The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

When I was drinking years ago, I picked up at least one good habit in that I learned to play piano in bars (cheaper that Julliard but far more costly). As the seasons change, I try to "compose" one short something-or-another on a good piano when I can find one. So let me clue you into the the best free piano in Chicago. It is located in the old trading floor that is connected to the Art Instititue. This lonely instrument is a Steinway knock-off and it has a very soft sound.

It’s Friday, and like that girl you had in the backseat of your dad’s Buick back in ’82, Spring just ain’t giving up the goods. And while the putrid grey color of today’s sky and frozen water the clouds vomit forth inch by cursed inch may bode well for today’s opening of the new North Face store in Uptown, it may well drive many in our fair state to crack open a bottle of Jameson and toast to today’s freezing over of the Nine Hells.