June 30, 2018

The third thing I did in Chicago.

From the triad of things I said I was doing at least one of which would disgust nearly everyone:

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I'll write my thoughts on the show in a little while. And I still owe you a post about what I thought about Kathy Griffin's show. But first, writing from Trump International Hotel in Chicago, I'm going to do some posts that bounce off the morning news, in my typical style.

Why did I think you might find "The Cher Show" disgusting? Click on the tag "Cher" to see how the grande dame may have offended you in the last few years.

66 comments:

Lash LaRue said...

Three out of three.

Tommy Duncan said...

When you pack up to leave the hotel could you please bring back any unused hotel shampoo and lotion bottles for us? Those are cool. Thanks!

MountainMan said...

I will look forward to your review on the Trump Hotel, especially since it gets such good reviews on Trip Advisor. I would never have wasted my time on Griffin or Cher. Certainly not worth the 100 mile drive and the expensive hotel. I would have spent all my time at the museums.

DanTheMan said...

Cher has such a terrific voice... a favorite.

She is the poster child for "Shut up and sing!"

MayBee said...

0 disgusts

MayBee said...

I wonder what would have happened had you stood in the middle of the audience and yelled you were staying at the Trump Hotel.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

I always loved Bob Mackie. I would go to the show just for the gowns!

But a Cher show without Cher would be a let-down.

MayBee said...

Certainly not worth the 100 mile drive and the expensive hotel.

Perhaps the expensive hotel made the drive worth it. It's its own thing.

BUT the shows would be well worth it if that's what her son wanted to do, and she got to go with him.

gilbar said...

1st, cher IS disgusting
2nd, was the $50 breakfast Also from room service?

Ann Althouse said...

I'm eating a $43 breakfast right now (and looking out over the Chicago River and over the city skyline to Lake Michigan).

Meade said...

Not disgusted at all. (Though I'll admit -- if Hillary had not lost to Trump in '16, I'd be thoroughly disgusted.)

Safe (and cool) drive home.

MayBee said...

If you find yourself wanting to move to Chicago, I know a great realtor.

Kate said...

Interesting that the marquee uses such a 70s font.

Virgil Hilts said...

Being a tightwad, the idea of paying $50 for a breakfast is the most disgusting thing I have heard from the tip (unless it included a nice bottle of champagne for Mimosas)

iowan2 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
iowan2 said...



Yes, I do that. When I was a youngster on my motorcycle. I would pick exclusive hotels to stay at, to make the other travelers nervous. Just one night, then back to the motel 6, no TV, no phone, or some lesser dive, if I found one. I would have to ditch the leathers and helmet and get to the check in without my boots being visible from the counter. It took me a couple times to figure out they were always full, if my gear was visible. Then coming and going in my gear always turned heads. One of these outings was when I saw my first Rolls Royce in person. Good times

Rusty said...

Nope. Not disgusted, yet.

Otto said...

Another dumb Armenian girl with a modicum of talent.

Roughcoat said...

Cher?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

You rock, Althouse!

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roughcoat said...

No, seriously: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

And I mean that in a good way.

stevew said...

Assuming the Cher show was a musical adventure, was it good? I'm not ashamed to say I like her music (Babs Streisand too). The talking in between songs, not so much.

Was the breakfast good? Did you tip the person that delivered it?

-sw

traditionalguy said...

What a great idea for a summer vacation. Take a trip to a venue of many plays/shows and see one a day plus the occaisional Matinee. That is a hyper mental stimulation.

Bill Peschel said...

"Being a tightwad, the idea of paying $50 for a breakfast is the most disgusting thing I have heard "

Yup. Nothing like a hotel breakfast for quality, and costing as much as a good dinner.

But I've been poor enough most of my life to be unable to indulge in things like this, and sometimes it's a struggle not to feel envious and socialist about it (but I repeat myself).

Bay Area Guy said...

Cher is one hot Mama! Must be pushing 70 by now (wiki says 72).

I can't help but wonder if she has adopted the Jane Fonda rule about being "closed for business" down there.......

Jay Vogt said...

The only ONLY thing of the three that was close to disgusting me was that Kathy Griffin so transparently manipulated everyone to better her career prospects for over a year and everyone EVERYONE just played their part like a marionette without the slightest bit of hesitation or self-awareness. In an odd way I have to admire her cunning, nerve and patience. What a stunning long con.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jay Vogt said...

I was at an event some years ago just after the opening of Trump International Hotel & Tower at Columbus Circle had opened, and Donald Trump was speaking. He told the story of how the project came to be (it was originally the Gulf& Western Tower). Anyway, at one point in his talk he slyly explained that the working title for the redevelopment was "Trump International Tower South - it being on Central Park South.

That was until someone pointed out what the initials would be. He gave a big smile and got a big laugh. I'm sure he'd told that story a dozen times before I heard it.

Eleanor said...

At least Cher can sing.

I lived in Chicago in the early 70s. Since moving away the closest I've been to the city is a plane change at O"Hare. Maybe a visit could be fun. The problem is choosing a season to visit. They all suck there.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Cher is mildly likable compared to the badly crafted Marionette. Cher is also a million times more talented than the badly crafted marionette. Cher is still a huge hypocrite and until she opens her many mansions to the poor, she can pound leftist sand.


Thx *DBQ for the "badly crafted marionette".

gilbar said...

"The problem is choosing a season to visit. They all suck there."
Having lived in the chicago area for 20 years (20 years ago :) , i'd recommend early october: It sux most least then

Jay Vogt said...

I'll be driving up though Althouse land today for a family week at the lake. Need to refresh the "Spotted Cow" supply. On the way I'll be listening to the great new album by the fabulous Neko Case .

It's worth a listen.

Phil 314 said...

Clearly the Professor loves lakes.

(If true then she should definitely not move to Denver or Phoenix or most places west for that matter.)

mikee said...

Why not see Cher? We still let Ginsburg sit on the Supreme Court.
What was it the Mummy said? "Death is only the beginning...."

Hagar said...

Maybe Althouse just needed a break from Madison, WI?

Original Mike said...

”Maybe Althouse just needed a break from Madison, WI?”

Most of us travel north for that.

Bay Area Guy said...

If Cher has any more face lifts, she'll be able to blink her lips.

MadisonMan said...

She was a V - A - M - P......vamp.

I hope she sang that. I always enjoyed those vignettes on the S&C Show.

Also, Dark Lady, my favorite Cher song.

Big Mike said...

This post made me wonder why I am so thoroughly disgusted with the unfunny Kathy Griffin that I am disgusted at people who stoop to attend her show, but I don’t feel the same way about other comedians who hate Trump, nor do I feel the same way about other entertainers who hate Trump. And for me it comes back to the severed head “gag.” I have a recollection of a time back during the previous administration when someone made some sort of threat against the President and lefty journalists couldn’t get their heads around conservatives such as myself being just as angry as Democrats. “Hey! I thought you guys hated Obsma.” We did, we still do. But people should not be making threats about the Predident of the United States.

Maybe it’s the time I spent in the army, where you are taught to salute the rank, not the man. However contemptible the village idiot from Hyde Park was, I respect the Office of the President of the United States, and this is true even when a person like Barack Obama is nowhere a big enough man to fill it.

langford peel said...

The only thing that we be more gay would be if you took it up the ass.

But I understand that's Meades department....so carry on and enjoy your gay shit.

readering said...

I'm guessing the median age at Cher (and Trump International) was 2 decades older than at Kathy.

readering said...

I can only attend shows like Kathy and Cher in Vegas (not that I've seen either of them live).

Taylor said...

0 for 3 on the disgust

not even close!

maybe menstruation tag or insect politics would work.

I'm not saying one can't find any disgust on the Althouse blog. But when you set us all up with a disgust mystery, and the payoff is Cher, ugh.

Now, if Donald Trump nominates Cher to the Supreme Court, that would work. See, the way you disgust people is by setting up their expectations one way, and then boom, bring the horror. But you promised us disgust and we got Kathy Griffin and Cher and a Donald Trump hotel. What a disgusting letdown. I'm disgusted by the lack of disgust. It's meta disgust. But not the real gross kind that makes disgust fun. This is boring midwestern blah blah blah disgust. A nothing burger of disgust.

TWW said...

I've said that I would be honored to attend a 'Cher' show but so far, she hasn't asked enough. Money talks.

rightguy said...

I actually looked to see if Bud Dolan was in town.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

" I'm tired of equanimity", sighed the Professor.
"Let's go to Chicago and do some, you know, some stupid shit!" she said, as a mischievous grin broke across her face.

Yancey Ward said...

Well, I like hearing Streisand sing, so you won't get disgust from me.

Michael K said...

I wonder if Cher ever figured out that the earth revolves around the sun?

A few years ago she did not know that and argued the opposite, Galileo would have loved her.

Jim at said...

We've been watching old Sonny and Cher episodes on METV, or some similar channel. I was a bit young the first time around, but they're still enjoyable simply from a time capsule perspective.

Cher was the talent and Sonny was nothing more than comic relief. It worked.

Too bad she's turned into such a nutbar.

William said...

I wonder who among performers--musicians, comedians, and actors--are the most obnoxious in their expression of political leanings. Jane Fonda is in a class by herself, but generally I don't avoid movies that left wing jerks star in. They're paid to be phonies and to strike heroic poses so why should you take exception to their protests. Similarly with musicians. They're paid to be histrionic so why take exception if it bleeds over to their political life....., I find comedians the most irritating. I don't mind their jibes at Trump so much as the fact that their jibes are directed solely at Trump. Is there nothing about Pelosi, Waters, or Stormy Daniels that isn't a tad ridiculous? A lot of their acts are closer to a harangue than to an act. I don't seek out comedians to make me a better person.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

I always enjoy watching Mask when I catch it on. Now I am sure a good bit of that has to do with Sam Elliott (thud-thump goes my heart) but Cher shines in it too.

Darkisland said...

Now, it is a law in Lloyd's that the _Jane_ repaired all out of the old until she is entirely new is still the _Jane_. The _Spray_ changed her being so gradually that it was hard to say at what point the old died or the new took birth...

Joshua Slocum - Sailing Alone Around the World

I highly recommend the book as well as Slocum's others.

I thought of this goven all the work she has had done over the years.

I guess that by Jane's lae she is still Cher.

John Henry

Darkisland said...

Lloyd's law, not Jane's. That's another organization entirely

John henry

eddie willers said...

Cher was the talent and Sonny was nothing more than comic relief

Sonny wrote my favorite Searchers' song "Needles and Pins" and my favorite Sonny and Cher song, "The Beat Goes On".

I doubt that Cher did "Half-Breed" at Ann's show.

Darkisland said...

Never stayed at the Trump.

I did pass election night at an all stops out party in the 15th floor grand ballroom.

An absolutely 1st class property with great food and service.

Toasting witj fascist tears only made the evening that much sweeter.

John Henry

Darkisland said...

Cher is a talentef singet and an OK actress.

It always seemef to me that Sonny was the one with real talent.

Inventing the act sonny and cher
Developing ang promoting the act
Writing songs, jokes, bits and sketches
Managing the business side
Involved with production of the show
Performing

And more

All cher did, as she herself has said, was to show up and sing

John Henry

Darkisland said...

For those missing the Slocum reference, he had been given the boat Spray which had been rotting in a cow pasture for 10-20 years.

When he got finished rebuilding it, he had replaced virtually everything.

Then, by himself, he launched and sailed it round the world. In about 1890

John Henry

Known Unknown said...

Life is so blissful when nothing offends or disgusts you.

Most of everything offensive or disgusting in life is actually very funny.

Jim at said...

Sonny wrote my favorite Searchers' song "Needles and Pins" and my favorite Sonny and Cher song, "The Beat Goes On".

Not implying he was just comic relief, but that's what made the show work.

It's also impressive how much work was put in to pull of weekly tv shows like that. Sets, costumes, writing, choreography .....

Bill said...

I'm old enough to remember when Cher was billed as Chér.

Etienne said...

I wonder how many bodies there are in the Chicago river from prohibition days? I bet all that silt contains enough gold teeth to replenish Fort Knox.

langford peel said...

Not as many bodies as the gangbanger monkeys drop every week these days.

Al Capone was a pussy compared to these murdering mutants.

Achilles said...

Ann Althouse said...

I'm eating a $43 breakfast right now (and looking out over the Chicago River and over the city skyline to Lake Michigan).


Chicago is the perfect democrat city.

Rich progressives have wonderful 50$ breakfasts and spend hundreds of dollars on shows with each other cheering for their leftist heroes and feeling so good about themselves.

They send their kids to nice schools that get much more funding than the poor kid schools.

The poor black people live in crime ridden poverty murdering each other. They send their kids to shitty schools provided by the rich progressives.

The progressives tell the black people the shitty conditions all republican's fault.

What a perfect weekend Althouse had.

Beldar said...

My dad and I saw her & Sonny live in 1971, in Las Vegas, opening for Johnny Carson. She had a great set of pipes for pop music. Going to see her today wouldn't be my choice, but I don't find it disgusting.

Beldar said...

Having now caught up, I'll add:

Ditto with your other two choices. I'd never pay money to see Griffin, but I'm wouldn't characterize someone else exercising the opposite choice to be disgusting, or accuse them of engaging in a disgusting act. I don't think she's funny, but de gustibus non est disputandem and all that.

I likewise would choose other lodgings than the Trump International, probably on grounds of price. The building is mostly interesting to me as an example of Trump's profound untrustworthiness: During its constructions, the consortium of lenders, familiar with his wash-rinse-repeat history in the bankruptcy courts, insisted that he personally guarantee a mere $40M of a much larger debt obligation secured by the project itself, and when the project defaulted on its debt, he refused to make good on his personal guarantee — alleging that the explosion of the 2008 real estate bubble was "an act of God." Trump's word is worthless, even when given solemnly in writing before a notary public with knowledge that others are relying upon it. He'll keep his word when, but only when, he thinks that's the best thing to do for the Trump Brand, by which he means Trump, which is how he refers to himself (in the third person).

Beldar said...

*disputandum, mea culpa.