Latest / The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of / Bill's Chicago Trip for June 3rd, 2025

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Bill's Chicago Trip for June 3rd, 2025 · The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You know, I've been to Chicago several times. It really is,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: but I really have only been in the city. So
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: we got an airbnb in a neighborhood in Chicago and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: it's called it's called Andersonville. And Andersonville is apparently the
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: gayest neighborhood in Chicago, and it's it was established by
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Swedes and there's a there was a lot of Swedish
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: influence there. But it is a beautiful, beautiful neighborhood. All
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: these old houses, brownstone kind of like houses, usually two stories,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: sometimes a little bigger. We stayed in this on the
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: second floor of a place. It was very nice and
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: little lawns, nicely manicured lawns, and trees, and bunnies, like
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: feral bunnies, Yes, bunnies all around, you know, you see them.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: You see them quite a just hopping around, munching on stuff,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: you know. And that was It's a really charming neighborhood.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: And somebody, we were with my wife or somebody said,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of like the Avenues, and I said, well, yeah,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: except they don't tear things down here. You know, in
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the Avenues, there are like several beautiful houses in a
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: row and then they've torn the house down and put
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: up this ugly apartment buildings.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: I wish we were doing so much of that.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: You know, like a lot of that. It looks like
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: it happened in the late sixties and early seventies, just
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: just crappy, cinder block looking awful things. Not in Andersonville.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: They just row after row after row of beautiful houses
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: nice and it was great, and so it was a
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: nice place to stay. And then we had a rental
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: car and drove into the city, went to the aquarium,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: which was nice, the shed Aquarium, and then we went
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: to the Shedd Aquarium had two beluga whales and they
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: were just really charming animals, as there they do. They
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: had they had some otters, and they had some penguins
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: and and uh, you know, it's a big aquarium. I
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: mean it's really big.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Uh oh.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: So so it's but right by Soldier Field and something
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: was going on. I mean it was just hundreds of
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: cars and it said parking for Soldier Field parking fifty
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: seven dollars. Oh geez, you know, big signs fifty seven dollars.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: And there were people directing traffic everywhere, and and so
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: but there was parking for the aquarium. But so my
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: wife went and parked the car and came back and
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: I said, what's going on here? Said, well, I guess
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: it's just something they do on the weekend. I asked somebody,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: and they said, it's the weekend, that's what.
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: And then this way everywhere maybe it was like maybe
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: it was the performer, it was the weekend.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: It was we we as we were, we kind of wait,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: we went, wait a minute, it's it's the weekend. Yeah,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: that's why. And the place was going to be full
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Soldier Fields where the Bears play football, and so we
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: went from there to Drunk Shakespeare.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: We have that here.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Uh, not not the same. I don't think drunk Shakespeare
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: is uh, it's uh, it is a franchise. And I
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: looked it up. Started off Broadway. I guess franchise, I don't.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: I guess that's how you put it. Started off Broadway
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: and then there. Now there are sort of regional companies
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: doing it. They don't list Salt Lake.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: But they We've talked to people.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: But I think it's different though. I think what they
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: do is a little different. And if you're if you
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: drunken Shakespeare, people here in let us know if if
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: it's the same thing. But I think, as I recall,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: they call there's drunken Shakespeare, and this is just drunk Shakespeare.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: And what it what it involves is one actor or
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: like six actors, and one of them they were doing Beth.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: So one of them has to take shots of mezcal oh,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: and they give you a shot of booze for free
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: when you walk in, and then you then they expect
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: you to order drinks throughout the production drunk again, and people,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: people in the audience get pretty south.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: But here's my question about that. You're an actor, do
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: you have to take shots to act drunk or you
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: know how much of that is natural drunkness or how
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: much of it is them putting it on because they're actors.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: I'm curious.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I would
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I got the impression that the guy was really drinking
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: the shots of his cow, and I think there were
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: seven in all, which is quite a few.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Well, here's the thing that makes that makes me think
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: that they really are drinking it is they do two
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: performances a night. So the one well, so the one
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: we were at was at six thirty and as we're leaving,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: another audience is coming in because they're going to do
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: another pay more for the second. Well, here's the deal.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: They make sure the guy who is who did the
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: shots in the first performance, he doesn't he doesn't, he
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: doesn't drink in the second. I don't even know if
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: he's still drunk though, yeah, I mean, I don't even
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: know if he's in it. They may have another, you know,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: sort of, but they because they they did say we
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: we never our actors never do two performances because it
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: would probably kill them. You're so mean when you're drunk.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: And so but it was it was very clever, very funny,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: and it's and it's they add live on it, you know.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: They they mess around with the script. It's not just
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: doing it's not just doing Shakespeare's.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: A scene liquor makes me very fine.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: There you go, that's him. Uh he the the guy
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: who was playing Macbeth was very good, very and very
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: drunk by the end of it, and and most had
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: his pants down.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Or do they do the whole play?
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: No? No, And they and they just they add they
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: you know, they do parts of it and they add
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: live around and you can tell they they do things
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: spontaneously as well and crack each other up and all
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: of that stuff. So that was good, that was fun
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: to do. Then what else did we do? Oh, so
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: I said. The wedding we went to was for my
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: my wife's niece and her partner, Alice, and they they
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: got married. And then there was a reception at this
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: place called Villeneu and it was just a lot of
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: drunk uh theater people. And then there was karaoke and
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: it was karaoke in a different kind of way. Uh
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: it was there were big comfortable chairs and sofas to
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: sit on and karaoke and well no you could, you
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: could stand up, but it was a live piano player
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: doing and it was it was there. I think it
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: was my wife's nieces piano teacher or something like that.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: But so it was karaoke with with live piano. And
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: that was like. We went to dim sum, which is great,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: always just wonderful. Oh, and then we had we went
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: to this restaurant. It was Balkan food.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: And what sort of food do they eat in the Balkans?
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: A lot of beats and beat purees. And I was
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: I was not. I thought I liked the idea of it,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: but I was not taken with them. And a lot
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: of beans, you know, and I love beans, but you know,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: so so there was that. Oh and then the one
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: thing we went on that we did, you should you
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: really should do this, the architectural tour, the boat tour.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: My wife did that. Yeah. Oh I remember when we
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: were there and we were in meetings and we were
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: in meetings and stuff. It's really informative and nice.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Is it on a boat or are you walking?
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: It's a boat tour, boat tour, and it's uh, and
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: it's about ninety minutes. You go up up the Chicago
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: River and then you come back down and go back down.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Then you scriggle and they have a really good bar.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: It's it's funny, you know. You think you usually think, well,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: they get you trapped on a boat, they serve you
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: kind of weak drinks and that sort of thing. No,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: this was they need one good, strong bloody Mary. You
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: could see the guy free pouring it. You know. It
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: was just it's international waters here.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: Bill, you're in trouble with bad brad Wheeler all the
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: Chicago and no blues.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: No, not this time, not this time. Sorry, damn.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: How could how I was tired. Three days.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I was tired, Okay, I mean it was. I don't
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: know how I did as much as I did so,
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: but yeah, it was a good trip. It was interesting,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: nice to stay in that little neighborhood.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: He says.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: I keep waiting for Bill to talk about walking into
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: the checkerboard lounge or Buddy Guy's legends I did.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: I didn't do that, Bread.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: I'm telling him he should.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Just so you need to take note. He just need
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: to take me to Chicago.
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: Did you bring home any milort, doctor Neil is asking Carly.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: It's a very regional liqueurs.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: That's terrible, Like what what is it's it's brownish and
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: it's it's it's got like star anice flavors.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: But it's yeah, it's a lott. It was nice driving
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: around Chicago too, because very seldom were we on the
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: other than surface streets and just seeing all the different neighborhoods.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: One thing I observed about Chicago there's a dental office
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: about every five hundred feet. For some reason.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: Speaking of Denis, I just got a text from our dentist,
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Kelly Carroll.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: He's just checking on me. This is checking the kind
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: of service you get.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Is he going to take me to task for not
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: going to one of the dental.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: How you're doing. By the way, why didn't Bill go
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: listen to any blues?
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: No? Ask him? Ask him? Why there are so many
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: dental offices in Chicago? Okay, yeah, I mean, I mean,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I'm serious. Every every block there was a dental office
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: of some sort.
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: I was in Chicago the same time as Bill and
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: did not someone texted in Oh. I did run into
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: a listener in the airport on the way home and
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: h Mike from Nashville.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: The Chicago Architectural Boat.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: Tour was the scene of the two thousand and four
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: DMB bus Tour poopet incident.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: Yes, there's always, always a connection, always