Tuesday 7/28/2026
Storms hit Chicago area, downing trees, delaying flights, damaging homes and leaving 300,000 without power
Tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings expired earlier in the afternoon after wind gusts brought down tree limbs and flooded streets.
The Chicago area remained under a heat advisory Monday, with heat index values expected to range from 100 to 110. A cold front is expected to move through overnight, bringing temperatures in the low 80s Tuesday.
And this has been the moodiest season weather-wise in Chicago in recent memory. A real roller coaster ride of extreme. Forest fire smoke from Canada and intense heat and then violent storms. I have yet to ride through Graceland to access the damages of the cemetery.
July 20th and 21st I was chosen to participate in a 2 day focus group just off of Michigan Ave and the weather was perfect and they fed us pretty well. Nice to be back in my old office neighborhood again for the first time in a long time.
July 21, 2026 at 3:58 PM All i had to do was post the photo above to Facebook with the caption: “I need a picture on this thing.” and within minutes TT sent me the AI generated image below.
Gay Frog on back porch door
Bad Cat Spooky under kitchen rug
Waiting for Melita for some grilling at Casa Diablo
TT added some more guets to my image
I am the God of Hellfire and I bring you Fire, I’ll take you to burn. I’ll see you burn
The price is right
Melita joined me after work and I had finished another long day of a focus group but it did pay $625 and fed all of those involved. She came up the back with a 6 pack of Corona and we sat outside enjoying the perfect weather and came inside to watch my Damon Zex compilation from the 1997 (VHS) MK ULTRA DUSK OF THE DAMNED Video Yearbook. It was something I had time to do while living 3 years in Indianapolis before moving to Chicago and not having much time for such extracurricular hobbies.
Watching a Damon Zex compilation I created back in 1997
Started in 2013 by Uptown United, the Argyle Night Market is an annual event that features food from local Argyle restaurants plus live cultural and musical performances on Thursday evenings each summer. This free outdoor event draws an average of 5,000 visitors each week and continues to grow in popularity. Part market, part street festival, this vibrant and award-winning event is located on Argyle, the city’s first shared street.
In addition to the delicious Asian street food that can be found at the night market, a highlight for our guests is the live cultural and musical performances being offered weekly. In partnership with local arts organizations, we are able to bring live music, dance, and other performance styles to Uptown. As this is a free event, our goal is to make sure that ALL feel welcome at the market.
Bubble Tea at Pho 888 is located at 1137 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL s a lot more expensive now
Fook Hing
My old friend Rudy
Everything is self service now including the restaurants at the Metra Station
Third Street Station in Geneva a 16 OZ Pacifico is only $7
I chilled outside the train station and only waited 30 minutes for Dave Ganz (Metal Dad) to pick me up for a nice night of suds and hard rock n roll in St Charles. Dave is one of my better friends as well as all the guys out there in that part of the Fox River Valley region. We always make a booze run first thing and then settle in for our stay. This time it was a hotel in St Charles where we’d be staying in order to see L.A. GUNS later that night at the Arcada Theater.
Dave, Bando, Steve and Bohne are just really good friends in every sense of the word. I knew them before they were family guys and we do our best to get together out in the burbs at least once a year which isn’t easy given schedules and family responsibilities. But even though ir rare they’ve always without question been there for me. They all love heavy music, good food and good drink and are all around fun and above all LOYAL! The latter means the most to me as a person and a friend. We all have shared some really fun and lifelong memorable MK ULTRA rock n roll and backstage moments. Its rock n roll that made us friends to begin with.
Quality Inn & Suites St Charles -West Chicago 1600 E Main St, St. Charles, IL
4 walls 2 beds and a shower. The place served it’s purpose. The pool was decent and the breakfast isn’t even worth mentioning. It was okay and Dave’s treat but the gawd awful terrible smell in the hallways were unpleasant. The rooms were clean though and that was important. I’ve had to crash in much worse. Oh the WiFi was worthless and I think my computer got a virus from the unsecured connection there. More on that later.
No beer wine or alcoholic beverages allowed in or around the pool . So we were outside of the pool for “this photo”.
Pull Knob Up and Push: sounds like a service some pay for.
The Cowboy King
This was Dave’s very first visit to the Arcada and his second time seeing L.A. GUNS. I’m pretty sure he was impressed. Getting through security was a breeze and there was no cavity search as there are at Chicago shows where even before you get to the doors they are yelling at us. We grabbed our tickets and passes and I gave Dave a quick your and we had a drink inside of Rock ‘N Ravioli a classic Italian Restaurant, located in the Arcada Theatre Complex. We had a badass bartender and weren’t raped on drink prices. According to her the pace was sold out and if it wasn’t it was surly packed wall to wall and hall to hall which was a delight in the age “blue dot fever”.
Dave Ganz aka Metal Dad writes: First time at the Arcada theater in St Charles was a great experience for me! I was surprised to see how wide open it was with a nice restaurant/bar when I first walked in! Our bartender Jenny was great. It was cool to see some of the memorabilia hanging from wall to wall and the countless guitars on display! I loved how when you needed a drink or refreshments it was very accessible at the many stands Arcada has! The staff are amazing and the venue is a great size for concerts! Next time i go I will probably hang out in the pizza area and grab a slice. It looked really cool in there with rock n roll pinball machines and plenty of seats available! I highly recommend this place!
I’ve always been treated very good at the Arcada by staff as well as the owner / promoter Ron Onesti. I’ve also made a lot of really good friends at who hosted at the venue. From my friend Robin Giacolo to a vert strong friendship with Eric Mills, his wife Jen and business partner and co owner of the Brig Mike Shamoun. Introducing Dave to some new people and mingling about prior to L.A. GUNS set was easy. We skipped the Saigon Kick set which featured drummer who Greg Miner and hung with at EXXXOTICA 2011. It’s a funny story which ended at Phils after show party which had a typical AZ and Greg brings their 0’s out.
In April 2009, Varone participated in Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, a VH1 spinoff of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew that features celebrities being rehabilitated for sex addiction. In the first episode, Varone revealed that his sex addiction worsened after his mother died from a cerebral aneurysm in 1998.
In July 2011 Vivid Entertainment released Phil Varone’s Secret Sex Stash video as part of their celebrity sex tape series. He has gone on to produce and direct a series for Vivid Entertainment called 100% Real Swingers. Varone has a second series of reality porn videos called Groupies: The Music from Behind, a takeoff on VH1’s Behind the Music series.
This photo was taken after the show actually as we were dying to eat and only one place arund had any food at that hour which wasn’t even late truth be told. We found a slice of pizza across the treet before heading back to the venue to see some friends off and get an Uber back toHotel Smell.
photos by Dave Ganz and Robinette Jacqueline
After a lackluster set from 80’s rockers Saigon Kick L.A. GUNS returned with a heavy and energetic setlist of no holds barred rock favorites. I looked at my friend Dave and commented ‘These guys obviously got sleep” as they were all obviously very well rested. The band looks and sounds like they’re never going to stop and I certainly most definitely hope they do not.
The venue was packed with excited fans so its apparant that the blue dot fever trend has not affected the hard rock legends which is a very good sign for the boys in the band. And they seemed very appreciative and look to have a lot more fun onstage than a lot of veterans who go thru the motions for only a payday. Each member seems to have their own individual stage persona with Phil Lewis as an ever changing chameleon as far as his appearance and has a voice that is as solid today as it was in the late 80’s. A claim not a lot of other front men can claim. Tracii as usual really enjoys playing guitars and the bands rips through the set like a Cannonball! (but what’s up with his goofy socks?)
Final Get-In Price was $150 per ticket (including fees) Deemed final at 5:12pm CDT (2 hrs 47 minutes before the event).
The set list was full of signature tune and a few surprises for me personally “Hit and Run” and “Like a Drug” two of my favorite deep cuts and all I can think is I can’t wait till next time.
Dave had to leave very early the next morning and I had scoped out the breakfast and it truly needs an upgrade. They have a waffle maker for waffles (not a fan), some dry cereal, oatmeal, yogurt coffee and juice. None were at all appealling to me.
Robin picked me up at 11 AM and we went to have brunch at Third Street Station where I was picked up by Dave not even 24 hours earlier. I had a Cuban and Robin had some loaded nachos. I took the 230 PM Metra train home and once in the city my return commute was not easy. Some servies iI neeeded to take back north were not running as they shoild as trans were re routed for the weekend and it took a very long time to get back to Casa Diablo.
The next four shows I am confirmed for: Totally Tubular Fest in Aurora, Adam Ant at Ravinia, Cheap Trick in Aurora and Alicia Witt in Evanston. Why are my autumns always so full of live shows?
20 years ago this week we shot the video for the Subsonic single “Fix” for 2 days in the 105 degree heat in 2026
