entertainment.
Some energetic, fun, and driven local Chicagoans have put together a special benefit to raise money for this cause on this Saturday, November 7th. The benefit "Kapwa" is an Arts-Infused fundraiser for Typhoon Victims in the Philippines, and should be a blast, w/drinks, food & entertainment! The event includes a Gala event and ends with a pay-what-you-can Variety Show complete with Lam Jam and the Sexy Blues Band (who come from Copenhagen where they represented Chicago for the 2016 Olympic bid!) For more info about this event, or to RSVP, email: kapwabenefit@gmail.com and lets show our support for people in need!
And for those into even more of an artistic look into my family's Filipino community & culture, check out the 6th annual Chicago Filipino American Film Festival starting this Friday the 6th going until the 8th at portage theatre. If you hit up www.cfaff.org you can get the film lineup, view trailers and rsvp to the after parties! Mabuhay! (our way to say.. live long and prosper!)
A lot of people who follow me on twitter (if missing out, click here to follow me) freaked out this week when I mentioned that I liked the little kid in the movie "up!" because he was half asian like me! people couldn't believe I was half asian? it was so crazy to me... but guess I maybe don't talk about it a lot outside of my asian restaurant sunda, so figured I would here, in my normal tone of celebrating chicago culture, art, entertainment, performance... especially when for a good cause...
My mom is from the philippine islands, and not only have I visited many many times, but I still have family there. Well, as you may have been watching on the news, starting in September, the Philippines have suffered through 4 devastating typhoons that have caused immense damage to a tremendous amount of people. The first typhoon alone drenched the island with its heaviest rainfall in 40 years, and three more have hit over the past month. Needless to say, it has been a priority for me to help the struggling victims get back on their feet in my own way, which I have done through gawad kalinga (www.ancopusa.com), but wanted to share a great way for all to get involved if can locally with some amazing people and entertainment.
Some energetic, fun, and driven local Chicagoans have put together a special benefit to raise money for this cause on this Saturday, November 7th. The benefit "Kapwa" is an Arts-Infused fundraiser for Typhoon Victims in the Philippines, and should be a blast, w/drinks, food & entertainment! The event includes a Gala event and ends with a pay-what-you-can Variety Show complete with Lam Jam and the Sexy Blues Band (who come from Copenhagen where they represented Chicago for the 2016 Olympic bid!) For more info about this event, or to RSVP, email: kapwabenefit@gmail.com and lets show our support for people in need!
And for those into even more of an artistic look into my family's Filipino community & culture, check out the 6th annual Chicago Filipino American Film Festival starting this Friday the 6th going until the 8th at portage theatre. If you hit up www.cfaff.org you can get the film lineup, view trailers and rsvp to the after parties! Mabuhay! (our way to say.. live long and prosper!)
If you follow me on twitter (click here to follow if don't), you are probably used to seeing the behind the scenes craziness of my life, as I explore the beauty of Chicago's character, art, entertainment & cultural scene. But no matter how random, I am sure like most, you were not expecting to see me as "Principal for a Day" at the much talked about Chicago Public School, Fenger.
I first heard about Fenger when I was being interviewed live on cnn from Copenhagen on oct. 3rd about the olympic decision... as I was being patched in live via skyp from my hotel room, waiting to go on, I could shockingly hear in the background that there was a ton of commotion about a brutal death in the streets of chicago and something about a highschool called Fenger... I panicked, having no idea where this interview was about to go... just waiting in my lonely hotel room staring at skyp waiting to speak live to the world about whatever they asked... (click here to see the cnn interview)
It started with normal olympic questions, which were tough enough having just lost the bid, and then cnn hit me live with questions about violence and murder w/ our hometown school kids... I was terrified... partly because the news immediately broke my heart, partly because I had been so removed on the other side of the world and had not heard all the details of what just happened at all... but mostly because I never thought of myself as one to speak publicly about such a shocking event like that...
If you saw the interview, you know I spoke from the heart and expressed my firm belief that it is all of our responsibility as a community to get involved with whatever we can to help... I even mentioned how one of the things I do is volunteer to speak to school children in need when ever I can, like I do every year at mayor daley's chicago public schools "principal for the day" program, which actually was held yesterday, oct, 29th.
Immediately after the cnn interview, thankfully all my twitter followers and friends hit me with some very positive comments about how i answered the surprise questions to this very sensitive and tough issue (thank you for that by the way, it was only my second time on cnn, and I was freaking out). Many of my twitter followers also suggested that I take on fenger when this "principal for a day" came around, as they thought I could really get in there and have a positive impact- so I did....
I will admit, I was a little nervous before my arrival. The media had scared me about fenger, like they did everyone else. But let me tell you, having been probably one of the first random visitors allowed in the school since the tragedy, especially w/ a camera (which btw I respectfully asked and received permission to use, and attached just a random piece that shows the energy, talent and desire to thrive), I will tell you the school, students, faculty, talent, spirit, character,... is nothing like the international media portray it to be... to some it up... they are wrong, it is beautiful, hardworking, respectable,... and I am now a huge fan and supporter of fenger, and you should be too.
Although I can go on forever about how great they are as there was just so much positive surprise, here are some quick thoughts... The newly acquired Principal Dozier is a hero- she is so passionate, hard working, smart, inspiring, respected, committed,... she will be someone people write books about and make movies about one day. I feel the same way about her entire staff that she leads so well. The kids are so great. They want to learn. They want great lives. They deserve more of a chance. The halls and classrooms are bright, clean, organized,... respect and order is obvious everywhere. Fenger has been designated one of chicago's new "turnaround" schools, google it, this school will turn around.
It broke my heart to see that the kids' spirits and feelings were a bit hurt that our media has portrayed them as part of a very bad thing. they are not. I was there, I spent time with them, I visited as many classes as I could, talked to as many kids as possible, shared my stories, heard all of theirs, gave advice, learned a lot myself... they are amazing, they deserve a fair chance.
It bums me out how far the media stretched things... that tragedy did not happen on school property, the things the media said the school did in response are not true, the school is a good school w/ good kids trying best they can to improve.. and as mayor daley said yesterday during our lunch, that tragedy was not a fenger problem, it was a community problem. And to me, that's all of us!
I truly believe that if we don't take care of our students, and educate, and mentor, and volunteer,... a lot of our problems as a community will never be solved. Kids don't start out as a problem, they learn from their environment. Finger pointing gets us no where, these kids are there open to help, each one of them told me that they could use a mentor, people to talk to, people who will give them a chance. They suffer more if we not only ignore them, but discriminate upon them by buying into what the media made these young hard working students out to be,... we must respond.
The fact is, they have a lot of work to do at fenger to improve and get their kids where they need to be, just like a lot of schools do. They can struggle on their own, or we can help or hurt them. There are opportunities to do both. if we all spent the time looking into those opportunities to help as much as we complain about community problems or feed into the stories people just throw out there when they don't really know the deal... we would be on our way to solving a lot for them, and solving a lot for our total future as a community.. and continually working to make this the best city in the world....
With that I leave you with fenger's impressive website showing what they are really about... www. Mentor, volunteer, help,... give them a chance...
If you follow me on twitter (click here to follow if don't), you are probably used to seeing the behind the scenes craziness of my life, as I explore the beauty of Chicago's character, art, entertainment & cultural scene. But no matter how random, I am sure like most, you were not expecting to see me as "Principal for a Day" at the much talked about Chicago Public School, Fenger.
I first heard about Fenger when I was being interviewed live on cnn from Copenhagen on oct. 3rd about the olympic decision... as I was being patched in live via skype from my hotel room, waiting to go on, I could shockingly hear in the background that there was a ton of commotion about a brutal death in the streets of chicago and something about a highschool called Fenger... I panicked, having no idea where this interview was about to go... just waiting in my lonely hotel room staring at skype waiting to speak live to the world about whatever they asked... (click here to see the cnn interview)
It started with normal olympic questions, which were tough enough having just lost the bid, and then cnn hit me live with questions about violence and murder w/ our hometown school kids... I was terrified... partly because the news immediately broke my heart, partly because I had been so removed on the other side of the world and had not heard all the details of what just happened at all... but mostly because I never thought of myself as one to speak publicly about such a shocking event like that...
If you saw the interview, you know I spoke from the heart and expressed my firm belief that it is all of our responsibility as a community to get involved with whatever we can to help... I even mentioned how one of the things I do is volunteer to speak to school children in need when ever I can, like I do every year at mayor daley's chicago public schools "principal for a day" program, which actually was held yesterday, oct, 29th.
Immediately after the cnn interview, thankfully all my twitter followers and friends hit me with some very positive comments about how i answered the surprise questions to this very sensitive and tough issue (thank you for that by the way, it was only my second time on cnn, and I was freaking out). Many of my twitter followers also suggested that I take on fenger when this "principal for a day" came around, as they thought I could really get in there and have a positive impact- so I did....
I will admit, I was a little nervous before my arrival. The media had scared me about fenger, like they did everyone else. But let me tell you, having been probably one of the first random visitors allowed in the school since the tragedy, especially w/ a camera (which btw I respectfully asked and received permission to use, and attached just a random piece that shows the energy, talent and desire to thrive), I will tell you the school, students, faculty, talent, spirit, character,... is nothing like the international media portray it to be... to some it up... they are wrong, it is beautiful, hardworking, respectable,... and I am now a huge fan and supporter of fenger, and you should be too.
Although I can go on forever about how great they are as there was just so much positive surprise, here are some quick thoughts... The newly acquired Principal Dozier is a hero- she is so passionate, hard working, smart, inspiring, respected, committed,... she will be someone people write books about and make movies about one day. I feel the same way about her entire staff that she leads so well. The kids are so great. They want to learn. They want great lives. They deserve more of a chance. The halls and classrooms are bright, clean, organized,... respect and order is obvious everywhere. Fenger has been designated one of chicago's new "turnaround" schools, google it, this school will turn around.
It broke my heart to see that the kids' spirits and feelings were a bit hurt that our media has portrayed them as part of a very bad thing. they are not. I was there, I spent time with them, I visited as many classes as I could, talked to as many kids as possible, shared my stories, heard all of theirs, gave advice, learned a lot myself... they are amazing, they deserve a fair chance.
It bums me out how far the media stretched things... that tragedy did not happen on school property, the things the media said the school did in response are not true, the school is a good school w/ good kids trying best they can to improve.. and as mayor daley said yesterday during our lunch, that tragedy was not a fenger problem, it was a community problem. And to me, that's all of us!
I truly believe that if we don't take care of our students, and educate, and mentor, and volunteer,... a lot of our problems as a community will never be solved. Kids don't start out as a problem, they learn from their environment. Finger pointing gets us no where, these kids are there open to help, each one of them told me that they could use a mentor, people to talk to, people who will give them a chance. They suffer more if we not only ignore them, but discriminate upon them by buying into what the media made these young hard working students out to be,... we must respond.
The fact is, they have a lot of work to do at fenger to improve and get their kids where they need to be, just like a lot of schools do. They can struggle on their own, or we can help or hurt them. There are opportunities to do both. if we all spent the time looking into those opportunities to help as much as we complain about community problems or feed into the stories people just throw out there when they don't really know the deal... we would be on our way to solving a lot for them, and solving a lot for our total future as a community.. and continually working to make this the best city in the world....
With that I leave you with fenger's impressive website showing what they are really about... www.fengerhighschool.org Mentor, volunteer, help,... give them a chance...
I can't really get myself to write something about my total chicago 2016 experience yet, as I said i would in my previous blog airing my cnn interview live from Copenhagen. As you can see from my footage in the chicago 2016 olympic decision viewing room, it was a crushing blow to all with a deadly silence & sadness after. But I will say that the totally feelings about all are enormously positive. Unfortunately, really just too positive to wrap my head around it all and express it in words. So, what better way to really let you know what is in my head as I keep getting requests on twitter, but to leave you with a phone call I got minutes after the decision was made, as I walked into the public celebratory party in the streets of Copenhagen that I video blogged about two posts down, when I took this call and went live on tv for I don't know how many viewers across the country-
I have to say, although again my total experience was enormously positive (yes, even including the official rio victory party I attended & shared with you last night), at this moment I had a stunned, paralyzed honesty going on that you sometimes can only find in people when they are so crushed & defeated that they can no longer keep their fight up, and it all comes spilling out... anyway, I hope you my fellow Chicagoans who I love the most pay particular attention to the last minute of this tv interview... as I sincerely meant it... and from that I expect very good things will come of us going forward... to accomplish more great things for ourselves and for the rest of the world... I know I am excited to be a part of that movement... in any way you need me... thanks, billy.
Thanks for all the nice comments on twitter about this interview... it was a tough one. Btw, who cool is skype? It's amazing that they can just dial me up free to my hotel room and just put me on live like that... I sort of freaked on the one from russia a posted about a week ago but I had never done it before... blew my mind.
Anyway, as I said here, I truly am proud of our city, we did the best job we could. I am happy for rio and looking forward to enjoying the games there in 2016. As for my total thoughts on the experience, too big for words for me right now, I am just happy that I was on your team. I will be sending some final thoughts on all soon...
oh, and since I mentioned the chicago public schools' "principal for a day" program here, I will blog about that soon too... if anyone knows of any other great programs, initiatives, volunteer work,.. that regular people like me and you can get out there and do to help... comment below and will try to integrate that in... so that everyone can actually jump in and get involved... thanks all!
b
Thanks for all the nice comments on twitter about this interview... it was a tough one. Btw, how cool is skype? It's amazing that they can just dial me up free to my hotel room and just put me on live like that... I sort of freaked on the one from russia i posted about a week ago but I had never done it before... blew my mind.
Anyway, as I said here, I truly am proud of our city, we did the best job we could. I am happy for rio and looking forward to enjoying the games there in 2016. As for my total thoughts on the experience, too big for words for me right now, I am just happy that I was on your team. I will be sending some final thoughts on all soon...
oh, and since I mentioned the chicago public schools' "principal for a day" program here, I will blog about that soon too... if anyone knows of any other great programs, initiatives, volunteer work,.. that regular people like me and you can get out there and do to help... comment below and will try to integrate that in... so that everyone can actually jump in and get involved... thanks all!
After heart broken in chicago 2016 committee olympic announcement viewing room, I walked out to the square I blogged about earlier to see what the public was up to... and it was quite festive.... You can see bands, sport demonstrations, a lot of people drinking, dancing,... and having fun! I tried my hardest to have fun, even ordered a beer, which I never do.... And omg, just realized my hotel is full of Brazilians... that party will be ridiculous... maybe will share... ya, Will leave the rest of my adventures tonight in copenhagen on twitter... photos, stories and all... follow me by clicking here...
Wow, that was sad. I know no one in our chicago 2016 committee viewing room ever could have imagined that we would go out first round. Don't really know what to say, but thank you to all that supported. Everyone did the best job possible, everyone from around the world saw the positives of chicago and the usa which is always a great thing, and I am just very proud to be a part of your team. Sorry, I will have more to say soon... just need time, still in shock. for now, here is the sad scene from the announcement. Warning, it's heavy. Off to cheer up... will keep you up to date on twitter with how the town reacts tonight...
Wow, that was sad. I know no one in our chicago 2016 committee viewing room ever could have imagined that we would go out first round. Don't really know what to say, but thank you to all that supported. Everyone did the best job possible, everyone from around the world saw the positives of chicago and the usa which is always a great thing, and I am just very proud to be a part of your team. Sorry, I will have more to say soon... just need time, still in shock. for now, here is the sad scene from the announcement. Warning, all the silence afterwards is really painful. Off to cheer up... will keep you up to date on twitter with how the town reacts tonight...
As you can see on twitter I can't stay in one spot in copenhagen! (click here to follow me on twitter) while running around town soaking up the culture & olympic enthusiasm, I ran into this huge crowd all lining the streets just to see our fellow chicagoan president obama just drive off after making his pitch (which rocked by the way!) to the international olympic committee... not just locals either... people from every where around the world... even from our host city competitors Madrid, tokyo & rio... It was so nice to see all the love that people from around the globe wanted to share with our leader!
You will also see randomly that people were staring at me apparently for my official blue chicago 2016 olympic jacket...they seem to love chicagoans... it took me forever to realize press was waiting in line to interview me too- as you will see- omg, was not expecting that! Anyway, off to our official viewing party- will be crazy- will try to post video again soon so check me out here later... but in all reality & seriousness... if you want to really see what is going on... you got to get my pictures & comments streaming from me on twitter... just click here and it will be like you are right here in the middle of it all with me!!!!!!
(Btw, look at my last two blog posts below and you will see video of me, mayor daley & all the happy chicago 2016 olympic committee members after the official pitch feeling like we did the best job we could! And you will also see the actual square in Copenhagen where the public will gather soon to see the olympic decision be announced... its really cool!)
As you can see on twitter I can't stay in one spot in copenhagen! (click here to follow me on twitter) while running around town soaking up the culture & olympic enthusiasm, I ran into this huge crowd all lining the streets just to see our fellow chicagoan president obama just drive off after making his pitch (which rocked by the way!) to the international olympic committee... not just locals either... people from every where around the world... even from our host city competitors Madrid, tokyo & rio... It was so nice to see all the love that people from around the globe wanted to share with our leader!
You will also see randomly that people were staring at me apparently for my official blue chicago 2016 olympic jacket...they seem to love chicagoans... it took me forever to realize press was waiting in line to interview me too- as you will see- omg, was not expecting that! Anyway, off to our official viewing party- will be crazy- will try to post video again soon so check me out here later... but in all reality & seriousness... if you want to really see what is going on... you got to get my pictures & comments streaming from me on twitter... just click here and it will be like you are right here in the middle of it all with me!!!!!!
(Btw, look at my last two blog posts below and you will see video of me, mayor daley & all the happy chicago 2016 olympic committee members after the official pitch feeling like we did the best job we could! And you will also see the actual square in Copenhagen where the public will gather soon to see the olympic decision be announced... its really cool!)
Wow! Look how excited everyone is from the chicago 2016 olympic committee! As you probably gathered by all my sharing on twitter of events and pictures behind the scenes (click here to follow me on twitter), the energy is amazing, positive and super strong! Everyone just feels like we did the absolute best possible job we could have done- the mayor as you can see is so happy- the committee looks happy- its like my man mutombo said "our presentation was perfect, now all we can do is wait!"
Off to our private viewing party... hope we win, everyone has just worked so hard and I am so in awe by them... check out video on blog post below to see where the rest of Copenhagen will be watching and going nuts for the announcement! I will join the city after and send you all random pictures of how the winning team celebrates (whoever they are) on twitter... it better be us!
Wow! Look how excited everyone is from the chicago 2016 olympic committee! As you probably gathered by all my sharing on twitter of events and pictures behind the scenes (click here to follow me on twitter), the energy is amazing, positive and super strong! Everyone just feels like we did the absolute best possible job we could have done- the mayor as you can see is so happy- the committee looks happy- its like my man mutombo said "our presentation was perfect, now all we can do is wait!"
Off to our private viewing party... hope we win, everyone has just worked so hard and I am so in awe by them... check out video on blog post below to see where the rest of Copenhagen will be watching and going nuts for the announcement! I will join the city after and send you all random pictures of how the winning team celebrates (whoever they are) on twitter... it better be us!
i can't stay in one place! you must follow me on twitter right now (click here) to catch what's happening behind the scenes- and get all my pictures! Just watched mr & mrs president obama absolutely nail that pitch- left the chicago 2016 home base viewing party to run out into the streets to feel the energy- and its amazing! Here is some footage of the square in the middle of Copenhagen where the public will all watch the decision be made soon! I will be at a private location with the chicago committee (will fill you in on twitter), and I can't wait!
Btw, check out some people from Tokyo, rio,.. a lot representing out here! But I think people know, chicago is the city to beat right now- it's painfully obvious here- although no one out here can say we will win for sure- including me- all have telling facial expressions no matter where they are from when they see my blue chicago 2016 olympic jacket that we are part of the team to beat... and that is just a rush... more to come!
to catch what's happening behind the scenes- and get all my pictures! Just watched mr & mrs president obama absolutely nail that pitch- left the chicago 2016 home base viewing party to run out into the streets to feel the energy- and its amazing! Here is some footage of the square in the middle of Copenhagen where the public will all watch the decision be made soon! I will be at a private location with the chicago committee (will let fill you in on twitter), and I can't wait!
Btw, check out some people from Tokyo, rio,.. a lot representing out here! But I think people know, chicago is the city to beat right now- it's painfully obvious here- although no one out here can say we will win for sure- including me- all have telling facial expressions no matter where they are from when they see my blue chicago 2016 olympic jacket that we are part of the team to beat... and that is just a rush... more to come!
I met hill when doing some philanthropic work in new Orleans around just after the katrina disaster... and have been wonderful friends ever since. He is not only super talented on screen, but he is a super smart Harvard guy that always gives back. I am truly impressed. You will see for yourself when you hear him on this video praising the idea of having the Olympics in chicago!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and pulled up in a train to copenhagen!!!! Heading to big event to meet fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
I met hill when doing some philanthropic work in new Orleans around just after the katrina disaster... and have been wonderful friends ever since. He is not only super talented on screen, but he is a super smart Harvard guy that always gives back. I am truly impressed. You will see for yourself when you hear him on this video praising the idea of having the Olympics in chicago!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and pulled up in a train to copenhagen!!!! Heading to big event to meet fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
My radio host friend Mancow and I hung back stage with tracy after his hilarious stand up gig at the horseshoe casino--- sorry this video is so short-- but you know tracy, I couldn't use all that other stuff that came out of his mouth- this is a pg site!!!!!!!!!!! I will say, he did light up at the thought of having the Olympics in Chicago!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and pulled up in a train to copenhagen!!!! Heading to big event to meet fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
My radio host friend Mancow and I hung back stage with tracy after his hilarious stand up gig at the horseshoe casino--- sorry this video is so short-- but you know tracy, I couldn't use all that other stuff that came out of his mouth- this is a pg site!!!!!!!!!!! I will say, he did light up at the thought of having the Olympics in Chicago!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and pulled up in a train to copenhagen!!!! Heading to big event to meet fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
The absolute coolest part of hanging out talking to tennis stars about the Olympics in Chicago was when Andy Roddick basically informed all that he was going to retire sooner than 2016, but if Chicago the 2016 summer games, that would probably not retire and push on to make the USA team! That's big!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and pulled up in a train to copenhagen!!!! Heading to big event to meet fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
The absolute coolest part of hanging out talking to tennis stars about the Olympics in Chicago was when Andy Roddick basically informed all that he was going to retire sooner than 2016, but if Chicago wins the 2016 summer games, that he would probably not retire, and push on to make the USA team! That's big!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and pulled up in a train to copenhagen!!!! Heading to big event to meet fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and am heading to copenhagen!!!! Meeting fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left Russia & sweden, and am heading to copenhagen!!!! Meeting fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members (and maybe president obama?) before tomorrow's official 2016 olympic host announcement!!! i am feeling very positive- I think chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Dan aykroyd is an icon, what more needs to be said. we had a great brunch once morning last time he was in chicago and I happened to have a camera in my bag (go figure)... so of course, I turned it on! This was so on the fly, but you can tell he knows his chicago very very well... it was just a huge pleasure to hear that he had such love & respect for the city that I love & respect... enjoy this video... its rough & grassroots... but its real straight from the heart talk & one of my favorites.
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Dan aykroyd is an icon, what more needs to be said. we had a great brunch once morning last time he was in chicago and I happened to have a camera in my bag (go figure)... so of course, I turned it on! This was so on the fly, but you can tell he knows his chicago very very well... it was just a huge pleasure to hear that he had such love & respect for the city that I love & respect... enjoy this video... its rough & grassroots... but its real straight from the heart talk & one of my favorites.
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
after hanging with jimmy fallon back stage at "the late show" after his show, interviewing him about why he loves chicago (see below)... I had to sit with my man questlove from "the roots!" now, I have always loved the band "the roots" but after getting to know my man questlove... I have even more respect for the group! He is just a super smart guy, who knows his music, knows his history, knows his culture, and knows his chicago! I think you will agree when you see this video...
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
after hanging with jimmy fallon back stage at "the late show" after his show, interviewing him about why he loves chicago (see below)... I had to sit with my man questlove from "the roots!" now, I have always loved the band "the roots" but after getting to know my man questlove... I have even more respect for the group! He is just a super smart guy, who knows his music, knows his history, knows his culture, and knows his chicago! I think you will agree when you see this video...
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
peter is actually well know chicago media mogul walter jacobson's son! Last time he was in chicago we had an amazing time at rockit with all his local buddies... which I like, chicago actors always come back to their home town, family & friends... says a lot about our city, culture & community... all of which visitors from around the world will love when visit us for the Olympics in 2016... as peter talks about here!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
peter is actually well known, chicago media mogul, walter jacobson's son! Last time he was in chicago we had an amazing time at rockit with all his local buddies... which I like, chicago actors always come back to their home town, family & friends... says a lot about our city, culture & community... all of which visitors from around the world will love when visit us for the Olympics in 2016... as peter talks about here!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Larenz is talented & fun, has been a great friend for years, but I have to say, I think I respect him most for his philanthropic work with his brothers... they are so committed to giving back... they talk about it in this video... along with their other love... Chicago... and the idea of having the Olympics here in 2016!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Larenz is talented & fun, has been a great friend for years, but I have to say, I think I respect him most for his philanthropic work with his brothers... they are so committed to giving back... they talk about it in this video... along with their other love... Chicago... and the idea of having the Olympics here in 2016!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Getting really excited as we get closer to Copenhagen... love that Chicagoans are all heading over too to represent in full effect... even my man president obama... knew he would... as a city, we are all making history... I hope you are as proud and excited as I am!
As for st. Petersburg, Russia, it is absolutely beautiful... so much history, the architecture is outstanding, the people are great,... well, this video will spill it all... and btw, I keep doing these because of requests on twitter... if think I look like a big nerd as much as I do... I apologize... don't watch. And as promised, will continue to keep you in the loop step by step on way to Copenhagen on twitter (click here to follow me).
Most important, please take a minute today to tell all your friends, coworkers, contacts, family,... to share these celebrity messages with all so virally the rest of the world will know how great our country is and how ready we are to welcome guests from around the globe (and the 4.4billion watching us on tv) as host of the greatest sport, cultural, and friendship strengthening event ever! (who knows, maybe they will get to one of the members judging us and it could all turn in our favor!)
Getting really excited as we get closer to Copenhagen... love that Chicagoans are all heading over too to represent in full effect... even my man president obama... knew he would... as a city, we are all making history... I hope you are as proud and excited as I am!
As for st. Petersburg, Russia, it is absolutely beautiful... so much history, the architecture is outstanding, the people are great,... well, this video will spill it all... and btw, I keep doing these because of requests on twitter... if think I look like a big nerd as much as I do... I apologize... don't watch. And as promised, will continue to keep you in the loop step by step on way to Copenhagen on twitter (click here to follow me).
Most important, please take a minute today to tell all your friends, coworkers, contacts, family,... to share these celebrity messages with all so virally the rest of the world will know how great our country is and how ready we are to welcome guests from around the globe (and the 4.4billion watching us on tv) as host of the greatest sport, cultural, and friendship strengthening event ever! (who knows, maybe they will get to one of the members judging us and it could all turn in our favor!)
I first took jamie foxx out on the town about 8 years ago... he was always a very nice guy- actually kind of quiet back then? As the years went by, he really opened up and let himself shine, ripping the mic at my clubs getting crazy, winning acting awards, making great music,... totally impressive, and still, a very nice guy.
This video is from a very similar night, where Jamie walked into the underground recently, said big hellos, grabbed my mic, and went nuts! He also stopped to talk to me about his feelings for chicago, the country & the olypics here in 2016! I know you will enjoy...
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
I first took jamie foxx out on the town about 8 years ago... he was always a very nice guy- actually kind of quiet back then? As the years went by, he really opened up and let himself shine, ripping the mic at my clubs getting crazy, winning acting awards, making great music... totally impressive, and still, a very nice guy.
This video is from a very similar night, where Jamie walked into the underground recently, said big hellos, grabbed my mic, and went nuts! He also stopped to talk to me about his feelings for chicago, the country & the olypics here in 2016! I know you will enjoy...
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Joel madden and I had a great talk after sunda one night, just before he dj'ed a big party at the underground, about how he balanced the entertainment business, w/ his personal life, being married to nicole Ritchie. He summed it all up with "happy wife, happy life!" love that line. Anyway, got him to share his feelings on chicago & the Olympics too, and it ended up being a really fun conversation for you to enjoy here!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Joel madden and I had a great talk after sunda one night, just before he dj'ed a big party at the underground, about how he balanced the entertainment business, w/ his personal life, being married to nicole Richie. He summed it all up with "happy wife, happy life!" love that line. Anyway, got him to share his feelings on chicago & the Olympics too, and it ended up being a really fun conversation for you to enjoy here!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Katie Cassidy & I actually had the most tripped out scene together in "nightmare on elm street" that filmed here in chicago all summer! I played a cop who had to walk into a crime scene w/ my gun drawn, down a long scary hallway to a dungy bedroom, where there was a dead ripped up body, at which time I had to deliver my lines. Katie was the main character that happened to be that dead body! Anyway... love when movies and talent come to chicago like this... hope you do too!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Katie Cassidy & I actually had the most tripped out scene together in "nightmare on elm street" that filmed here in chicago all summer! I played a cop who had to walk into a crime scene w/ my gun drawn, down a long scary hallway to a dungy bedroom, where there was a dead ripped up body, at which time I had to deliver my lines. Katie was the main character that happened to be that dead body! Anyway... love when movies and talent come to chicago like this... hope you do too!
as for me & the olympics, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Ya, it's pretty unfair, I get to judge the annual luvabulls tryouts... but know that I take it super seriously! The girls work extremely hard, they are really talented, & get out there every night to cheer for the greatest sports fans in the world! Which is why I thought it would be good to get their thoughts on the greatest sporting event of all time.... the olympics!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Ya, it's pretty unfair, I get to judge the annual luvabulls tryouts... but know that I take it super seriously! The girls work extremely hard, they are really talented, & get out there every night to cheer for the greatest sports fans in the world! Which is why I thought it would be good to get their thoughts on the greatest sporting event of all time.... the olympics!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left russia, landed in sweden, and am soon to be in copenhagen to meet president obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps to spread our enthusiastic spirit!
you can do this by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
He is an award winning rapper, actor, Chicagoan & friend, common is someone truly special. I actually heard his name come up many times when interviewing celebs from around the country (below) associating him w/ chicago's finest talent, and celebrating him as one of the nation's best! We got to hang out at president obama's election night at the underground and just shook our heads in disbelief and admiration for what has been happening with our great city of chicago... as I am sure you will feel here.... Enjoy!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i am leaving moscow in the morning soon to make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
He is an award winning rapper, actor, Chicagoan & friend, common is someone truly special. I actually heard his name come up many times when interviewing celebs from around the country (below) associating him w/ chicago's finest talent, and celebrating him as one of the nation's best! We got to hang out at president obama's election night at the underground and just shook our heads in disbelief and admiration for what has been happening with our great city of chicago... as I am sure you will feel here.... Enjoy!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i am leaving moscow in the morning soon to make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
(shout out to bridges media group for the killer graphic in this cut...and all the editing on the rest of the celebrity videos...thank you for your sincere contribution to chicago!)
Sophia has been a friend for a while and if I had to say what is special about her it's that she has an intense passion for doing what's right... that's why I was so happy to see how supportive she was toward working to win the 2016 Olympics in the united states of America... she even squeezed this interview in on the way to getting her tonsils out! enjoy!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i am leaving russia in the morning to make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
Sophia has been a friend for a while and if I had to say what is special about her, it's that she has an intense passion for doing what's right... that's why I was so happy to see how supportive she was toward working to win the 2016 Olympics in the united states of America... she even squeezed this interview in on the way to getting her tonsils out! enjoy!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i am leaving russia in the morning to make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
This is so random I know... but I got to give these girls a lot of credit... they work their butts off, take hard knocks, follow their dreams, and represent Chicago! They're our very own Chicago Roller Derby Team "The Outfit!" Who knew? I saw them skating outside of Rockit Wrigley when I was interviewing "norm" from "cheers" (scroll down a few interviews) and I had to rap w/them for a bit- hope you enjoy! And I hope you support them as I will when they start up again next season!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i am leaving russia in the morning to make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
This is so random I know... but I got to give these girls a lot of credit... they work their butts off, take hard knocks, follow their dreams, and represent Chicago! They're our very own Chicago Roller Derby Team "The Outfit!" Who knew? I saw them skating outside of Rockit Wrigley when I was interviewing "norm" from "cheers" (scroll down a few interviews) and I had to rap w/them for a bit- hope you enjoy! And I hope you support them as I will when they start up again next season!
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i am leaving russia in the morning to make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
That was a serious rush- almost out of no where- CNN, played around the world to millions, wants to skype me while in Russia in my hotel room? Crazy! Keep following me on twitter (click here to follow) as I make my way through Russia, then sweden, ending in copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago, and the U.S. in general, will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
That was a serious rush- almost out of no where- CNN, played around the world to millions, wants to skype me while in Russia in my hotel room? Crazy! Keep following me on twitter (click here to follow) as I make my way through Russia, then sweden, ending in copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago, and the U.S. in general, will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
my best man & best friend for 15yrs was the perfect partner to travel beijing w/ me to enjoy & study the olympic games & festivities as we both wanted to know first hand what the olympics was all about, and to know if chicago would be a good place to hold the olympics too- and it is now safe to say, we saw it w/ our own eyes & can confirm w/ all that chicago would be the perfect host city for the 2016 summer olympics!!!
check out this video where we share some of our personal pics & video from our olympic trip w/ all of you in effort to simply get you excited! also, even though apparently "friends" is an international phenomenon (and supposedly used to help teach chinese how to speak english), which caused us to have alot of people around us as david sometimes got mobbed by people screaming "ross!" at him... we actually felt a bit alone at the games, as it was missing just one thing... you, americans.
where were all our fellow u.s. athlete supporters on that side of the earth? it sure would be easier if it was here huh? how many of us have ever really been to the olympics? if we dont get them now will you get to go in this lifetime? i hope so, because you must go... and if we get it in chicago... you will go... w/ your best friend, parents, kids, coworkers, neighbors ... it will be a beautiful thing... and that you will remember forever.
as for me, if you are following me on twitter (click here to follow), you know i just left moscow yesterday & landed in st. petersburgh, soon to make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama & my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official 2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/ your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,... which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
of all my behind the scenes sharing on twitter, people freaked out when i was tweeting while filming my part on entourage! (click here to follow me too) you can actually see my entourage scene in this video, watch jeremy and i scramble around the set of entourage to find light, and talk about why the olympics need to be back in the united states, and in our sweet home chicago!
jeremy has been winnning emmy awards, filming movies, and gaining appreciation all over the world, but what i especially love about him most is that he never forgets about home, and his mom. the two of us have hosted many philanthropic events together each year primarily raising money for children who can't otherwise afford classes at his mom's school, the piven theatre workshop... its a pretty rewarding friendship...
as for me, if you have been following me on twitter, you know that i
just left moscow yesterday & landed in st. petersburgh, soon to
make my way through sweden, on my way to copenhagen to meet mrs. obama
& my fellow chicago 2016 olympic committee members for the official
2016 olympic host announcement on oct 2nd where i am sure chicago will
win! especially if everyone helps now...
you can help by just sharing all the celebrity messages on this site w/
your friends, family, coworkers & everyone else you can for the
next couple days... by email, phone, facebook, twitter, chatboards,...
which helps these celebrities virally get the word out to the world
that chicago (and the u.s in general) will be the perfect place to hold
the 2016 olympics, and that americans are all very excited to host all
who can join us (including the 4.4+ billion people watching on tv) for
the most amazing sport, cultural & friendship strengthening event
ever! thank you for your help everyone & keep spreading the news!
You all remember anna from "my girl" back in the day... she also has been on a ton of shows lately like "30 rock" to landing a cool new gig w/ bbc films called "in the loop" w/ james gandolfini... but I think she is cool because of her positive energy and excitement she shows for her hometown of chicago! I also think it's pretty cool that she went to university of chicago, one of the hardest schools in the country.
Speaking of education, If know me, you know I always preach about the importance of educating ourselves constantly and continually. You may also know how passionately I feel about learning social media & interactive marketing, just read my blog about it last week. Well, with that I got some of my readers 20 tix for "the chicago tech expo" on oct 1st, which is a great way for managers, business owners, staff... to learn the latest in technology from over one thousand local business owners there to help.
I know it will be great because the organization behind it, the Dept. of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection, has been very passionate about the initiative, and has worked very hard on the event. I have watched the work go into it as I have been volunteering as co-chair of their Education, Communications & Technology Committee on their Hospitality Industry Advisory Group, in effort to give back and share what I have learned over the years... and it is very obvious to me that they are very committed to helping.
Anyway, the tix are on me for those who best comment below about why they need to be at this event, and share which celebrity olympic video has been their absolute favorite. we will pick 20 winners by next weds to each take a ticket on me, to go, learn, explore & enjoy!!!!! (and make sure you hit me on twitter and/or facebook to let me know how it went!) For more information, details & reasons why you should attend, visit www.chicagotechexpo.net.
Randy is not only an amazing starting pitcher for the chicago cubs, but he is from the great state of lllinois, loves chicago, and loves the idea of having the Olympics in 2016! I also like his ideas of bringing baseball and golf back??? Do you agree? If could bring only one of the two to the Olympics in 2016, which one would it be?
my celebrity interview blog post a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 6 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
check out this video of me, my buddy pat daley, and my rockit ranch partners arturo gomez & brad you, running through the red square in moscow last night! i know, so random. pat happened to be here (and apparently really knows his history), and if you follow me on twitter & facebook, you know my partners and i are making our way through russia and sweden before pulling up by train in copenhagen for the oct 2nd official olympic decision determining whether chicago ( and the usa in general) wins or loses the honor of being host of the 2016 summer games!
will keep trying to share parts of the journey with you as i go...hope you enjoy! and if you could please help us win next week that would be amazing! just share the news of all celebrity videos i have been posting each day here on www.aChicagoThing.com w/ your friends, co-workers, family...as fast as you can...to spread these celebrity messages virally on the internet, so the world knows how great our country is, and how much we want to welcome guests (and the 4.4+ billion watching on tv), playing host to the greatest sport, cultural and global friendship strengthening celebration in the world!
if you follow me on twitter, you know i am a travel freak! i'm writing this from moscow for goodness sake! combine that w/ my life long restaurant background, and my obsession for eating everything i can....and bang! i am of course a huge fan of andrew zimmern and his tv show "bizarre foods!" and if that wasn't enough in and of itself, wait till you see what he told me about chicago's food culture! now i really like him!
Speaking of our world class food culture, I have been bragging about a local culinary event for a year now that blew my mind called "Chicago Gourmet"... and it's finally back this weekend! Not only does this even showcase the top talent of Chicago's culinary community (including my guys chef james & the food buddha from rockit & sunda) through 2 days of high-end food & wine tastings, demos & educational seminars... but it all happens outside in beautiful millennium park! 50 chefs, 300 wine makers, 65 spirits providers... it's amazing!
Tickets are available at www.ChicagoGourmet.org for $150/day or $250 for a two-day pass... and since I will be in Russia... I am giving my 2 passes away to my friendly supporter that best describes why andrew's comment about our food culture is right on! Comment below and we will pick a winner by 5pm today
Speaking of our world class food culture, I have been bragging about a local culinary event for a year now that blew my mind called "Chicago Gourmet"... and it's finally back this weekend! Not only does this even showcase the top talent of Chicago's culinary community (including my guys chef james & the food buddha from rockit & sunda) through 2 days of high-end food & wine tastings, demos & educational seminars... but it all happens outside in beautiful millennium park! 50 chefs, 300 wine makers, 65 spirits providers,... it's amazing!
Tickets are available at www.ChicagoGourmet.org for $150/day or $250 for a two-day pass... and since I will be in Russia... I am giving my 2 passes away to my friendly supporter that best describes why andrew's comment about our food culture is right on! Comment below and we will pick a winner by 5pm today
Ya, I can hear you from here... in case missed it, here is the cnn headline news segment I was on called "meet the newsmakers" that just ran every hour on HLN for about a week! It was a really big wake up call for me that fighting for the olympics wasn't just a chicago thing, but it's always been a usa thing. and now, sitting on this plane to Moscow, realizing that I will soon be in Copenhagen on oct 2nd for the official olympic host decision, it's even feeling bigger than that. (btw, follow me on twitter out here, will give ya all the behind the scenes!)
Speaking of the big decision, I got to tell ya, I am feeling good about it! And at bare minimum, I can say I sure feel good about the effort put forth... the extremely hard working dedicated people on the chicago 2016 committee and all the volunteers across chicago worked their butts off and I appreciate their love for our city and their fight to say there is no better city out there than ours...
and as for my small part, interviewing 50 celebrity friends and putting them up here, one a day until the official decision on oct 2nd, I have to say I could not have been done w/o the support of all the celebrity friends obviously, bridges media group who are master creative editors, my flashpoint video studs ryan Berena & michael Bartello, my assistant Katie rose, my intern ilysa, the entire rockit ranch family, and all the good people across chicago who read this blog and have shared all the videos as far and wide as possible which helped virally spread the word around the world about how great this city is, and how great this country is,... and for all of that, I am just very thankful and proud to be a part of it... so thank you all for everything.
But wait, don't stop now everyone! We are in the final stretch of 8 days left only!!! We need you to share with all your friends, family, chatboards, facebooks, twitter,.... that everyone must pass on these videos more and more so the whole world hears us before they make that final judgement on oct 2nd as to whether our country, and our city, wins or loses! So just send that one email to all your contacts now about it? and keep pushing them out! thanks all!
Ya, I can hear you from here... in case missed it, here is the cnn headline news segment I was on called "meet the newsmakers" that just ran every hour on HLN for about a week! It was a really big wake up call for me that fighting for the olympics wasn't just a chicago thing, but it's always been a usa thing. and now, sitting on this plane to Moscow, realizing that I will soon be in Copenhagen on oct 2nd for the official olympic host decision, it's even feeling bigger than that. (btw, follow me on twitter out here, will give ya all the behind the scenes!)
Speaking of the big decision, I got to tell ya, I am feeling good about it! And at bare minimum, I can say I sure feel good about the effort put forth... the extremely hard working dedicated people on the chicago 2016 committee and all the volunteers across chicago worked their butts off and I appreciate their love for our city and their fight to say there is no better city out there than ours...
and as for my small part, interviewing 50 celebrity friends and putting them up here, one a day until the official decision on oct 2nd, I have to say I could not have been done w/o the support of all the celebrity friends obviously, bridges media group who are master creative editors, my flashpoint video studs Ryan Berena & Michael Bartello, my assistant Katie Rose Cronin, my intern Ilysa Bass, the entire rockit ranch family, and all the good people across chicago who read this blog and have shared all the videos as far and wide as possible which helped virally spread the word around the world about how great this city is, and how great this country is,... and for all of that, I am just very thankful and proud to be a part of it... so thank you all for everything.
But wait, don't stop now everyone! We are in the final stretch of 8 days left only!!! We need you to share with all your friends, family, chatboards, facebooks, twitter,.... that everyone must pass on these videos more and more so the whole world hears us before they make that final judgement on oct 2nd as to whether our country, and our city, wins or loses! So just send that one email to all your contacts now about it? and keep pushing them out! thanks all!
Joey Slotnick has been one of my best friends for over a decade and to this day still makes me die laughing everytime I'm with him as you can see in this video! You have seen him in "nip/tuck" "single guy" and all kinds of other shows and movies, but I love him best on stage and can't wait to see his new play "animal crackers" about the marx brothers at the Goodman theatre that he talks about in the video! (hear everyone is already raving about it!)
I'm actually bummed because I'm going to miss the big opening night festivities since I am in Moscow on my way to copenahagen for the big olympic announcement on oct 2nd (hope you are following me on twitter for the 411 out here!)... but don't worry, I'm not letting my two awesome tix go to waste! I am treating one of you, my supportive readers and friends, right now with my two tix to the grand opening night!!!! Just comment below on why you want to see joey, and besides his video obviously, what is your second favorite olympic celebrity video and why! We will review all comments in 48hrs and pick the winner of my tix... good luck and thank you!
Oh, and speaking of big events, if want to get Olympics
Joey Slotnick has been one of my best friends for over a decade and to this day still makes me die laughing everytime I'm with him as you can see in this video! You have seen him in "nip/tuck" "single guy," "boston public," "family guy" and all kinds of other shows and movies, but I love him best on stage and can't wait to see his new play "animal crackers" about the marx brothers at the Goodman theatre that he talks about in the video! (hear everyone is already raving about it!)
I'm actually bummed because I'm going to miss the big opening night festivities since I am in Moscow on my way to copenahagen for the big olympic announcement on oct 2nd (hope you are following me on twitter for the 411 out here!)... but don't worry, I'm not letting my two awesome tix go to waste! I am treating one of you, my supportive readers and friends, right now with my two tix to the grand opening night!!!! Just comment below on why you want to see joey, and besides his video obviously, what is your second favorite olympic celebrity video and why! We will review all comments in 48hrs and pick the winner of my tix... good luck and thank you!
Oh, and speaking of big events, if want to get Olympics - my celebrity interview blog post a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 8 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
Of all my one-a-day olympic celeb interviews (which we need you to share online as much as possible please before the Olympic decision in 9 days!), I think Christina's was the funniest to film... I think she has an improv or comedy background? Anywho, from chicago to 90210, she was very excited to get on camera with me here to talk about why she thinks chicago is beautiful!
speaking of beautiful.....chicago is one of the most beautiful cities in the world in part because of local volunteers that make it their mission to continually improve it, like chicago gateway green & their annual green tie ball! I have always been such a supporter, that I even hosted it one year w/my buddy julie Lampert... for the thousands of the most fun, happy-looking, dedicated and energetic people that I have ever seen, w/ the almost 100 top chicago restaurants providing food & cocktails, w/one of the best silent auctions w/ seriously good finds... while amazing performances go on all over by top bands & dj's,... all coming together in the most fun & memorable way, all just to make chicago look even more beautiful than it already is!
I am such a fan, that I am providing 20 tix for friends of my blog right here right now, who love chicago as much as I do! Just let me know what you think is most beautiful about chicago, and why you want these tix as bad as you do, and we will pick 10 lucky winners to win 2 tix each on me! (must let me know asap in comment area below, will announce in 48hrs of this posting... about weds 5pm). For full press release and all the fun details... click below....
frankie and i were chillin at a charity celebrity basketball game against the chicago sky when i got his thoughts on the olympics in chicago....fyi they sky killed them....enjoy!
my celebrity interview blog post a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 9 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
My guys from the plain white t's are a straight up "chicago band" in my book... not just because they are from here, but because they are down to earth, loyal, sweet, smart, talented, giving guys... tom actually was super nice enough to come out and play solo for me when I launched as host of an nbc show "24/7" a couple years ago, and really all the guys seemed to have always supported our venues at one point or another by just hanging out while in their home town city...
which really brings me to what is most important to me about these guys, they call chicago home, they are proud of it, and they really just support and celebrate our city... by keeping us in their music and videos! I love that so much, I integrated some of their work into their interview here... as they talk about how great chicago is, and how amazing it would be to have the Olympics here in 2016... it's a beautiful thing! thanks guys and good luck!
My guys from the plain white t's are a straight up "chicago band" in my book... not just because they are from here, but because they are down to earth, loyal, sweet, smart, talented, giving guys... tom actually was super nice enough to come out and play solo for me when I launched as host of an nbc show "24/7" a couple years ago, and really all the guys seemed to have always supported our venues at one point or another by just hanging out while in their home town city...
which really brings me to what is most important to me about these guys, they call chicago home, they are proud of it, and they really just support and celebrate our city... by keeping us in their music and videos! I love that so much, I integrated some of their work into their interview here... as they talk about how great chicago is, and how amazing it would be to have the Olympics here in 2016... it's a beautiful thing! thanks guys and good luck!
my celebrity interview blog post a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 10 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
speaking of music in chicago, this friday we have the amazing ting tings performing live at rockit bar & grill river north!!! sponsored by 101.9 the mix - i have 20 tickets for the people that best tell me, in comment section below, what their favorite 2016 celeb video is and why! winners will be announced wednesday by 5pm.
When I told you all on twitter that music industry mogul Jermaine dupri and I were hanging at sunda, and I was going to interview him before he dj'ed at underground, my phone blew up like crazy with everyone asking me to ask him about his supposed break up with his girl janet Jackson... well, as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't with it being so close to the unfortunate death of her brother michael Jackson (atleast not on tape)! I did however ask all of you other questions!
Check out how Jermaine has always had a super sweet spot for chicago! He not only shows his love for our country... but also for our city, our sports, our talent,... I especially love how he can speak on behalf of those that have actually had a chance to experience the olymics in the usa! I sure would love to experience that... Check it out...
When I told you all on twitter that music industry mogul Jermaine dupri and I were hanging at sunda, and I was going to interview him before he dj'ed at underground, my phone blew up like crazy with everyone asking me to ask him about his supposed break up with his girl janet Jackson... well, as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't with it being so close to the unfortunate death of her brother michael Jackson (at least not on tape)! I did however ask all of your other questions!
Check out how Jermaine has always had a super sweet spot for chicago! He not only shows his love for our country... but also for our city, our sports, our talent... I especially love how he can speak on behalf of those that have actually had a chance to experience the olymics in the usa! I sure would love to experience that... Check it out...
my celebrity interview blog post a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 10 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
A fellow kid straight out of Chicago, simeon rice, makes it to Superbowl and more... and now has something to say about his City and how we deserve the Olympics! Posted today because I'm in the football spirit- got row 1, 50yrd line for Bears vs steelers- behind Bears bench- send you all some picks on twitter- gonna be crazy!!!
Btw, Its getting really crazy that my celebrity interview blog posting a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 11 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... anyway possible to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
Look, even nyc celebs are loving chicago and want to see us rise above all and be the focal point of America for the 2016 olympics to the 4.4 billion people watching on tv!! Not only is reid a super nice and smart guy, but I thought he would be fun to talk to since his show is set in chicago, which is essentially a character in the show. Which is actually a prediction I want to make now, if we get the Olympics, chicago will become so celebrated to so many for so long, that it will be a backdrop, character, visual,... in books, shows, movies,... at enormous amounts forever!
Look, even nyc celebs are loving chicago and want to see us rise above all and be the focal point of America for the 2016 olympics to the 4.4 billion people watching on tv!! Not only is reid a super nice and smart guy, but I thought he would be fun to talk to since his show is set in chicago, which is essentially a character in the show. Which is actually a prediction I want to make now, if we get the Olympics, chicago will become so celebrated to so many for so long, that it will be a backdrop, character, visual,... in books, shows, movies,... at enormous amounts forever!
Btw, Its getting really crazy that my celebrity interview blog posting a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 11 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... anyway possible to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
First of all, shout out to my buddy josh Kelley for adopting a wonderful baby girl! So funny, when we filmed the piece above lil while ago, we sat over a huge dinner at sunda talking about life, family, future,... (we actually twittered at the table about it so nothing too personal here!) and as much as we joked at times about how many dogs his wife Katherine heigl kept bringing home (he lovingly joked, think they have like 6 now?!), it was obvious that it was just the beginning of what josh wanted to build for his beautiful family life, with so much more to come, so was not surprised to hear of the beautiful addition so quickly after!
Anyway, ryan cabrera also has been a long time friend, and happened to be visiting me at the same time, so we all got together to eat, talk, have fun, and just rap in my office about why they love chicago so much, why their fan base is so ridiculously huge here, why they know this city is perfect for the Olympics, who would beat who in ping pong, and all that! Enjoy!
First of all, shout out to my buddy josh Kelley for adopting a wonderful baby girl! So funny, when we filmed the piece above lil while ago, we sat over a huge dinner at sunda talking about life, family, future,... (we actually twittered at the table about it so nothing too personal here!) and as much as we joked at times about how many dogs his wife Katherine heigl kept bringing home (he lovingly joked, think they have like 6 now?!), it was obvious that it was just the beginning of what josh wanted to build for his beautiful family life, with so much more to come, so was not surprised to hear of the beautiful addition so quickly after!
Anyway, ryan cabrera also has been a long time friend, and happened to be visiting me at the same time, so we all got together to eat, talk, have fun, and just rap in my office about why they love chicago so much, why their fan base is so ridiculously huge here, why they know this city is perfect for the Olympics, who would beat who in ping pong, and all that! Enjoy!
Btw, Its getting really crazy that my celebrity interview blog posting a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 13 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... anyway possible to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
Remember when I was tweeting absolute fear from the pitcher's mound at u.s. cellular field before I had to throw out the 1st pitch at a huge sox game!??!? Well I also was holding a filpcam on the mound too (you can see me holding it!) and here is the video!!!!!
Most important, I got to talk to good friend, world serious champion and mvp, Jermaine dye, about how much as a one time visitor he was very embraced by our city because we welcome new guests always with so much to do here... and how olympic athletes in 2016 will also be very taken great care of should we win the olympic bid for host city in 2016! It's a super fun video... so enjoy and share it with you friends!
And the sharing part is really important.... So world knows/Final paragraph
Remember when I was tweeting absolute fear from the pitcher's mound at u.s. cellular field before I had to throw out the 1st pitch at a huge sox game!??!? Well I also was holding a filpcam on the mound too (you can see me holding it!) and here is the video!!!!!
Most important, I got to talk to good friend, world series champion and mvp, Jermaine dye, about how much as a one time visitor he was very embraced by our city because we welcome new guests always with so much to do here... and how olympic athletes in 2016 will also be very taken great care of should we win the olympic bid for host city in 2016! It's a super fun video... so enjoy and share it with you friends!
Btw, Its getting really crazy that my celebrity interview blog posting a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 14 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... anyway possible to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
most know joel from e!'s "the soup" (at least when tweeting from our hangout his e! fans lit my phone up!), but i have a strange feeling once his new show "community" premieres on nbc with chevy chase and cast, he is going to be known for a lot more! as you can tell, he is crazy funny to hang out with...i couldn't keep a straight face myself....
remember all, if you want to help bring the olympic games home to chicago (and usa in general) share these celebrity videos i post each day for all through facebook, email, twitter....as fast as you can, where ever you can! will help spread the word far and fast - only 14 days to go until i land in copenhagen for the official decision on oct 2nd as to whether america wins or not!
I really enjoyed just chilling w/ total sweetheart Epatha talking about growing up in the midwest, being involved w/ local theatre, and loving the idea of the Olympics coming to chicago! She especially has a wonderful perspective on how it will have a positive effect on our youth... and I am proud to share it with you!
Btw, Its getting really crazy that my celebrity interview blog posting a day until I get to Copenhagen on oct 2nd is almost coming to an end... we only have 16 days left!!!! Now more than ever we all need you to share these videos by phone, face to face, email, facebook, twitter... anyway possible to let the world know how great chicago (& the usa in general) is and how much we want to welcome the world for the greatest sport, cultural and friendship making event in history!
Ever since I started posting one celebrity interview a day here on aChicagoThing, the word about sharing chicago love & supporting the 2016 olympic bid has been spreading like crazy... so much that now other celebrities are starting to send me their own videos from home to show their support too!
I already posted sent-in videos from my buddies Kate Walsh & Billy Bush, and today I'm sharing one from Rachael Ray! I thought today would be a good day to share Rachael's video because she premieres her show on WGN today! After checking out how much she loves and supports our great city/country... be sure to immediately share it with all of your friends on email, twitter, facebook, chatboards, fansites,... so word keeps spreading until the whole world feels our enthusiasm about how much we want to have the summer Olympic games back in the USA so that we win the bid when I land in Copenhagen for the official announcement on Oct 2nd!
As part of sport-celeb interview week here on aChicagoThing I thought I would share sports legend, Tom Thayer, from our 1985 Superbowl Champions - The Chicago Bears! He was my favorite player and is now a great sports media figure for the team!
Remember all, if you want to help bring the Olympics games home to Chicago (and the USA in general) share these celebrity videos I post each day for all through email, facebook, twitter....as fast as you can, wherever you can! will help spread the word far and fast - only 19 days to go until I land in Copenhagen for the official decision on Oct 2nd as to whether Americas wins or not!
I absolutely loved being live on NBC w/ anchor Marion Brooks for the Oprah taping yesterday on Michigan avenue! Check out the video above- it was so official, up above the crowd stage-side all mic'ed up, filming live while praising the beauty of our great city, the energy of Chicagoans, the talent of Oprah, all the positive exposure she has brought to Chicago and how that translates into value for all of us... wait till you see when it airs tomorrow morning for the world to be blown away by our beauty... you will know what I'm talking about.
Which makes me wonder... w/ all that good, both in this video and on the show tomorrow morning, why were some locals complaining about Oprah filming on Michigan avenue? I for one am thanking her! The amount of positive exposure she gives our city is priceless. Like Mayor Daley found out from other mayors, any city would die to have her pick up and move it all there, including one day of filming outside in the heart of the city as the backdrop. (Reminds me of Olympic exposure financial benefits at the end of yesterdays blogs if want to see those huge numbers!)
Yes, there were some inconveniences and extra work, but what good things in life don't have that? I mean, yes I had to think about my route to work that one day and take an extra minute or two to get there... Yes, I lost business that one day because of some street closures... but I am perfectly happy (and thankful) as that short sighted loss of that one day is extremely outweighed by all the dollars (many millions in my opinion) that Oprah's free PR drives to our city in tourism for many years to come.
I do have to admit that I almost got upset too when someone said I had to walk 3 blocks extra to get around the excitement on the way home, but then remembered I was just taking a wonderful stroll on a beautiful day not working, while someone else had to work, w/huge investment, all while she was bringing my city exposure, tourists, money, and international respect & admiration. That and I knew that if we all complained about the relatively little work that it takes to allow someone else to invest a lot of work, money, love, effort... into our city, there would easily be countless cities elsewhere ready to snatch it all up from us one day... and that would just suck.
As you saw w/ luol deng yesterday, of all the celebrity interviews hyping chicago and our olympic bid being posted here once a day until the official 2016 olympic host announcement in Copenhagen on Oct 2nd, this week I am posting interviews with all my favorite athletes! Today I thought I would share a fun interview w/ an actual USA Olympic Gold Medalist who tore it up in Beijing, the captain of our WNBA team, The Chicago Sky....and a super sweet & funny friend that I know you will enjoy.....Sylvia Fowles!
I also thought I'd address some questions I got a couple nights ago from some friends on twitter about what the benefits would be to our city & country if we got awarded the olympics... know I thought about going on and on about it myself from the beginning, but I imagined I would only lose people in the pure mass of positive personal opinion... so thought, why don't I have people (these celebs in videos) with millions of fans who want to hear them talk, tell the benefits in a fun way (that and I can add my opinions in here and there on film and in blog text)! I personally think it is best to go to the facts and get almost anything you want answered in my opinion from www.chicago2016.org ...so I always tell people to start there... but, if really want a quick punch list... here is one a friend sent out last week I liked....
"Colleagues and Friends,
I have outlined below just a few of the many ways the greater Chicagoland area would benefit from the 2016 Games:
• A greater international awareness of a world class city, Chicago. We all know and love Chicago. So many people around the world do not. This awareness will drive value to the City of Chicago and greater Chicagoland region in so many ways.
• A $22.5 billion economic stimulus for the city and state that will create the equivalent of 315,000 jobs for one year; $13.7 billion of this activity will be focused in Chicago
• An additional $1 billion from a variety of sources, including sales and amusement taxes, that will help support education, law enforcement and other city services
• A substantial increase in federal funds for roads and mass transit, based on the experiences of Atlanta and Salt Lake City
• By showcasing our lakefront, hotels and cultural institutions to 4 billion worldwide viewers, the Games will bring an additional 3 million international tourists to Chicago each year, and all of the needed economic stimulus and additional cultural depth that comes with that increase.
• Chicago 2016's sister organization, World Sport Chicago, has already reached 30,000 youth all over the city through its sport programs, and these efforts will be expanded dramatically if Chicago becomes the 2016 Host City. Other cities in the U.S. are already modeling this program.
The question on deck, and correctly so is, "What is the risk to the city?"
There is some degree of risk in every single endeavor worth pursuing. As a committee member with full access to the plan, I can tell you with great confidence that the risk is very controlled, extremely limited and very well placed. The city is well insulated from the risk of any financial shortfall.
In summary, we will come out on top by every measure if we are so fortunate to win this historic bid.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games are much more than a world class sporting event that serves as an economic engine for the host city.
The Games are a platform for six core values of the Olympic Movement:
• Hope
• Respect
• Harmony
• Friendship
• Excellence
• Celebration
These are values we should all make more room for in our lives."
As you saw w/ urlacher yesterday, of all the celebrity interviews hyping chicago and our olympic bid being posted here once a day until the official 2016 olympic host announcement in Copenhagen on Oct 2nd, this week I am posting interviews with all my favorite athletes! Today I thought I would put my man luol deng up from the chicago bulls to share an overseas "visitor" perspective as the international olympic committee needs to find a host city that is full of diversity always embracing visitors from cultures all over the world... and no one is better than us in that category for sure!
I also thought i'd address some questions I got last night from some friends on twitter about what the benefits would be to our city & country if we got awarded the olympics... know I thought about going on and on about it myself from the beginning, but I imagined I would only lose people in the pure mass of positive personal opinion... so thought, why don't I have people (these celebs in videos) with millions of fans who want to hear them talk, tell the benefits in a fun way (that and I can add my opinions in here and there on film and in blog text)! I personally think it is best to go to the facts and get almost anything you want answered in my opinion from www.chicago2016.org ...so I always tell people to start there... but, if really want a quick punch list... here is one a friend sent out last week I liked....
As you know, I interviewed a bunch of random celebrity friends about why they think chicago is amazing, and why they feel our city (and country) would make a great host for the 2016 olympics... and plan to keep posting one of them a day here until I land in Copenhagen on oct 2nd for the official decision as to whether chicago (and the U.S. in general) will be honored as the official host of the 2016 olympics!
Well, being that the olympics is not only a spectacular cultural celebration, but the greatest sport celebration the world has ever known, I thought it would be fun to take this week to feature some of my favorite sports teams and athletes to share their thoughts on the above as well... and who better to kick it all off with but probowling captain of nfl chicago bears brian urlacher... enjoy!
And don't forget, if a fan of urlacher's, the bears, chicago, usa, the Olympics,... and us just want to help all, we only have 25 days until that official decision in Copenhagen where we either win or loose... and all you have to do to help is to just share these celebrity interviews far and wide on email, twitter, facebook, myspace, post it on chatboards... just get the word out to as many people as you can! Thanks all!
From def comedy jam (where he invented the term "booty call"), to being one of the biggest mtv vj's of all time, to hosting "last comic standing,"bill bellamy is one of the most energetic, fast moving, and funny guys I have ever met... it cracks me up when we hang because not only do the jokes fly, but he talks about his love for chicago revolving around things you would never expect he appreciated most... like in this video .... Hilarious... if want to check him out with me this Thursday night at Zanies... click..http://www.chicago.zanies.com/news.php?NewsSection=Bill+Bellamy ... Enjoy!
Most important for all of us, today represents the 26 day countdown to the official decision as to whether chicago will win the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics! I will be there in Copenhagen on Oct. 2nd with many others from the olympic committee (and hopefully president obama) to witness this historic decision first hand, because if we get it, it will be the most monumental experience to happen in chicago in my lifetime!
And How can you help in the next 26 days? Just share these videos far and wide as I am posting one new celebrity endorsing us per day. you can tweet the post, put on facebook/myspace, post it on chatboards, and/or you can simply email a message to all your friends.....Thanks all!
davidis a huge hockey fan and stopped to talk about how much he dug our blackhawks... so of course had to get his perspective on the greatest sports celebration possibly being in chicago in 2016.... Enjoy....
Most important for all of us, today represents the 28 day countdown to the official decision as to whether chicago will win the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics! I will be there in Copenhagen on Oct. 2nd with many others from the olympic committee (and hopefully president obama) to witness this historic decision first hand, because if we get it, it will be the most monumental experience to happen in chicago in my lifetime!
And How can you help in the next 28 days? Just share these videos far and wide as I am posting one new celebrity endorsing us per day. you can tweet the post, put on facebook/myspace, post it on chatboards, and/or you can simply email a message to all your friends.....Thanks all!
Billy bush from "access Hollywood" actually sent this video in himself when heard about all the support pouring in for chicago... Why? Because he loves this city! I know because we have the best time ever when he is in town. that and he has a unique insight that most of us don't- not only has he been to the Olympics, but he has actually covered it before... so he definitely knows the ins and outs of the Olympics more than most of us and knows what it takes to be the perfect city to host the games... and he picks chicago! Enjoy..
Most important for all of us, today represents the 28 day countdown to the official decision as to whether chicago will win the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics! I will be there in Copenhagen on Oct. 2nd with many others from the olympic committee (and hopefully president obama) to witness this historic decision first hand, because if we get it, it will be the most monumental experience to happen in chicago in my lifetime!
And How can you help in the next 28 days? Just share these videos far and wide as I am posting one new celebrity endorsing us per day. you can tweet the post, put on facebook/myspace, post it on chatboards, and/or you can simply email a message to all your friends.....Thanks all!
ya, a lot of ladies know & love brody....at first i thought it might be a little random to interview him because of "the hills" hype....but gotta tell ya, he's actually a very nice & cool guy who is super supportive of chicago 2016!
if couldn't guess, the reason i wanted him to come on with me was because his dad bruce jenner has always been such an important usa olympic icon that i thought it would be neat to get an olympic great family member perspective...and that i got to share with you....hope you enjoy!
Most important for all of us, today represents the 29 day countdown to the official decision as to whether chicago (and the usa in general) will win the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics! I will be there in Copenhagen on Oct. 2nd with many others from the olympic committee (and hopefully president obama) to witness this historic decision first hand, because if we get it, it will be the most monumental experience to happen in chicago in my lifetime, and will be so proud and excited to join you in creating and hosting the most beautiful and memorable experience for millions (and the 4.4+ billion who watch on tv from around the world!).
And How can you help our country and city win the chicago 2016 olympic bid in 29 days? Just share these videos far and wide today... and every day that you can until Oct 2nd as I am posting one new celebrity endorsing us per day until the decision is made! you can click the buttons below that tweet the post, put on facebook/myspace, you can post it on chatboards, and/or you can simply email a message to all your friends,... just do whatever you can to get everyone you can to enjoy and share all these celebrity videos about how great our country & city is on www.aChicagoThing.com! Thanks all!
george seriously pops in and out of chicago more than most! he really did come to my birthday party randomly-as in, he was that random friend that lives far away that you send that random invite out to thinking that person will never show - and then randomly they just walk right in during the most random time, was really funny...but again, everything he does is funny...anyway, you can tell he loves chicago so enjoy!
most important for all of us, tomorrow represents the 30 day countdown to the offical decision as to whether chicago (and the usa in general) will win the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics! i will be there in copenhagen on oct. 2nd with many others from the olympics committee (and hopefully president obama) to witness this historic decision first hand, because if we get it, it will be the most monumental experience to happen to chicago in my lifetime, and will be so proud and excited to join you in creating and hosting the most beautiful and memorable experience for million (and the 4.4+billion who watch on tv from around the world!).
and how can you help our country and city win in 30 days? just share these videos far and wide today....and every day that you can until oct 2nd as i am posting one new celebrity endorsing us per day until the decision is made! you can clock the buttons below that tweet the post, put on facebook/myspace, you can post it on chatboards, and/or you can simply email a message to all your friends....just do whatever you can to get everyone you can to enjoy and share all these celebrity videos and how great our city & country is on www.aChicagoThing.com! Thanks all!
my buddy zach braff from nbc's"scrubs" is absolutely hilarious in this - and it's totally true - i may have been harassing him to come hang out! but he did the same to me years ago when we first met in chicago, and he wanted to hit the town a couple nights in a row - he loves to have a lot of fun in his favorite city chicago! and as you can tell, as silly as we get, he is a smart passionate guy.....a northwestern grad that knows our culture scene well.....
most important for all of us, tomorrow represents the 30 day countdown to the offical decision as to whether chicago (and the usa in general) will win the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics! i will be there in copenhagen on oct. 2nd with many others from the olympics committee (and hopefully president obama) to witness this historic decision first hand, because if we get it, it will be the most monumental experience to happen to chicago in my lifetime, and will be so proud and excited to join you in creating and hosting the most beautiful and memorable experience for million (and the 4.4+billion who watch on tv from around the world!).
and how can you help our country and city win in 30 days? just share these videos far and wide today....and every day that you can until oct 2nd as i am posting one new celebrity endorsing us per day until the decision is made! you can clock the buttons below that tweet the post, put on facebook/myspace, you can post it on chatboards, and/or you can simply email a message to all your friends....just do whatever you can to get everyone you can to enjoy and share all these celebrity videos and how great our city & country is on www.aChicagoThing.com! Thanks all!
if you follow me on twitter, you can get in on all my "behind the scenes" experiences as they are happening. like the time i told you all on twitter that i was about to interview david cook from "american idol" before his big dinner at sunda, and you all hit me w/ hundreds of tweets back wanting me to ask him specific questions! well, as promised, i gladly asked him some of them here for you....enjoy!
oh, and i thought since i am launching one celebrity interview here a day until i land in copenhagen on oct 2nd to see if chicago/usa wins the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics, that it would be particularly great to release this one today since ryan seacrest texted me that he is in town casting for the next "american idol" today! you know you have that one friend that needs to know about these auditions! that and it only helps chicago (and the entire usa in general) if you spread the news about these celebrity endorsements to help get the olympics back in our home country....so spread www.achicagothing.com anyway you can!
busta rhymes is one of my favorite rappers....has been since the 90s....so it was a dream come true to have him perform live at my aChicagoThing blog launch party while nick cannon dj'ed and a packed room of chicago's movers and shakers went bananas!
he is a big fan of chicago and our rap talent, even picked up chicago management (what up jon jon!), but what really struck me was his american pride and determination in improving our outlook to the rest of the world...that and his ability to stand in the middle of our room with a mic and freestyle with no music making the crowd go crazy....enjoy!
remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole)? take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever....& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of our world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who's next! thx and...best of luck to all!
daniel is a super smart hardcore chicago lover that is home whenever he can be....caught this interview on the fly from one of our fun nights out....hope you enjoy!
remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever....& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who's next! and....best of luck to all!!
so my friend nadine is just a trip - super funny, great on "my name is earl" and other stuff, in a bunch of films, makes maxim & other top 100 hot lists, and is about to blow up in lala land even more....but i respect her because she is just so true to her chicago upbringing and her beautiful puerto rican heritage....props nadine....keep it going girl!
remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever....& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who's next! thx and....best of luck to all!
love michael's story...from his early days of being raised on the south side by a single mom...to being nominated for oscars and golden globes...to winning a critic's choice award for his role in "the green mile!" i also love how when i met michael at the superbowl a couple years ago when the bears sorta got whooped, and everyone looked down, he still smiled big in a very sweet and contagious way, so the rest of us understood that it was still just a blessing to be there.
thankfully i ran into him again at sunda for dinner a bit ago (blogged about it a bit back) where he invited me out to a wnba chicago sky celebrity basketball game he was playing in for charity! he loves coming home, especially to support chicagoans, and as you can see from this video, loves the idea of having the olympics in chicago in 2016! enjoy....
remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever.....& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who's next! thx and....best of luck to all!
after enjoying a lookingglass theatre production, john and i were eating at sunda, talking about how cool it would be to have the olympics in the usa....and was super excited to hear i was involved with the effort, so was more than happy to jump on camera real quick with me to talk about it! not only is he a hilarious, talented, nice guy....but he's a huge sports fan, olympic fan & chicago fan (even though he acts like a hater from boston.....haha!)
remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever....& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who's next! thx and....best of luck to all!
my buddy nick cannon takes a quick break every once in a while from his new show "america's got talent" and his lovely wife mariah carey to visit friends in chicago, dj at the underground, host events like the last one he did a couple months ago at rockit ro celebrate his new "executive" position at nickelodeon, and to search out all the talent that resides here!
he even says in our video above that "america's got talent" started their nationwide search right here in chicago because not only do the biggest celebrity performers come from here, but last year's winner of the show is from chicago! with all of that, nick was more than happy to get on camera with me to talk about how much he loves our city, our country and the greatest display of talent in the world....the olympics!
remember all, how can you show your love for the chi ( & the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends and contacts by email, twitter, facebok, phone calls, whatever....& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how much we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago ( & the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep chekcing out who's next! thx and....best of luck to all!
just heard ben & ben just got dropped from the show! dang, too bad, such good guys....glad disney took some responsibility for their role backing my boys as professionals fulfilling their direction. http://tr.im/wwad in honor of their contribution & efforts, i'm still honored to post this. i think they rock & had great things to say about our city & country that must be shared!
i also am excited about this interview because "at the movies" is and always will be "a chicago institution" as ben says here, from the first days of the great gene siskel, and my man roger ebert! which by the way, i enjoyed having dinner with his wife chaz ebert a couple nights ago and she was telling me roger has a great new show in the works....congrats ebert family! i can't wait to see it!
remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends and contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever... & ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how much we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who's next! thx and...best of luck to all!
joe is an absolute stand up guy w/ a ton of talent, an amazing resume & career, a beautiful family and so much love for chicago that he brought it out to "la la land" with him to share with the world serving them chitown favorites in his infamous restaurant in burbank, cali called "taste chicago!" (love that!)
i had the pleasure of joining him and his amazing wife last time in town (posted pic below a month ago?), he invited me out to the set of "criminal minds" last time i was in l.a. to hang, and to me, he has just been one of those guys i just love to stop and listen to. hope you feel the same way after hearing him here....enjoy!
and remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole)? take one minute today to tell all your friends and contacts, by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever....& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how much we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world! don't forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here till the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who's next! thx and.....best of luck to us all!
I met Kate years back at a really cool event I hosted to raise money for kids all over the Chicagoland area that need scholarships to study art & theatre. She was blowing up on "Grey's Anatomy" but never forgot her roots of living in Chicago, studying under Joyce Piven in Evanston, and wanted to join me in giving back in any way possible. With that, we clicked, and I have really enjoyed her talent, heart & friendship ever since.
If remember my blog a couple months ago about our last hang out (scroll down to if want!) we had a fun night on the town and over did it at Sunda......the part i didn't mention was that we were going to do an interview like the rest here but we got too caught up in the fun to do it right, and we figured best to postpone......but, as cool as she is, Kate actually felt bad and knocked it out soon as she got home on her own, and sent it to me! How cool is that? A lot of love for the Chi....
And remember all, how can you show your love for the Chi? Take one minute today to tell all your friends and contacts, by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever...to ask all to listen to these celebs share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city is too!
i grew up down the street from chicago's infamous biograph theatre - been going thre since my grade school days at st. clement's when movies were a $1 on tuesdays (omg) - so it was super shocking to see how redesigned and upgraded it is. now showcasing amazing theatre productions like this one i visited to interview chicago actor bill petersen. i cut to the highlights for you all so it's a quick taste - which was hard - we shared so much awesome love for chicago we lost track of time!
by the way, hope you are coming to my party tonight?!?!?!?! it's at rockit (22 w. hubbard) from 7-9pm w/ food, drink, celeb video previews, familiar faces.....and fun! its only a suggested donation of $20 to benefit youth sport efforts in chicago, thru "world sport chicago" - which makes it a great cause - good fun - and a perfect way for me to say thank you to you for giving me a chance to share this with you all.....really hope to see ya at least stop in to say hi!
I first met john on the roof of a tall building in Beverly hills where super famous Hollywood actor/exec types sat around sipping champagne at a fancy vip party not only shocked that someone was able to get a piano up there, but that the man playing and singing was a no name guy that blew every single one of them off their feet... next thing you know I see him at the grammys... then at the inauguration playing for the president... and so on...
I most recently met John at the underground, and although he had been reaching the highest of accomplishments, he was still a solid, humble, smart,... Midwesterner... that just loved Chicago, and Chicagoans! In fact, he had so many chicago connections, that he was very happy to take a moment to sit with me at his hotel before his last chicago concert, and share that love for our city, and the idea of having the Olympics here in 2016! Enjoy...
ok, I always loved Jack on "will & grace" but this is just ridiculous! Sean was so nice to let me into his home (I think he owned it?) when I surprised him to talk about his love for his hometown chicago! And I must say, I think my surprise visit caught me more off guard then he was? I was laughing my head off- you'll see.... Enjoy!
oh, and don't forget, I'm posting at least one new celebrity interview a day here until I land in Copenhagen on oct. 2nd to hear the official announcement that (hopefully) chicago/usa wins the title of home to the 2016 olympics! how does that happen? you help spread the news! Twitter, facebook, myspace, email blast,.. whatever you can to get everyone in your city, country, world,... to watch these videos and hear how great Chicago is (and the USA is in general), and hear how much we want to host this cultural, sport, and friendship strengthening celebration in our home country in 2016!
Michelle has been a sweet friend for years so was hard to actually interview her all serious... but had to since she is huge in gospel, huge on stage (she is performing in "chicago" in London right now),... and of course, is a huge part of the number one female recording group w/ the highest female recording group sales in history, destiny's child. It was cool that we got to shoot this at a chicago recording studio while she was making music right in her hometown... she cracks me up.... hope you enjoy!
oh, and don't forget, I'm posting at least one new celebrity interview a day here until I land in Copenhagen on oct. 2nd to hear the official announcement that (hopefully) chicago/usa wins the title of home to the 2016 olympics! How does that happen? you help spread the news! twitter, facebook, myspace, email blast,.. whatever you can to get everyone in your city, country, world,... to watch these videos and hear how great Chicago is (and the USA is in general), and hear how much we want to host this cultural, sport, and friendship strengthening celebration in our home country in 2016!
When I was twittering about hanging with jimmy fallon so many people freaked out! so i know there are fans out there that will love this one... i love Jimmy fallon too, he is a huge chicago sport fan... which of course made the Olympics in chicago a no brainer for him to talk about! (I also got my man questlove, drummer from the roots, in a killer interview coming soon). I have had the pleasure of being in 30 rock green rooms and backstage in the past, and every time, it's a completely intimidating example of the biggest in tv production at its greatest... but it didn't matter to jimmy, he still dropped everything to sit w/ me and get real about his love for chicago... enjoy!
oh, and don't forget, I'm posting at least one new celebrity interview a day here until I land in Copenhagen on oct. 2nd to hear the official announcement that (hopefully) chicago/usa wins the title of home to the 2016 olympics! how does that happen? you help spread the news! Twitter, facebook, myspace, email blast,.. whatever you can to get everyone in your city, country, world,... to watch these videos and hear how great Chicago is (and the USA is in general), and hear how much we want to host this cultural, sport, and friendship strengthening celebration in our home country in 2016!
If you follow me on twitter you get to come along for some serious fun behind the scenes craziness... like when I filmed 50+ Celebrity friends about why they love Chicago & why they want to see the olympics in chicago (and the usa in general) in 2016! If missed it, start following me now as there is way more to come, like when I announce the launch of one of those celebrity interviews for the world to see on the internet each day starting tomorrow, until I arrive in copenhagen on oct. 2nd w/ the olympic committee (& hopefully president obama) for the official announcement of (hopefully) chicago/usa being the home of the 2016 olympics!
You will laugh, cry, think, agree, enjoy,... but what we really need you to do is share it with the world hard & fast so the international olympic committee judging us hears how great we are! Whether you know it or not, each of you will make the difference- so talk, tell, share, call, spread, email, twitter, facebook, myspace, scream,.. so that everyone all around the world hears these celebrity messages each day! Starting tomorrow, I will be doing all of that between getting on tv, radio, blogs, streetcorners,... (I'm even throwing out the first pitch at the white sox game weds),... just to help our city/country get the word out! The videos will be on www.aChicagoThing.com, www.ChicagoNow.com/"a Chicago Thing" and of course, the chicago 2016 olympic website www.Chicago2016.org! but again, it's all about you... and how much you tell your friends, and the rest of the world, to watch these celebrities praise Chicago and the united states of america!
Oh, btw - you are all invited to join us for the launch party this Thursday night at Rockit (22 W Hubbard) from 7p-9p....for some food, drink, celeb videos, familiar faces, fun....w/ a $20 donation toward Chicago 2016 Legacy Sports programs for kids through World Sports Chicago! RSVP at vip@rockitranch.com. As always, I thank you for your friendship & support... Here we go!
it says alot that the world's best musical talent & fans descend on the great city of chicago this weekend as the chosen location for lollapalooza- and we are all super excited! this weekend also brings the best of pre & post parties like the ones in the crazy video above at the underground! (btw, best situate being on lists now- limited space & such a blast! all info for this wknd at www.theundergroundchicago.com - oh, and i also love this video of katy perry rockin it live w/us too! cool video- here
Wow- this quick video is really moving- It got me totally excited! The international Olympic evaluation committee is officially in town today judging all of us- chicago- Illinois- the Midwest- the entire united states of America! Let's share this video as much as possible- it will spread the good feeling, confidence, excitement, capability and strength that we all truly have toward welcoming the world to enjoy what we will make the greatest Olympic games in history!
I was at the sony ericsson tennis tournament last week and got to talk with a bunch of our best usa tennis athletes! They were all so positive and excited about the possibility of having the Olympics here- you got to check out the video above-- and is it me or does andy roddick sound like he was going to retire before 2016 but will stay on to play for our usa team if chicago is picked on October 2nd!? And I love the south African new American part- that is just amazing. Thanks to Christian the creative genius and the whole crew at chicago company bridges media for volunteering to help me edit this piece in less than a day! You rock!
I hung out w/ one of my comedic heroes dan aykroyd over the weekend from brunch to late night at rockit- and when he heard I was a volunteer for the chicago Olympic movement- he freaked out with excitement and wanted to jump on immediately- he even thought it would be cool to step into this little shop to film an impromptu interview together with a little portable camera I happen to have had in my back pack- literally we just whipped it out and started filming- click the video above- it speaks for itself!
