Get ready for happy hour.

Happy hour drink specials have been banned under Illinois law since 1989, but bars and restaurants in the state may soon offer those and other promotions if a bill passed by both houses is approved by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

The law, intended to end chugging of alcohol during happy hours, also prohibited serving free drinks, serving an unlimited number of drinks for a set price or serving stronger drinks without a proportionate price increase.

Specials were still allowed, but under restrictions like discounting a certain alcoholic drink for an entire day rather than for a shorter time.

Under the new bill that passed in the House on May 28 and the Senate on May 31, discounts would be allowed for up to four hours a day and up to 15 hours a week, as long as they are advertised a week in advance.

Volume specials like two drinks for the price of one would still be prohibited. And happy hour deals could not be offered after 10 p.m.

"We're jumping up and down about this," Aaron Zacharias, managing partner of Fountainhead and Bar on Buena, said Monday. "I can't believe that Illinois lawmakers did something good."

Zacharias is eager to be able to offer up a rare whiskey, for example, for just a couple of hours rather than a full day.

"We don't want to put that special out all day," Zacharias said. "This allows us to open up a lot of more rare stuff" without depleting the bar's supply of a rare drink.

Among other parts of the bill, known as the Culinary and Hospitality Modernization Act, a hotel could hold a single license for multiple establishments it runs under the same roof. Also, establishments could offer meal packages listing food and alcoholic beverage pairings together for a fixed price.

As part of the new legislation, all alcohol servers in the state would have to complete certain responsible alcohol service training called Beverage Alcohol Sellers and Servers Education and Training.

Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said the governor will carefully consider any legislation that crosses his desk.

"It's a step forward for the entire industry," said Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association.

Toia said the 1989 law, enacted before Chicago's more recent rise as a culinary destination, made it difficult for the city - and Illinois overall - to compete with states like California and Florida for convention and culinary tourism.

Toia's trade group, which represents a variety of bar and restaurant operators from celebrity-chef destinations to neighborhood taverns, worked on the legislation for more than two years, he said.

Zacharias said his company is not a member of the Illinois Restaurant Association but plans to join.

jwohl@tribpub.com

Twitter @jessicawohl

Chance the Rapper played by his own rules after he released "Acid Rap," arguably 2013's best and most adventurous mixtape. Instead of signing to a major label, releasing for-sale music or stepping fully into the spotlight, the now-22-year-old, West Chatham-raised artist born Chancellor Bennett formed a group called the Social Experiment, continued to share music for free (including a joyous cover of the "Arthur" theme song) and put the attention on his bandmate Donnie Trumpet, aka former Kids These Days' trumpeter Nico Segal. While these weren't the typical careerist moves for an ascending rapper, Chance's star only rose.

"Surf," the first full-length from the Social Experiment, is Segal's project, not Chance's. Released out of nowhere for free on iTunes, it's a beautiful testament to the idea of true collaboration, its dozens of contributors adding different voices and flourishes to make a wholly cohesive effort. The 16 tracks flow like jazz; using a wealth of guests, including artists from Big Sean and J. Cole to Erykah Badu and Migos' Quavo and countless others, "Surf" dances through a variety of genres on each consecutive track, from funk and hip-hop to pop, electronic and soul. There's no contribution that feels misplaced and no experiment that falls flat.

From local singer Eryn Allen Kane's soft coos that start opener "Miracle," the meditative tone of this hip-hop odyssey is set. The song perfectly showcases everything the Social Experiment and its affiliates have to offer: gorgeous melodies that play off each other, vibrant and smooth arrangements accentuated by soulful pianos and horns, and an outstanding turn from Chance the Rapper, who proves he isn't content using the same flows from "Acid Rap." He also isn't the only Chicago rapper to impress on "Surf," which contains masterful verses from drill veteran King Louie on "Familiar," Savemoney's Joey Purp on "Go," a lovely spoken-word poem from Noname Gypsy on "Warm Enough" and Saba's incredible wordplay on "Smthnthtlwnt."

For his part, Donnie Trumpet is just virtuosic on the woozy instrumental track "Nothing Came to Me" and the zippy "Just Wait." His velvety horns color the entire effort, from the jubilant Busta Rhymes- and B.o.B-assisted "Slip Slide," which has one of the album's most memorable choruses, to filling the empty spaces on lead single "Sunday Candy," a heartfelt ode to Chance's grandmother. Other highlights come in "Windows," a track that's anchored by buoyant harmonies that feel straight out of "The Lion King" musical--not surprising considering Chance has called the Broadway play a major influence.

Perhaps the thesis statement on "Surf,""Wanna Be Cool" finds Jeremih and Chance singing, "I don't wanna be cool, I just wanna be me," and California rapper Kyle doling out self-love messages like, "If you don't get retweets, it don't mean you say less, okay?/So I'm gonna post that shitty-ass selfie on IG/And I don't care if anybody likes it or likes me, it's cool." It's rare for such relentless positivity to not come off as cloying or insincere. On "Surf," this life-affirming spirit makes the record soar.

Download 'Surf' here for free.

4 stars (out of four)

In concert: Chance the Rapper, Sunday, July 19 at Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park.

jterry@redeyechicago.com, @joshhterry

For more music, click here.

Tuesday would have been Hadiya Pendleton's 18th birthday.

The South Side teen's life was cut short when she was fatally struck by a bullet in January 2013 at Harsh Park about a mile away from President Obama's home in Kenwood. The death of the then-15-year-old King College Prep High School honor student and band majorette who performed at Obama's second inauguration drew national attention to Chicago's violence.

In honor of Pendleton and other victims of gun violence, a coalition of more than 140 community organizations, politicians and celebrities across the country on Tuesday - National Gun Violence Awareness Day - is encouraging people to wear orange in an effort inspired by Pendleton's classmates.

"I hope that tomorrow we can raise awareness to the point where people are inspired and excited to get involved with all these different wonderful organizations and luminaries and causes and take action toward solving the gun violence problem," said Nza-Ari Khepra, Pendleton's classmate who now attends Columbia University in New York.

After Pendleton's death, Khepra, now 18, helped create Project Orange Tree, a youth-led violence awareness organization which asked classmates to wear orange in solidarity because that's the color hunters wear to show they are not a target.

"We did not want to be the next victim of Chicago's violence," she said.

Now, the group is a partner in a nationwide campaign that counts actress Julianne Moore, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, comedian Sarah Silverman, and "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi as supporters to encourage people to wear orange, help stop gun violence and commemorate the lives lost, including Pendleton.

"Our daughter Hadiya was a beautiful girl who was full of laughter and had her whole life ahead of her," her mother Cleopatra Pendleton said in a news release. "Too many Americans are dying every day from senseless acts of gun violence and it has to stop. We don't want other parents to endure the pain and suffering our family has these past few years."

In Chicago, a Wear Orange Party for Peace, a community event, will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday in Washington Park with food, live-music, DJ, slam poetry, a photobooth, and activities.

People can join the Wear Orange campaign and show their support by changing their social media profile picture to have an orange tint (via the Wear Orange website) or by sharing why they'll be wearing orange on Tuesday with the hashtag #WearingOrange.

Dear Illinois Lawmakers,

I've heard some early rumblings about you guys making some changes to the Illinois Happy Hour law, and as someone who pours beer for a living, this makes my little bartender heart grow a few sizes with anticipatory glee. I suppose that it goes without saying that I absolutely support the amendment of this law.

The current law, passed in 1989, prohibits the following:
- Serving two or more drinks to the same person for consumption by that person with the exception of wine by the bottle/carafe. (No two-for-one drink specials.)
- Serving an unlimited number of drinks during a set time period for a fixed price, unless it's for a private function. (No bottomless mimosas until 3 p.m.)
- Adjusting the price of a drink during the course of a day. All customers must pay the same price for the same drink for the whole day. (No happy hours, i.e. $5 margs from 5-7 p.m.)

The original reasoning behind this law is that happy hour promotions encourage binge drinking, and that patrons will overindulge and get themselves into fights, car accidents and other sorts of stupid crap, because drunk people do dumb things sometimes. And I absolutely understand that.

But Chicago is a city with hundreds and hundreds of bars (not counting the ones located in full-service restaurants), some of them opening as early as 8 a.m. or staying in business until 5 a.m. on weekends. And from my house in North Center, I can walk to three breweries, a distillery and some of the city's best beer bars (The Globe, Fountainhead, Bad Apple) without traveling more than four blocks. It is in no way difficult to get a drink in this city at any time of day, so it seems a little silly for the argument to be, "I know you can literally drink from 8 a.m. on Saturday until 5 a.m. on Sunday without stopping, but having a special from 5-7 p.m. during the work week is just too much."

I mean, if Ohio can handle happy hour specials, you can be damn sure that Illinois can. And Wisconsin basically is made out of beer and they can have specials during designated times.

So when I heard about the possible changes to the happy hour laws making their way through the Illinois General Assembly, I was more than a little bit thrilled. Among the proposed amendments is the ability for bars and restaurants to offer discounted booze for up to four hours a day, for no more than 15 hours a week, according to a new bill that passed in the House on May 28 and the Senate on May 31.

Additionally, some confusing verbiage in the original law is being cleaned up to allow for drink pairings to be a legal, recognized thing. (I had no idea that was illegal. Can you imagine our world-class Chicago restaurants not being legally allowed to pair wine with food? Absolutely ridiculous.) Bars also will be allowed to infuse spirits in-house, which typically involves transferring booze into a container other than its original bottle (also technically a no-no). Despite these proposed changes, some of the original restrictions will remain in place: Happy hour deals cannot continue past 10 p.m. and cannot involve volume discounts. (Read: Bottomless mimosas still are illegal.)

As someone who works in the service industry, the ability to provide guests at my bar with happy-hour specials is flat-out awesome. Happy hour is an incredible way for increasing a bar's or restaurant's business during slower hours and drumming up new business altogether. Someone who might have passed up an establishment otherwise might be drawn to it because of its badass happy-hour specials. Basically, this proposed change to law is good for small businesses across the state, which is good for all of us. And our wallets.

I'd love to sit down with you guys and talk about this. Maybe between 5-7 p.m. on a weekday? I hear there might be a special

Stacey Andeen is a bartender in Chicago. She has no issue basing her travel plans on other cities' happy-hour specials.

Caitlyn Jenner's revelatory Vanity Fair cover instantly drew comparisons to Oscar-winner Jessica Lange.

The Daily Beast reached out to the "Blue Sky" and "Tootsie" star after her name trended on Twitter following Jenner's first public appearance as a woman, which was met with overwhelmingly positive response in the transgender community and beyond.

Of course, when Lange was told she was trending, she didn't actually know what it meant, according to TDB's Kevin Fallon. (Incidentally, Jenner's brand-spanking-new Twitter account smashed a social media record when it debuted on Monday too.)

After a quick explanation, the 66-year-old gave her stamp of approval, though she hadn't actually seen the result of the former Olympian's transformation in person.

"Oh really? That's so wonderful. Well now I'm going to have to look for that picture," she said. 

But the "American Horror Story" maven wasn't totally swept up by the comparisons.

"You see I don't do any of this stuff, the Internet," she added. "So I have no clue when people use this terminology. I have to repeat it to understand."

Still, she thought that the news she was being compared to the 65-year-old reality star was "an interesting bit of information."

ALSO

Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair reveal rallies family support

Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair cover joins these other 'culture busters'

'Fashion critic Booth Moore: For Caitlyn Jenner, an old-school vision of beauty

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.

After weeks of anticipation, crews for "Chiraq," the Spike Lee movie about violence in Chicago, have been spotted. They are expected to film in the Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood Tuesday, where the music club Double Door is located.

Prop posters have been affixed to the venue's windows, advertising a show featuring a rapper who, it would seem, will be played by Nick Cannon. (Lee and Cannon have been spotted together in town as recently as last week.)

Other clues on casting include a photo of a recent table read posted on the website CocoaFab, featuring Cannon and John Cusack sitting with Wesley Snipes. There have been rumors that Jennifer Hudson is also involved.

As I reported previously, the movie is not being pitched as a grim, gritty drama, but instead will take a more sardonic (and musical) approach to the subject matter, adapting the ancient Greek comedy "Lysistrata" - wherein the women of Greece go on a sex strike to persuade their men to stop their warring ways - to the issues of violence in modern-day Chicago.

Filming for "Chiraq" is expected to take place in and around Double Door all day Tuesday and into the night, and there will be "very brief use of simulated gunfire," per Rich Moskal, of the Chicago Film Office, who noted that "simulated gunfire is not uncommon in film production," as was used in films such as "The Dark Knight,""Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and "Man of Steel."

Work on "Chiraq" began Monday (outdoors at least, where film crews and trucks can be easily spotted) on the South Side. The local Fox affiliate spoke with Sunni Ali Powell, who has a list of credits on IMDb as a crew member; he also owns Powell's Barber Shop in Englewood, and said both he and his business will appear in the film.

It's likely Lee shot some interior scenes as early as last week. For those interested in minutiae, on Thursday Lee posted a photo of a movie production slate dated "5.28.2015" with the film's title spelled in all caps, with a hyphen: "CHI-RAQ."

The message accompanying the image on Twitter and Instagram: "DA NEW SPIKE LEE JOINT. YA-DIG? SHO-NUFF. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY."

According  Moskal, filming is expected to continue through July 10.

nmetz@tribpub.com

Twitter @NinaMetzNews

Unfortunately for Blackhawks fans, it won't be cheap to see them play in the Stanley Cup Final. Hawks tickets have been among the most expensive in the NHL all season, as only the Toronto Maple Leafs had a more expensive average price on the secondary market during the regular season. Those high prices will persist as the Blackhawks prepare for their third Cup Final in six seasons.

According to TiqIQ, the current secondary market average price for Blackhawks Stanley Cup Final tickets across three possible home games is $1,760.11. That is 20.7 percent above the secondary market average for Chicago's three home games during the 2013 Cup Final against Boston. Of course in that series the Hawks held home-ice advantage and hosted Games 1, 2 and 5. This season against Tampa Bay, the Blackhawks would host Games 3 and 4, as well as a potential Game 6.

Blackhawks tickets for the Cup Final are currently 69.3 percent more expensive on average than Lightning tickets in Tampa Bay. The current secondary market average across all four potential games at Amalie Arena is $1,039.63. Across the first four guaranteed games of the series, ticket prices in Chicago are nearly double those in Tampa on the secondary market.

The Blackhawks released tickets for the Cup Final on Tuesday and for those who miss out, the secondary market may make it cheaper to see a game in Tampa Bay. Each of the first two games at Amalie Arena have an average price below $1,000, the only two such games of the series. Games 3 and 4 at United Center have an average price above $1,500 on the secondary market. With a flight and hotel, and average price ticket to Game 1 will cost less than the average ticket to Game 3.

According to Priceline.com the cheapest roundtrip airfare from Chicago to Tampa around Game 1 is $455, making the total cost $1,117.03 including an average ticket. Hotels in Tampa Bay range from $189 to $259 for 4-star rooms and start at $71 for 3-star rooms.

Whether attending games in Chicago or Tampa, ticket prices will not be cheap to see the Blackhawks try to win their third Stanley Cup in the last six seasons. As Chicago fans have experienced the last two times, those prices could be well worth it.

Mike Shackil is the business development manager at TiqIQ.

For more RedEye sports, click here.

Alt-J with Boots and Charli XCX with Holychild are among the 100-plus musical acts that will perform sanctioned aftershows throughout the weekend of Lollapalooza, the music fest announced Tuesday.

There will be more than 50 aftershows, which will be hosted from July 29- Aug. 2 across Chicago including at the House of Blues and Aragon Ballroom. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Lollapalooza will be held July 31-Aug. 2 in Grant Park.

Check out the full list below:

July 29

Toro Y Moi with Young Buffalo and Sol Cat at Metro

July 30

The War on Drugs with Philip Selway at Metro

Gary Clark Jr. with Black Pistol Fire at House of Blues

Hot Chip with Hood Internet at The Vic Theatre

Cold War Kids with Coasts at Park West

St. Paul & The Broken Bones at Thalia Hall

Zella Day at Schubas

MS MR with Wet at Lincoln Hall

Tov Lo with Broods at Concord Music Hall

BadBadNotGood at Subterranean

Glass Animals at Bottom Lounge

Alt-J with Boots at Aragon Ballroom

Sylvan Esso with Absofacto at Empty Bottle

What so Not with D.R.A.M. and Zebo at The Mid

July 31

Givers with Aero Flynn at Empty Bottle

Brand New with Basement at House of Blues

Sturgill Simpson with Cris Jacos at Metro

Walk the Moon with Hippo Campus at The Vic Theatre

MisterWives with Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas at Park West

Django Django with Beat Connection at Thalia Hall

Ryn Weaver and Coin at Schubas

Charli XCX with Holychild at Lincoln Hall

Tyler, The Creator with Taco at Concord Music Hall

Delta Spirit with T. Hardy Morris at Subterranean

Death from Above 1979 with The New Pacific at Bottom Lounge

SZA with Gabriel Garzon-Montano at Reggie's

Pardon My French with DJ Snake and Madeon at The Mid

August 1

Boyz Noize at Evil Olive

Strand of Oaks at Empty Bottle

Alesso with SNBRN at Aragon Ballroom

Lord Huron with Spookyland at Metro

Of Monsters and Men with Borns at House of Blues

The Wombats with Verite at Double Door

TV on the Radio with DMA's at The Vic Theatre

Angus & Julia Stone and Shakey Graves at Park West

Gogol Bordello with In The Whale at Thalia Hall

Twin Peaks at Schubas

Wild Belle with Elle King at Lincoln Hall

Carnage at The Mid

Marina and the Diamonds with Sheppard at Concord Music Hall

Catfish and the Bottleman with Circa Waves

Logic iwth DJ Rhetorik and Daye Jack at Bottom Lounge

Mick Jenkins with Hurt Everybody at Reggie's

MSTRKRFT with Nick Bassett at Sound-Bar

August 2

The Kills with Baby In Vain at Metro

Twenty One Pilot with Night Terrors of 1927 at House of Blues

Nero at The Mid

Kygo with Klangkarussell at Concord Music Hall

Eddie Torres, a Logan Square-based actor who sees himself as his group's version of movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), wants to go out after he gathers his boys to see "Entourage" when it opens Wednesday. Diego Rivera, the group's levelheaded, responsible Eric "E" Murphy (Kevin Connelly), disagrees.

"That's why I can relate more to Eric," said the 29-year-old Hermosa resident, whom Torres turned on to the show (which ended in 2011) about 10 years ago. "Eric was the type that wasn't all about going to the parties. He'd rather be home in his polo shirt, drinking a beer and whatnot. And I can relate to that, being like, 'I don't need that scene; I'm OK at home just watching the game.'"

What the guys agree on is using the big-screen adaptation of the HBO show, which reunites Vince, E, Drama (Kevin Dillon), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and foul-mouthed agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), as an opportunity to collect some of their oldest friends and make a night of it. First up will be dinner in the West Loop at Au Cheval, whose atmosphere evokes classed-up grittiness, not unlike the characters of the show. The main attraction, of course, is seeing "Entourage" at the Showplace Icon Theatre in the South Loop, complete with reserved seats and a bar in the lobby. Torres, 34, bought the tickets online three weeks in advance.

Men considering which "Entourage" character they most resemble, and the impulse to assemble around a show's attempt to make it as a movie, recalls "Sex and the City" and the way women once commonly referred to themselves as a "Carrie" or a "Charlotte."

"In some ways, 'Entourage' seems to be a [relative] or extension [of] 'Sex and the City,'" said Paul Booth, an associate professor of media and cinema studies at DePaul University. "'Sex and the City' is about four women who talk about their relationships and have adventures, and 'Entourage' is kind of the same thing, but with four guys instead of four women."

Which isn't to say that "Entourage" is exclusively for men. Although Torres does classify it as a "guy show," he knows plenty of women who enjoy it and is certain that "there are women entourages." 

For example: Madeleine Moormann, a 20-year-old junior at DePaul, started watching the show in high school when a group of her male friends "constantly" discussed it. Now she's such a fan that she and some of her girlfriends plan to see the movie's earliest possible screening Tuesday night. Not only is it Moormann's favorite series, but she also finds it more relevant than "Sex and the City."

"Mostly, I was unable to relate to 'Sex and the City' because the life was so high-scale," she said. "In 'Entourage,' I feel like there were still those down moments where you really saw [the friendship]."

Still, Moormann said she labels "Entourage" as a "guy show" because it's from the male perspective and depicts male fantasy. Fame, money and girls are the topics that fuel the characters' conversations and lives.

"Not that girls don't want to be famous or rich, but it personifies it in a very masculine way," she said, also noting that she's particularly intrigued by the look "Entourage" provides into what guys supposedly say among themselves when women aren't around.

 Rivera acknowledges that much of the show's pull is fantasy-"What guy wouldn't want to live in LA and to buy whatever you want and not care how much it costs?"-but insists the heart of the series is friendships. 

"You have some friends from Queens, and [one of them] had a pipe dream," he said. "But [Vince] never forgets where he came from-none of them did."

Though Jacob Lorig is a decade younger than Rivera, he takes the same thing away from "Entourage." The 19-year-old Andersonville resident and his friends plan to re-watch some episodes during the day before heading to the midnight premiere Tuesday night. Like Rivera and Torres, Lorig and his friends argue over who is the Vince and who is the Turtle.

"These guys have all been friends and brothers since they were really young," Lorig said. "So it kind of sets a good tone for friends that you'll keep your friends for life and your friends always have your back whenever you need them."

That sense of enduring camaraderie has contributed to the continued fandom of the series, whose supporters have written dozens of related stories on fanfiction.net. TopFan, a network of fan communities, even created an "Entourage" fan app, its first of the sort for a movie, in anticipation of the film's release. Jeffrey Sconce, an associate professor of radio, television and film at Northwestern University, says this interactive culture makes it a great time to be a fan.

"There are more ways to organize as fans now to make your interests known, and there's also kind of a lower ceiling it takes to get a show renewed," he said. "There are just a lot more factors now than what numbers it's getting on a broadcast network." 

That's certainly evident in the return of "Entourage," which, be it fantasy or reality, bonding or reminiscing, spent eight seasons developing a story that men (and women) wanted to see. Its big-screen treatment is especially exciting for relatively new fans like 20-year-old Isabella Craven of Lincoln Park, who only got into the series last year but was anxious for the movie as soon as she finished the final episode.

"It wasn't until the finale that I was like, 'Oh my God, I need to see more,'" she said. 

Speaking of which, Torres is already looking beyond the movie to the future of "Entourage."

 "I think it'll disappoint me if they don't leave any room for more," he said. "It's one of those shows where you don't want it to end."

For more movies, click here.

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On a sun-splashed Tuesday afternoon when the Bulls introduced Fred Hoiberg as the 19th coach in franchise history, the symbolism couldn't be ignored.

The Bulls are hoping the dark clouds that mostly defined a turbulent 50-win season have departed.

Hoiberg, 42, signed a five-year deal to follow Tom Thibodeau, whose fallout with management and later ownership - with blame available everywhere - ultimately obscured his prodigious regular-season success.

The Bulls are looking for less drama and - a more difficult task - more playoff victories under Hoiberg.

"I'm a firm believer that leadership starts at the top," Hoiberg said at an Advocate Center news conference. "You have to have synergy with the coaching staff and the front office or it's going to be tough to make it work. Players can see through that sometimes.

"I've been in (management's) shoes. I've lived their life. I understand how those relationships have to be."

Hoiberg spent almost as much time emphasizing his four years as a Timberwolves executive as he did his successful five-year coaching stint at Iowa State, offering insight into his plan for organizational harmony.

As for winning championships, that process can't be judged until games start. But the fact Hoiberg left his comfort zone and hometown shows that the former Bulls guard understands what he called "an unbelievable opportunity."

"You don't always walk into a roster that has championship potential, that absolutely can compete at that level," Hoiberg said. "I absolutely love this roster."

And with the emotional duty of thanking his family and Iowa State officials and players out of the way, Hoiberg couldn't contain his excitement in how best to utilize it.

"I love the versatility of the players, the different lineups we're going to be able to play," said Hoiberg, who plans to start reaching out to players immediately. "We can play small, play big. You've got lineups that can get out and play with pace. You've got a great group of veteran players that know how to play.

"Tom Thibodeau is an excellent basketball coach, and he instilled a lot of unbelievable qualities in this team that hopefully I can build on."

Hoiberg cited his 10-year NBA playing career and coaching influences such as Iowa State's Johnny Orr and Tim Floyd, Larry Brown, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale for helping shape his coaching philosophy.

"I've always run an NBA-type system," Hoiberg said. "We had the second-fastest pace of play in all of college basketball last year. We like to get out and play with pace and spacing. I think we ran more pick-and-roll than anybody in college basketball.

"We really like to flow into an offense as opposed to coming down and getting set on every possession. It's something that has always been my philosophy."

Despite Hoiberg's name being whispered for months as a potential replacement for Thibodeau, general manager Gar Forman expressed surprise the process moved as quickly as it did.

Calling him "a talented, in-demand coach that has attracted significant interest throughout the league," Forman said he and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf met casually with Hoiberg on Friday to reacquaint Reinsdorf with his former employee.

Talks accelerated over the weekend, Forman said. There are no health concerns despite Hoiberg undergoing aortic valve replacement surgery April 17.

"We feel strongly we've got a guy with a skill package of a winning coach, a natural leader and great communicator," Forman said. "We've known Fred for a long time, thought very highly of Fred. We have great respect for who he is as a person and the job he has done.

"He was the right guy to maximize our talent. A big part of coaching is the human element - getting guys to buy in, to play together, to play hard, to accept roles. We have confidence that Fred's going to be able to do that."

That both Thibodeau and Vinny Del Negro were fired in part over discord with the front office didn't faze Hoiberg. Nor did Reinsdorf's scathing statement explaining Thibodeau's dismissal.

"I'm very confident in my relationship with these guys," Hoiberg said.

Despite the job's appeal, Hoiberg said he wrestled with the decision as recently as Monday.

"It's really been emotional to leave a comfortable situation like we had," Hoiberg said. "My family understands that this has always been my dream. This is my life goal, to coach in the NBA."

Hoiberg grew his most animated when talking about the first open-heart surgery that ended his playing career in 2005. One could see the competitive spirit still smoldering.

"All kids growing up playing basketball, their dream is to get an opportunity to play at the highest level," he said. "I got that. I loved every minute of those 10 years that I played.

"For that career to get cut short was very difficult for me. I was stupid enough to think I could play with a pacemaker implanted in my chest. That's how competitive I was. I wanted to go out on my own terms."

Coaches rarely leave on their own terms either. Hoiberg got to do so at Iowa State, hoping to put down championship roots in Chicago.

kcjohnson@tribpub.com

Twitter @kcjhoop

An upper-middle class, white, college-educated girl with a loving family background becomes an alcoholic in her adulthood. It surprises many.

Unfortunately, the stigma attached to addicts hinders those who suffer from addiction to get help.

I was guilty of this, too. I said, "That's not me. I don't have a problem. I don't need help." Until I realized it was me, I do have a problem, and I definitely needed help. With support and treatment, I was able to stop drinking and reclaim my life. This is my journey:  

I was a goody-goody and didn't drink in high school, was top of my class in academics, was the school musical lead, president of choir and captain of debate, and I was even an active member of Students Against Destructive Decisions, which would later prove ironic. I was a good kid, but the disease lurked. No matter how prudish I was most of my life, alcohol would render me powerless and my life unmanageable. It's not that I wasn't a good person anymore, it's that I was a sick person and needed help. How did this happen? To ME?

Donuts were my gateway drug. Sounds silly, but in retrospect I realized that I used food much the same way I used alcohol. I went to a weight-loss summer camp for much of my childhood-or as I call it, donut rehab. I was always on a diet to lose weight and struggled with no long-term success. I decided to get gastric bypass. Afterward, I could no longer use food the same way. A year after surgery, I started to drink.

This is common with bypass patients. When the initial addiction is never addressed, and there remains an unresolved addiction component in the brain, a new addiction develops, replacing the old one. Professionals call this "addiction transference."

I self-medicated with food and alcohol. What started as a temporary solution to anesthetize myself from the discomfort of coping with life became the problem itself. You can't be arrested for overindulging on junk food, but alcohol proved more dangerous.

I was an overweight non-drinker and after losing more than 100 pounds, I morphed into a skinny social weekend drinker. As my drinking escalated, so did my weight gain. Within a year, I was arrested for two DUIs. The judge ordered a five-year sentence, serving one year in Northampton County Prison. I celebrated my 30th birthday in jail. Shocking, scary, and devastating, but not enough to keep me sober.

I don't recommend the jail diet, but I reclaimed my weightloss and got sober during my stay. When released, my sobriety was short-lived, despite potential consequences. I started drinking and gained the weight back (again!). My addiction had progressed far beyond where I had left it years before. Soon enough, I added a public drunkenness charge to my arrests while on parole.

Authorities gave me a choice of penalty: rehab or jail. They couldn't incarcerate the addiction out of me, so I picked the option I hadn't tried yet. I drove myself drunk to the Livengrin Foundation for Addiction Recovery in Bensalem, Pa. with a six pack in my trunk, just in case it didn't work out. Addiction is insanity.

I hit bottom when I decided to just stop digging. I surrendered my shovel January 16, 2011 during my time at Livengrin. Through continued recovery, I remain healthy and sober. I also gave up donuts and all gluten, dairy, soy and eggs, and have changed my relationship with food using the tools I learned in recovery from alcoholism. I now eat healthy, exercise, nourish my body, mind and soul - and have lost more than 100 pounds. The lessons learned in recovery can benefit everyone, not just an addict.  

There are many pathways, but the journey starts with hope. Someone gave me that gift. I want to give hope to those suffering from addiction by sharing my story. We are not that different. You are not alone. More than 23 million Americans are in recovery from addiction. I am one.

Liz Russo is a 37-year-old stand-up comedian living in Pennsylvania and can be seen on "Laughs" on Fox TV.

@TheLizRusso | Liz@TheLizRusso.com  

You can find our coverage online and in print every Wednesday this year. As ever, we'd like to hear your feedback. If you want us to consider sharing your stories related to addiction in our publication, please send them to redeye@redeyechicago.com with "Addiction" in the subject line. 

Want more? Discuss this article and others on RedEye's Facebook page.

An exotic dancer from the Peoria area has filed a federal lawsuit against the strip club where she works, claiming the business is violating state and federal labor laws because it doesn't pay her a minimum wage.

Aleigha Woods filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Peoria. She's seeking class-action status to cover about 100 other dancers at Club Cabaret in Creve Coeur, a small town outside Peoria.

The lawsuit alleges that dancers at the club are treated like employees instead of "independent contractors" because it controls every aspect of their work environment.

The dancers must pay a nightly "house fee" to perform on stage and face fines if they don't follow the club's rules, such as chewing gum while on stage or not smiling while performing, the lawsuit claims. The club also controls what the dancers charge for dances, what they can wear and when they work, it says.

The lawsuit claims all of those examples prove that the club views the dancers as employees, and not as independent contractors, meaning they are entitled to a minimum wage.

"Defendants' failure to pay entertainers prescribed wages is willful and recklessness, in part, because Defendant knows it treats entertainers as employees in fact and that entertainers who worked under similar circumstances have been found to qualify as 'employees' under the (Fair Labor Standard Act) in similar cases across the country," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also alleges violations to the state's minimum wage law and seeks back pay, damages and a notice to others who may have been harmed by the club for nonpayment of wages.

A manager at Club Cabaret declined to comment Monday afternoon.

Associated Press

A CTA bus crash at Michigan Avenue and Lake Street late Tuesday afternoon killed one woman and injured at least eight other people, one of them critically, when the bus jumped a curb onto a sidewalk as commuters headed home from work, officials said. 

A 51-year-old woman died after being taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in the 5:50 p.m. crash, said Chicago police spokesman Officer Thomas Sweeney. The 48-year-old bus driver suffered minor injuries in the crash, he said. 

Of those injured, two people were initially considered critically injured, one of them "extremely" critically, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford, who said a total of nine people were taken to hospitals following the crash.

The No. 148-Clarendon/Michigan Express bus was heading east on Lake Street when it was involved in the crash, said CTA spokesman Brian Steele. The bus hit at least one pedestrian and four vehicles, officials said.

When they arrived on the scene, fire officials called an Emergency Medical Services Plan II, a mass-casualty response that sends at least 10 ambulances to the scene. The plan was declared over by about 6:30 p.m., but police Major Accident Investigation investigators remained on the scene into the evening.

The accordion-style bus ended up on the sidewalk on the north side of Lake Street, east of Michigan Avenue, near a plaza at 205 N. Michigan Ave.

Margaret Aprison, 26, was headed home from her job at the nearby Aon Center, 200 E. Randolph St., and was walking near Lake and Stetson Avenue when she "heard all this noise and all this screaming" and saw the bus drive up onto the sidewalk near the plaza.

"I did end up seeing someone fly up in the air as the bus hit them," then she saw the bus drive over where it appeared the person landed, Aprison said.

Charles Valiquette, 51, visiting from Dayton, Ohio, was on Michigan Avenue just north of Lake Street when he heard the sound of a crash. He turned around to see a bus on the sidewalk with a woman pinned underneath. 

He said he ran over to help and he could tell she was injured. 

Valiquette said he stayed with her until paramedics arrived to remove her from under the bus. 

"They took her from under the bus and loaded her onto the gurney," he said. "Then they spread the sheet out on her." 

Jack Baldwin said he was driving the first car that was hit in the crash. He heard a loud honk from the bus before it rear-ended his Nissan Sentra and his car spun out. 

"It took me a while to realize what is going on here," he said. After gathering himself, he said, he got out of his car and saw that other cars had been part of the crash and the bus was over a sidewalk. 

"I see the bus up on the hill, and there were a bunch of screams," Baldwin said. "I walked over, and I see that there's a woman pinned under the bus. It's not easy to see something like that. "

Baldwin said he'd never been in a collision before. 

"If he hit me some other different way, then maybe I could have been on the other side," he said. 

After the crash, Aprison saw a crowd gather around the bus, and she saw that a black car struck by the bus had not yet stopped moving as the driver tried to dial.

"The driver was trying to call 911, and he couldn't get though," Aprison said.

A woman who was a passenger and a man in the back seat were able to get out, but the driver was trapped following the crash. Aprison tried to tend to the two passengers as they waited for ambulances to arrive. The man was bleeding from the head, and Aprison persuaded him to sit  down, but the woman at first wouldn't.

"When the ambulance came, I was waving my hand, trying to get the attention of the ambulance," Aprison said. "I stayed until I was literally asked to leave."

The injured man was sitting against the car as fire crews began to try to get the driver out, rocking the car to try to free him, and she was afraid the passenger's head might be further injured, she said. "They were really shaking the car."

Later Tuesday evening, just before 7:50 p.m., an ambulance took another person into the emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Following closely behind was a man who was asked to go to the hospital for a relative injured in the crash. The man said that he has a cousin who drives a bus but law enforcement didn't specify if that was the family member who was injured. A CTA SUV arrived at the scene around 8 p.m., and a man wearing a yellow vest entered the hospital's emergency room followed by others similarly garbed.

Following the crash, traffic, including some CTA buses, was being rerouted around the crash scene.

The police Major Accident Investigation Unit was investigating.

Tribune reporters Liam Ford and Deanese Williams-Harris contributed.

Along with being a darn good hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning have seen a surge in popularity in part thanks "the astronaut."

Officially named the Malektronic Rocketman, the unofficial mascot has gone viral on social media and even made an appearance on "SportsCenter." He will no doubt pop up during the Stanley Cup Final against the Blackhawks. All this you might already know.

What you probably don't know is Ben Malek, owner of Malektronic and the driving force behind the astronaut, is a Chicago-area native and a longtime Blackhawks fan. The 41-year-old was born and raised in the suburbs and lived downtown after college.

"I was really a die-hard Chicago fan," he said. "Those were my heroes."

Malek moved to Florida for a reason many Chicagoans would find acceptable.

"I love the city; the only reason I moved is because of the weather," he said. "I love Chicago, it's one of the best places in the world to live, especially in the summertime. But it happened that I was down in Tampa for work and I missed an entire winter, and I realized that wasn't that bad at all. So I decided to move down here permanently after that."

That was in 2006. On the other hand, it has been only a few short months since the Rocketman first appeared at a Lightning game, a game the home team rallied to win in dramatic fashion. The astronaut's name, by the way, is derived from a wireless speaker made by Malek's company, Malektronic. 

The astronaut has not yet appeared at a Hawks game, but he came close to greeting Chicago players Monday in Tampa Bay.

"[Monday] night I was at dinner and Patrick Kane was sitting at a table next to me with [Corey] Crawford and a bunch of other people," said Malek, whose employees wear the suit at Lightning games. "The mascot suit was in the car, and I was joking around with the manager if I could have someone put the suit on and go take pictures with them. We didn't do it, but it was funny." 

RedEye spoke to Malek on the eve of the Stanley Cup Final about how sweaty the suit gets, mascot rivalries and his issue with Hulk Hogan.

When did the astronaut first show up at a Lightning game?

My company makes bluetooth and wireless devices, speakers and headphones, and we have an in-game promotion in Tampa where they give away speakers to a fan that tweets out something.

One of the games we decided to have an extra special day and have the astronaut come to the game. He was there giving away the speakers and taking pictures with people, and I happened to have those seats. You can imagine those first couple years I would have loved to be sitting next to those Blackhawks players. So I'm sitting there and the players are directly to my right. I had the astronaut go sit in the seats, and it got a lot of attention because it was on TV. ... It also happened that that same game, we were playing the Florida Panthers [March 24], I think it was 3-2, and we came back with very little time left and won the game 4-3. 

A lot of online blogs said ... maybe they saw the astronaut and got some inspiration and that's why they won the game. 

How did this whole thing become a viral sensation?

They were playing some music [at one of the game] and they had people dancing and I've encouraged [the astronaut] whenever they do things like that to stand up and dance. Well [the astronaut] was dancing and [Montreal goaltender] Carey Price happened to be right in front. I think he was doing a chicken dance or something, so people thought he was trying to get in Carey Price's head. It went from a marketing and promotional thing during the regular season into ... people thought it was a superfan, others thought he was trying to get into opposing players' heads.

Having worn the suit yourself, do you have a new appreciation for mascots?

Our [suit] is really just made to take pictures [and does not ventilate well]. I had to wear the suit the other day to take pictures. And I was inside [for the shoot], with air conditioning for only a couple minutes, and I can tell you it's not fun.

This is all supposed to be for fun. Some people are turning it around and making it into an evil marketing scheme. Others are becoming so superstitious, saying he needs to be there [every game]. But ultimately, just like any game, it's all for fun, all for entertainment. I obviously want Tampa to win, but no matter what happens at the end of the game I know all the players on both side will have given it their all, and I'm sure the astronaut will have too.

Is there any playful animosity between the astronaut and Thunderbug, Tampa Bay's official mascot?

[Laughs.] I have never heard anything officially. We want to be there to support Thunderbug. While Thunderbug is there to get the fans into the game, the astronaut is there to get the opposing players out [figuratvely]. We're there really to support him.

Will the astronaut be coming to Chicago?

I've thought about it. It hasn't happened yet. Part of the reason is he can't go sit in the stands between all the Chicago fans; it just wouldn't look right. As far as walking around the city and taking pictures, it could possibly happen. It also depends on what happens in Games 1 and 2. 

Do you still own any Blackhawks gear?

Yeah, I still have my jersey. That's one nice thing about a Blackhawks jersey is it hasn't changed. In Tampa I've already had to go through three different jersey looks.

Is Hulk Hogan as big a Lightning fan as he claims?

I've never seen him at a game. Maybe the old age is getting to him. [Laughs.] I don't know what he's talking about. He's never been to a Lightning game. I've been going to games for a long time and I've never seen him there. 

What's your series prediction?

I personally think most fans out there are going to understimate the Lightning. I want to say that Tampa will win in six. If we look at the teams that Tampa played in the playoffs this year, the regular-season records don't really matter because we swept Montreal, we swept New York ... I think we lost to Detroit only one game ... and as you saw, all those series still went really far.

Chicago has a great offense, they have a great defense. The only area I think I can be stronger in is the goalie. Tampa has a good goalie, a good offense; the only area of weakness for us is defense. So I think we match up pretty well and I think it's going to be an exciting series no matter what.

If [the Final] stretches to 7, even as a season ticket holder I'll be happy to see that too. Ultimately I want Tampa to win.

Chris Sosa is RedEye's sports editor. @redeyesportschi

For more RedEye sports, click here.

The hottest tickets in the city. 

***=Josh Terry's recommended shows

On sale 10 a.m. Wednesday

We Were Promised Jetpacks, Tuesday, July 28 ($20, 17+) at Subterranean.

On sale 10 a.m. Thursday

Beirut, Tuesday, Nov. 10 ($35, 18+) at Riviera Theatre.

On sale 10 a.m. Friday

Angus and Julia Stone, Shakey Graves, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($20, 18+) at Park West.

***Badbadnotgood, Thursday, July 30 ($15, 17+) at Subterranean.

***Brand New, Basement, Friday, July 31 ($35, 17+) at House of Blues.

Catfish and the Bottlemen, Circa Waves, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($17, 17+) at Subterranean.

Cold War Kids, Coasts, Thursday, July 30, ($25, 18+) at Park West.

Death From Above 1979, Friday, July 31 ($25, 17+) at Bottom Lounge.

Delta Spirit, T. Hardy Morris, Friday, July 31 ($22.50, 17+) at Subterranean.

Django Django, Friday, July 31 ($26-$250, 17+) at Thalia Hall.

Gary Clark Jr., Black Pistol Fire, Thursday, July 30 ($29.50, 17+) at House of Blues.

Givers, Aero Flynn, Friday, July 31 (Price TBD, 21+) at Empty Bottle.

Glass Animals, Thursday, July 30 ($20, 17+) at Bottom Lounge.

Gogol Bordello, In the Whale, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($26-$350, 17+) at Thalia Hall.

***Hot Chip, The Hood Internet, Thursday, July 30 ($35, 18+) at Vic Theatre.

The Kills, Baby In Vain, Sunday, Aug. 2 ($26, 18+) at Metro.

Kygo, Sunday, Aug. 2 ($26.50, 18+) at Concord Music Hall.

Logic, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($25, 17+) at Bottom Lounge.

Lord Huron, Spookyland, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($26, 18+) at Metro.

***Marina and the Diamonds, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($28.50, 18+) at Concord Music Hall.

***Mick Jenkins, Hurt Everybody, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($17, 18+) at Reggie's.

Misterwives, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas, Friday, July 31 ($18, 18+) at Park West.

Of Monsters and Men, BØRNS, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($35, 17+) at House of Blues.

***St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Thursday, July 30 ($26-$350, 17+) at Thalia Hall.

***Strand of Oaks, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($15, 21+) at Empty Bottle.

***Sturgill Simpson, Cris Jacobs, Friday, July 31 ($26, 18+) at Metro.

***SZA, Friday, July 31 ($20, 18+) at Reggie's.

Taylor Davis, Tuesday, Oct. 6 ($20, 18+) at Park West.

Toro Y Moi, Young Buffalo, Wednesday, July 29 ($26, 18+) at Metro.

***TV on the Radio, DMA's Saturday, Aug. 1 ($35, 18+) at Vic Theatre.

Twenty One Pilots, Night Terrors of 1927, Sunday, Aug. 2 ($27.50, 17+) at House of Blues.

Tyler, The Creator; Taco, Friday, July 31 ($30, 18+) at Concord Music Hall.

Walk the Moon, Hippo Campus, Friday, July 31 ($30.50, 18+) at Vic Theatre.

***The War on Drugs, Philip Selway, Thursday, July 30 ($26, 18+) at Metro.

The Wombats, Verite, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($18, 18+) at Double Door.

Xerxes, Wednesday, July 22 ($8, 17+) at Subterranean (Downstairs).

On sale noon Friday

Alex Winston, Monday, June 29 ($10, 21+) at Schubas.

***Charli XCX, Holychild, Friday, July 31 ($29.50, 18+) at Lincoln Hall.

The Fratellis, Thursday, Sept. 24 ($25, all ages) at Vic Theatre.

The Heydaze, Thursday, July 23 ($15.00, all ages) at Beat Kitchen.

MS MR, Wet, Thursday, July 30 ($25, 18+) at Lincoln Hall.

Ryn Weaver, Coin, Friday, July 31 ($20, 18+) at Schubas.

***Stiff Little Fingers, Friday, July 17 ($20, 18+) at Metro.

***Twin Peaks, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($15, 18+) at Schubas.

***Wild Belle, Elle King, Saturday, Aug. 1 ($20, 18+) at Lincoln Hall.

Zella Day, Thursday, July 30 ($15, 18+) at Schubas.

On sale 10 a.m. Saturday

Chris Cornell, Tuesday, Oct. 6 ($35-$85, all ages) at the Chicago Theatre.

On sale 11 a.m. Saturday

***Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, Friday, Aug. 28, Saturday, Aug. 29, ($28-$68, all ages) at Space.

***Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, Thursday, Sept. 3 ($12-$22, all ages) at Space.

***Luke Winslow King, Saturday, Aug. 22 ($10-$18, all ages) at Space.

Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik, Friday, Nov. 13 ($28-$74, all ages) at Space.

***The Verve Pipe, Friday, Sept. 18 ($20-$34, all ages) at Space.

Victor Wooten, Saturday, Sept. 5 ($27-$42, all ages) at Space.

On sale now

***Dan Andriano In The Emergency Room, Jeff Rosenstock, Pet Symmetry, Tuesday, Aug. 4 ($13.50, all ages) at Double Door.

Lido, Saturday, Nov. 7 ($18.50, 18+) at Double Door.

jterry@redeyechicago.com, @joshhterry

For more music, click here.

Caitlyn Jenner had the rare opportunity to choose her own name when she made her debut as a transgender woman on Monday.

The Olympic gold medalist, previously known as Bruce Jenner, had referred to her new identity only as "her" when she came out during her highly rated Diane Sawyer interview in April. The 65-year-old had already completed her transition by the time the sit-down aired, but "her" publicly became Caitlyn on Monday when she graced the July cover of Vanity Fair.

#CallMeCaitlyn heralded the arrival of the new Jenner on Twitter.

Soon after the reveal, several wondered why she didn't spell her name with a K, an established practice of the women in reality TV's first family. (See: Kris Jenner, Kourtney, Kim and Khloe Kardashian and Kendall and Kylie Jenner.)

"She made a list of names, had a close friend make a list of names. Caitlyn was on both and, folks, it's Caitlyn with a C," writer Buzz Bissinger, who penned Jenner's 22-page profile for Vanity Fair, told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.

The search began more than two years ago and was "one of the hardest things in life," Jenner told VF.com.

Jenner, who had already been a phenom in her own right as a track athlete before her association with the Kardashians, watched the Miss America pageant to brainstorm her new designation and also considered the names Heather and Cathy. Still, Caitlyn remained a front-runner. When her assistant Rhonda also suggested Caitlyn, Jenner made up her mind.

She went "back and forth" about the spelling, VF.com said, but ultimately decided on Caitlyn with a C rather than a K because it was "best to break tradition, and the media associations that went with it."

Those media associations are those made famous -- and infamous -- by the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" juggernaut and Jenner's ex-wife and stepchildren, and their firm placement in the pop culture zeitgeist.

Insiders revealed to PerezHilton.com that Caitlyn's spelling decision was meant to help her become her own person and prevented her from being lumped in with the rest of the Kardashian brand.

ALSO:

Vanity Fair cover a 'masterfully' handled moment

Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair reveal rallies family support

Caitlyn Jenner's courage is bold, Annie Leibovitz's portrait cliched

Fashion critic Booth Moore: For Caitlyn Jenner, an old-school vision of beauty

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.

Pops for Champagne brings cava to Wicker Park with Bom Bolla.

Mini-review: Bom Bolla
1501 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-698-6601
Rating: !!!! (out of four) Already hot
>>Read more about our ratings

Ever heard of cava? (And I don't mean kava, the sedative possibly linked to liver failure that was trendy a decade ago.) Cava is to Spain what champagne is to France, and who better to introduce the bubbly beverage to Wicker Park than River North's sparkling wine-focused bar Pops for Champagne beverage director and partner W. Craig Cooper? Up on contemporary Spanish trends, the bar has an edgy music-inspired vibe, so I stopped in on a recent night hoping to find a little taste of Spain in the bottom of a sparkling wine flute.

The seating: The hostess suggested my date and I sit at the bar for the most authentic experience, which turned out to be smart move. I had tons of questions for my bartender about the Spanish dishes on the menu, and probably Googled just as many. Though I loved being up close and personal with the bartender, I'd file the wiry metal bar chairs under "looks cool, feels horrible." Sitting there in a sundress with the chain link-like seat digging into my bare legs made me think that the furniture here had to be selected by a man wearing pants. Pro tip: If you're skirt- or shorts-clad, bring a sweater or jacket to sit on to protect your precious thighs. The retro classroom-style hard plastic school chairs in hues of blue, tan and seafoam green at the tables in the front looked more forgiving. There's also more seating in the back, including a few larger wooden booths and table seating with vintage-looking blue tweed-like upholstered chairs.

The scene: A steady crowd of young folks and couples were scattered about the bar, and the buzz of passersby from the street coming in the open front door added to lively vibe. The decor is a little Restoration Hardware, with a color palette that's all sleek gun-metal grey and natural wood, plus a heavy dose of Europunk thanks to the tiled pop-art interpretation of Debbie Harry in the front of the bar and wheatpaste collage of Spanish comics and posters that leads to a back room. Industrial light fixtures-ranging from black bulbous lanterns dangling above the bar to modern metal cages suspended above the tables-are all lit with low-watt bulbs, but the nearly floor-to-ceiling windows allow in plenty of light, giving the room a warm, mellow mood.

The story: Bom Bolla (pronounced as it's spelled) is a modification of the Catalan word "bombolla" (pronounced bum-BO-ya), meaning "bubble." The word is broken up in the bar's name "to make a statement that we're not trying to be 100 percent authentic," said Cooper, who is the owner. "It's our take on a Spanish bar." Cooper has been with Pops for 15 years, and they've been tossing around the idea of opening a cava bar for sometime now. He traveled to Barcelona, the closest major city to Spain's cava region, and was inspired by the lively bars and style of service. But Cooper wanted to avoid the "Epcot version" of a Spanish restaurant, with flamenco dancers and such, for a more contemporary feel. "Let's make a place that reminds you of a bar that you would walk into today in Barcelona, not a place that you'd walk into in 1800s Madrid," he said. During his research, he was very drawn to the punk rock/new wave revolution in the late '70s and early '80s, which was brought on by the oppressive fascist dictator Francisco Franco's death in 1975. "After he passed away, the country opened up and there was a huge explosion of art, and music and expression. We thought we'd bring all of those elements together by giving this sort of edgy Wicker Park feel, concentrating on that art and music," Cooper said.

The cava (and vermouth and sherry): You drink cava just like any other sparkling wine, Cooper said, but what makes it unique are the grape varietals from the cava region. "They tend to be a bit drier than champagne, and they don't age as long, so they aren't as rich and robust," he said. "They're a little cleaner ... a little brighter, and they're really good food wines." Bom Bolla offers a lengthy selection of cava and rosé by the bottle, and five and three, respectively, by the glass.  I went for a glass of the Mestres 2009 Coquet Gran Reserva brut nature ($11), which was smooth and quite clean. I liked my date's choice better, though, the Castellroig brut ($9). I lean more toward drier sparkling wines, so it was a touch more interesting to me, with a crisper and more prominent floral flavor. But the beverage menu doesn't stop there. It offers a hefty list of still wines, Spanish beer and cider, and-what piqued my interest most-vermouth on tap and several sherry options. Because of the super-sweet sherries common in the U.S., Spanish sherries are often misjudged, but Cooper said they're some of the best food wines, and I definitely agree. From the selection of six sherries by the glass, my bartender helped me choose a drier one, the Valdespino Inocente fino ($7). It was fantastic, dry at the front with a rich, nutty flavor. In Spain, it's popular to drink vermouth-a fortified wine flavored with herbs or spices-by the glass, Cooper said. The vermouth on tap, Atxa rojo ($6), was the gold star for me. Served over ice garnished with an olive and a lemon wedge, it smelled spicy and aromatic and tasted incredibly fruity with a juicy finish. I'll definitely be going back for another glass. Bom Bolla also offers interesting cocktails, such as the sweet, candy-like Sloe Roll ($10)-made with sloe berry and anise spirit, gin, Cocchi Americano and bitters with a cava topper-and gin-tonics ($10) made with two housemade tonic waters paired with a variety of gins. In the Spanish variation of the traditional gin and tonic, the garnish-ranging from citrus zests to herbs like thyme and mint-highlights the botanicals in the particular gin.

The food: The menu is pretty typical of tapas-style items found in bars in Barcelona. There's "there's a big distinction there between a bar and a restaurant," Cooper said. "Most people eat in these little corner bars, it's tapas-style food. People like to go into a place, have a few bites, have a drink and move on to another places. It's a much more casual style of dining that focuses more on the quality of what's in front of you, rather than expert preparation and conceptual ideas, just really good food prepared simply and fresh." Cooper said chef Matt Lair went to Spain last summer to study the cuisine and built the menu with authentic dishes taken directly from his experience there, plus a few of his own Spanish-inspired creations. Several of the ingredients are sourced directly from Spain, when possible, such as the olives, almonds, a few cheeses and ham (jamon). Admittedly, I spent some time looking up a few words I was unsure about; I've studied next to no Spanish and being mostly pescatarian, I didn't want to guess and end up ordering something I wouldn't normally eat. A sucker for fine cheese, I was excited by the cloched cheese display right on the bar and went for the sharp 12-month-aged manchego with membrillo (quince) jelly ($5). Not at all above eating cheese for dinner, I would have ordered all four cheeses and called it a night, but there were so many options: pintxos (food on a stick), montaditos (food on bread, like an open-face sandwich), bocadillos (sandwiches) and raciones (shareable plates). My date and I decided on two bocadillos, fried squid with housemade aioli and lemon juice  ($8) and grilled pork shoulder with preserved lemon and manchego ($7), both served on these delectable ciabatta buns by Evanston-based bakery Hewn. The squid tentacles reached out of the bun as if they were longing for me to eat them and tasted so fresh they might as well have been fried mid-crawl. The aioli was light and airy, a perfect pair for the citrusy squid. My date wasn't too fond of the pork shoulder (the words "exceptionally fatty" were used in description). The combinations of simple ingredient prove that a little goes a long way, and with most menu items priced between $4 and $12, I felt like my money also was going just as far.

The bottom line: Unlike many upscale cocktail bars with elaborate offerings, Bom Bolla's menu isn't filled with brand names or ingredients undecipherable to those with less-refined tastes. Though there's some Spanish translation to be done, with the help of the wait staff you can soak up a unique educational experience in a laid-back setting. Thanks to this little piece of Barcelona, I've adopted a simple mantra for the summer: cava, sherry, vermouth, repeat.

Reporters visit bars unannounced, and meals are paid for by RedEye. 

>>For more Eat & Drink news, click here.

Ari Gold is back with a vengeance.

Not content with simply jumping from small screen to silver screen, the character, played by Jeremy Piven on the HBO series "Entourage" and now a movie of the same name, is also taking a stab at the written word.

"The Gold Standard: Rules to Rule By" is a memoir/self-help guide that's about as legitimate and motivational as any book written by a fictitious character can get. The book is framed around 18 rules (including "Either You Know it All or You Blow it All" and "Never Let 'Em Forget You're the Baddest Mother[bleeper] in the Room") with accompanying anecdotes about how Gold discovered, developed and/or follows his own rules.

Written in the fast-talking, hard-hitting and arrogant style of Hollywood's most powerful agent, "Standard" raises the standard for books spawned by TV shows or movies. It never breaks character-Piven even did a press tour for it as Ari Gold-but what's most surprising is the amount of content packed into the book. At nearly 200 pages, this is no throwaway movie tie-in.

Among the politically incorrect remarks, crass sexual humor and sly references to recent, real-life celebrity headlines, the book contains some pretty great words of wisdom, such as "life is not about learning from your failures; it's about learning so you don't fail" and "don't half-ass anything. Always use your full ass." If you're looking for a pep talk about how to be cutthroat in today's business world (or any other life situation, really), might as well get it from the best.

Elise De Los Santos is a RedEye copy editor who hopes Jeremy Piven's other character, Mr. Selfridge, gets a book deal too.

"The Gold Standard: Rules to Rule By"

by Ari Gold

3 stars

ekdelossantos@redeyechicago.com  |  @elisekdelo

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No, she hasn't been hacked; Kim Kardashian just got "real" Tuesday on Twitter. She's crediting her pregnancy hormones for the out-of-character ferocity that came across in her 140-character transmissions.

Kanye West, you can hold your head up with pride.

The "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star was agitated by fake stories about her newly confirmed pregnancy (it will be the second child for her and husband West). News of their expected arrival broke late Sunday just before Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Kim's stepfather Bruce Jenner, made her splashy debut as a transgender woman on the cover of Vanity Fair on Monday.

Still, since the 34-year-old's conception woes played out on her reality show, rumors ran amok that she was actually using a surrogate or was pregnant with twins. Daytime talk-show host Wendy Williams even went as far as saying that Kardashian would wear a fake baby bump while a surrogate carried the child. 

Kardashian reportedly used in vitro fertilization to conceive her second child, but did it on her natural cycle and without the use of hormones, People said. The mag and E! News also said that she's not carrying twins and that her due date is in December. The starlet has not yet commented on those reports.

Instead, the social media maven unleashed a profanity-laden tirade on her 32.3 million Twitter followers, eager to blast anyone who got in her way. The exchanges became so heated that Twitter actually contacted the reality star to see if her account had been hacked, which she laughed off using the hashtag #JustPregnantKeeks.

By Wednesday, the "Selfish" author took in the media reports about her rant and said that "the media is lame" and that it'd know a real rant when it saw it.

Without further ado, we give you angry Kim Kardashian:

"So [expletive] sick today on all levels!!!!! UGHHHHHHHHH I can't deal!!!!!!!!!! Praying I get through the day!" she wrote Tuesday morning.

"Can't wait til my website is active! I'm gonna do live video streaming so every time someone talks [expletive] I can go blast the [expletive] outta them," she tweeted, adding, "Pregnant KiKi does not play!!!! *BLOOP!*"

When a follower asked her why she gave anyone who "spews negativity" the satisfaction of a response, Kardashian replied with this:

"I just mean rumors or lies. People make up so much even people close who u think are legit. Truth time," she said.

Then she address the surrogacy and Williams' prosthetic belly claims head-on, saying that's the brand of misinformation that she'd clear up.

"Please! This is the type of stuff I will address. If I got a surrogate I would say I did! Thankfully I didn't have 2," she wrote.

She also decided to not give trash-talking "lames" the time of day.

"Don't have that much free time now! Still have about 30 businesses 2run," she wrote.

As previously stated, the media was lumped in with those "lames" after Kardashian got wind of the maelstrom her tweets caused.

"Media is lame! Saying I went on a Twitter rant Bc I was bored in my dressing room for 2 hours laughing & tweeting w my friends being real," she wrote Wednesday, adding, "You will know when I rant....this was not a rant. Ohhhh I know a good rant"

Meanwhile, the reality star told E! News that she and West are "over the moon" about the pregnancy. 

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.

Aimee Coath was busy and happy planning her only daughter's wedding in four months.

At evening rush hour Tuesday, Coath was struck and killed by a CTA bus that swung wide across Michigan Avenue at Lake Street, jumping the curb and trapping the 51-year-old Flossmoor woman underneath.

"She was a wonderful mother,'' said her daughter, Elaine Wilson, 28, who works at a foreign policy think tank in Washington, D.C., and was catching a plane back to Chicago on Wednesday. "It's really a senseless tragedy. It's very senseless.

"I'm getting married in four months and we were just talking earlier about plans,'' Wilson said.  "It's devastating. ... She was a wonderful person ... extremely energetic, warm, loving and an avid lover of cats."

Coath was on her way to board a train to meet her son and her ex-husband for dinner at a restaurant in Flossmoor when the accident happened, according to Wilson. The two learned of the tragedy from a police officer who went to the ex-husband's home.

Cathy Meissner said she had known Coath for eight years and had worked with her at the Gap. Meissner said Coath had previously been a manager at the Gap at the Fox Valley Mall. She said Coath served as a mentor to her and helped her over the years.

"She was somebody I looked up to," said Meissner. "She was just the nicest person. Her heart was in everything she did."

Eight other people were injured when the accordion-style bus rode up on the sidewalk and crashed against a wall near a plaza around 5:50 p.m.  None of their injuries was serious, including the CTA driver who was alone on the bus, officials said.

The driver has been cited for not stopping at a red light and for "failure to exercise due care," according to police.  No criminal charges have been filed as police continue their investigation.

According to the Illinois Secretary of State's office the bus driver had a clean driving record.

Coath grew up in Lake Forest in a family of eight children, five girls and three boys. She graduated from Woodlands Academy in the north suburb and got her degree at Knox College in Galesburg in 1986. She settled in Flossmoor and had two children.

Coath's close friend Elizabeth Oliver could barely speak when she learned of the death.

"I only want to communicate how well loved she was,'' Oliver said through heavy sobs. "She had so many friends. We will all miss her dearly.''

Coath worked as a manager at the Gap store on State Street, a job her neighbors said she liked.

"She really enjoyed her work," said Roger Molski, a former mayor of Flossmoor who lived near Coath. "She always had a smile about her. She never said, 'Oh God, I've gotta go to work.'"

Molski, who knew Coath for 10 years, recalled exchanging waves with her late Tuesday morning as they passed each other while he walked his dog.

Molski said he heard about the fatal crash later but, "I didn't know it was her until I saw the picture. I thought, Oh my God, that's her!

"I've walked that spot numerous times," he said of the accident scene. "I knew exactly where it happened."

Don Grasse said he first encountered Coath on a cold winter's day 10 years ago as she was trying to start her car.

"I lent her a wrench so she could work on her battery," said Grasse, now president of their condo association. "You don't expect to get a tool back in that situation, but it came right back."

Standing outside the Central Drive Condominiums on Wednesday morning, Grasse recalled Coath as "very, very fun, very friendly. Whenever you talked to her, it was a pleasant conversation."

He said Coath was involved in the community and regularly attended board meetings.

Laura Metzner, who previously worked at a bakery near Flossmoor's Metra station, said Coath was more patient and empathetic than most other regular morning customers. "If were were particularly busy, she'd tell us not to worry, she'd catch the next train," Metzner recalled.

Metzner, who now works for a different establishment, says she continued to spot Coath "walking around town. She always had a smile and a wave. She will be missed."

Sullivan is a freelance reporter.