These three peaceful and beautiful young parakeets are looking for a loving guardian.

They feed each other, sing, coo and are amazing to watch them interact.

Anniken is a 10 month old blue and white and was hand raised. Dove is a one year old white and blue who will step up on your finger if asked. Sonny is a two year old yellow and green parakeet.

They come complete with a large cage, food, toys and treats Their adoption fee including the cage and supplies of $100 benefits the Friends of Petraits Rescue.

They are currently being fostered in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.

To meet and possibly adopt these young parakeets, please contact [email protected] to make an appointment.

Full disclosure: I voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Illinois primary. When I thought he didn’t have a chance at the Democratic presidential nomination, I wanted to show support for his positions.

That was before we had a President Trump. Now I’m fearful that Sanders will get the nomination.

I like Sanders. I find him refreshingly authentic for a politician. In an fairy-tale scenario, I’d favor many of his positions.

But I can’t see a self-described democratic socialist garnering enough Independent and Republican votes to win the presidency.

There’s something wrong with the nominating process. Democrats overwhelmingly tell pollsters that their main goal is defeating Donald Trump. Then a candidate who mainstream Democrats think is unelectable rises to the top.

After Saturday’s caucuses in Nevada, only the third state to select its delegates, Sanders has been declared the frontrunner. Before more than 90 percent of the states vote, news outlets are asking whether Sanders is unstoppable.

Many voters clearly prefer Sanders. But not the majority. Moderates have the most delegates in total, but they’re splitting the moderate vote among them. None looks willing to drop out to unite behind one of them.

There’s a lot of discussion about fixing the process — including a same-day national primary and weighted voting — but it’s not clear how to make states go along. Each state makes its own rules.

The Republican Party faced a similar scenario in 2016 when insiders didn’t want Trump. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have little in common except that they do not represent their parties’ mainstream. Four years ago Trump railed against the establishment and beat a slew of establishment candidates in the Republican primaries.

Maybe leaders who promise to blow up the system are what the country wants. Just as I was shocked by Trump’s unexpected win, I could be clueless again. If Sanders is the nominee, I hope so.

And if he were able to defeat Trump, I hope he could somehow ease our divisions. More divisiveness across the country, and gridlock in Washington, would be ruinous.

*****

AUSTEN ADAPTATION ENDS BADLY

PBS Masterpiece’s broadcast of Sanditon, an eight-part series based on an incomplete Jane Austen novel, ended Sunday night. As were viewers in the UK, where the ITV production was shown last fall, I expect American Janites are outraged by the un-Austen-like unhappy ending.

Austen had finished only 11 chapters of Sanditon when ill health forced her to put it aside four months before her death. As one critic of the television production wrote, only about the first half-hour — one-sixteenth of the whole — were Austen’s. At first I scoffed at screenwriter Andrew Davies’s sexually explicit script — so different from Austen’s subtlety — but then forgave him for bringing the 19th century into the 21st.

But the finale’s 180-degree turn from Austen was inexcusable. As Charlotte and Sidney moved toward a traditional Austen happy ending, Davies threw an impediment in their way in the last half-hour: Sidney must marry a rich woman in order to save Sanditon, the town on which his brother Tom has staked everything.

The ending reminded me of a midway point in Sense and Sensibility, when Edward, though loving Elinor, feels that he must be honorable and keep a long-regretted prior engagement. But the impediment is overcome, and Edward and Elinor are husband and wife at the conclusion. Perhaps, as rumor has it, Davies didn’t end Sanditon’s series one happily because he hoped for a series two. ITV cancelled the show in the UK because of low audience numbers, however, and hinted that a series two might depend on its success in the US.

If series two doesn’t come off, we’re left with a so-called Austen dramatization that PBS would be wise not to add to the Masterpiece rerun schedule. I doubt that any Austen fan, knowing how it ends, would want to watch.

*****

ANTI-TRUMP QUOTATIONS: 101ST IN AN ONGOING SERIES

“Thanks to Donald Trump, we have a new definition of a criminal justice reformer: a rich person who is shocked to see his felonious friends punished as though they were poor.”

— Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Chapman, February 20

It’s the second most popular post in the past year on this website, and it’s top five all-time in the three-year history of this blog. As February 14 neared in 2019, we examined how the site of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre is absolutely nothing today (it’s just a green space with a couple trees next to a senior center parking lot), and why that’s conflicted and complicated.

While it’s obvious that the city would not want to celebrate gore and crime, this notoriously dark incident is still a big part of what many tourist cottage industries do in marketing their Al Capone-related wares to tourists. However, when it comes to Capone related buildings, the one that’s truly missed is the Lexington Hotel (which used to be located at 2135 S Michigan Ave), and Ward Miller, Executive Director for Preservation Chicago, told me why.

“It’s one of the many places where he (Capone) lived and had his operation, but more maybe importantly, it was a marvelous building, it was also a designated Chicago landmark,” he said by phone in advance of “Daytime Talk: Chicago’s Most Endangered Buildings of 2020” at the Chicago Architecture Center presentation on Wednesday.

“Because it was open to the elements, and it was empty for so long, and because the Democratic National Convention was coming to Chicago in 1996, the city really wanted to clean things up, and unfortunately that was demolished. “

Before being demolished in 1995, the hotel served as the backdrop for the infamous Geraldo Rivera special, The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults, which received 30 million viewers, but didn’t yield anything newsworthy.

While the Lexington couldn’t be saved (a high end luxury residential complex called The Lex sits at that location today), this event at the CAC will focus on past successes and the currently endangered.

Miller’s presentation will unveil Preservation Chicago’s 18th annual “Chicago 7” list.

The list identifies seven architecturally significant structures that preservationists hope to save from the wrecking ball. Since 2003, Preservation Chicago has announced its annual list to draw attention to important Chicago historic resources threatened by demolition due to development pressure, neglect, or a lack of resources. 

Miller spent two decades on the issues committee for Landmarks Illinois and served as vice president of Logan Square Preservation for 15 years.

He also helped the City Club of Chicago in its efforts to save the Chicago Theater, the Page Brothers Building and several buildings on Block 37.

“We focus on the individual building in each of the Chicago seven, we do tell its history and we do remind people why it’s so important,” Miller said in previewing the Preservation Chicago program on Wednesday.

“Sometimes we even offer a remedy or a solution. Often times we provide a solution. It’s really remarkable, a lot of time and research goes into thoughtful ways of framing this.”

“It’s not about shaming people, it’s about trying to grow a healthy city through research and historic preservation.”

For more on Preservation Chicago go here, for more on last year’s Chicago seven most endangered list go here.

“Daytime Talk: Chicago’s Most Endangered Buildings of 2020” FYIs

Wednesday, February 26 at noon Free with registration (registration link)
Gand Lecture Hall at the Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E Wacker Dr.

Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No,  I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation. 

You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.

Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.

Findley is friendly and very talkative. He’s about 1 year old.

He almost constantly makes these sorts of grrrrow noises, almost as though he’s talking to himself.

He weighs about 15 pounds. His face is earnest and his teeth are sparkly white. He has a healthy appetite and likes to play.

He adamantly dislikes being alone, but will bear it if he has to.

He likes plants, not so much for eating, surprisingly, as much as for the atmosphere.

He likes being picked up and carried around and doesn’t mind belly pets of the nice kind.

His holiday wish was to have a very best feline friend and a best human friend with whom he could do everything all day and cuddle with at night.

Recently, he has taken to wrapping himself around his fosterer’s head while she is watching tv on the couch and gently thumping her. It’s very silly.

Findley is an ancient name derived from Scottish Gaelic and is anglicized/translated to mean “fair hero” – ‘fair’ as in ‘attractive’, not ‘just’. He has always been a good soul. He’s a brave little adventurer, with an open nature, who generally takes things in stride.

Let us know if you’d like to meet him at [email protected] !

Hyde Park Cats is a local, all-volunteer group dedicated to helping stray and homeless cats in and around Chicago’s Hyde Park. We received our 501(c)(3) status in 2014 and have had over 1,200 adoptions since our founding in 2008. See all our adoptable kitties on our webpage: http://hydeparkcats.org/adopt/

All of our cats are in loving foster homes, which means the cat you adopt will be familiar with the sounds, smells and movements of life in a home and accustomed to living with humans. He or she has been interacting on a daily basis with people who know this particular cat intimately, and the foster mom or dad can tell you all about the cat’s individual personality, habits, preferences. You can’t judge a cat by its cover! And while we can’t predict the future or know everything about a cat, we can help you choose the cat who is right for you. We have an adoption application and an adoption fee, $95 for the adoption of one cat or $190 for a pair. This fee goes towards covering their vet costs. All cats adopted out by us are neutered/spayed, micro-chipped, tested for FIV/FeLV, and treated with Revolution.

Introducing Forest Pullman, a brand new intake. This guy is a sweetheart in need of lots of love! He’s about 2 years old.

Forest P is vocal and attention-seeking. He starts meowing as soon as he would hear his fosterer come home and will not settle until she greeted him.

He is very affectionate and will hold a conversation with you.

He is very charming and his sweet demeanor will make him easily adoptable. Also, he likes belly rubs.

For more information on meeting foster cats like Forest email us at [email protected] !

Hyde Park Cats is a local, all-volunteer group dedicated to helping stray and homeless cats in and around Chicago’s Hyde Park. We received our 501(c)(3) status in 2014 and have had over 1,200 adoptions since our founding in 2008. See all our adoptable kitties on our webpage: http://hydeparkcats.org/adopt/

All of our cats are in loving foster homes, which means the cat you adopt will be familiar with the sounds, smells and movements of life in a home and accustomed to living with humans. He or she has been interacting on a daily basis with people who know this particular cat intimately, and the foster mom or dad can tell you all about the cat’s individual personality, habits, preferences. You can’t judge a cat by its cover! And while we can’t predict the future or know everything about a cat, we can help you choose the cat who is right for you. We have an adoption application and an adoption fee, $95 for the adoption of one cat or $190 for a pair. This fee goes towards covering their vet costs. All cats adopted out by us are neutered/spayed, micro-chipped, tested for FIV/FeLV, and treated with Revolution.

9-month-old Gracie loves belly rubs and scratches behind her ears, on top of her head and by her tail.

She gets along with other cats, loves to play and when you go to pet her, falls on the floor and rolls over to get belly rubs.

She loves the laser toy and chasing other cats up and down the hallway.

To meet her, write to us at [email protected]!

Hyde Park Cats is a local, all-volunteer group dedicated to helping stray and homeless cats in and around Chicago’s Hyde Park. We received our 501(c)(3) status in 2014 and have had over 1,200 adoptions since our founding in 2008. See all our adoptable kitties on our webpage: http://hydeparkcats.org/adopt/

All of our cats are in loving foster homes, which means the cat you adopt will be familiar with the sounds, smells and movements of life in a home and accustomed to living with humans. He or she has been interacting on a daily basis with people who know this particular cat intimately, and the foster mom or dad can tell you all about the cat’s individual personality, habits, preferences. You can’t judge a cat by its cover! And while we can’t predict the future or know everything about a cat, we can help you choose the cat who is right for you. We have an adoption application and an adoption fee, $95 for the adoption of one cat or $190 for a pair. This fee goes towards covering their vet costs. All cats adopted out by us are neutered/spayed, micro-chipped, tested for FIV/FeLV, and treated with Revolution.

Gavin Edwards’ eighth “way to live more like Mister Rogers right now” is to “Always see the very best in other people.” (For more ways, from his book “Kindness and Wonder,” see posts like these on previous recent Mondays.)

“In modern culture,” Edwards writes, “we tend to reduce complicated people to just one or two attributes: that rapper is unhinged, that politician is insincere, that guitarist is a cad.” But Fred Rogers, says Edwards, tried “to be the public representation of kindness and concern for children.” That left him very vulnerable to caricature in pop culture, Edwards adds.

Even the ’80s TV show “Family Ties,” in which a character worked for a public TV station, joked about Mister Rogers by asking “Why can’t he change his shoes before the show?” according to Edwards.

Young viewers would have thought that was impossible. “Sometimes Mister Rogers was evoked as an impossible ideal, one that people can mimic but not live up to,” writes Edwards.

But mostly, Fred Rogers lived with comics poking fun at him, in what Gavin Edwards calls “an unhappy echo of the childhood days when other kids taunted him and called him ‘Fat Freddy.’ “

But he could put ministry to others ahead of his feelings.

Personally, even decades after I watched “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” I disliked the “comic” parodies of the show and its host. One of several things I’ve underlined in the book is that “many Mister Rogers impressions are based on other impressions, not on actually watching the show.”

Edwards reports that during the time when Eddie Murphy was doing a parody on “Saturday Night Live” called “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood,” Fred Rogers surprised Murphy at NBC’s Rockefeller Plaza offices, where Rogers had once worked. “It’s not every day that someone you’re parodying shows up on your doorstep,” Edwards observes, but Rogers did — and they “hugged and posed for a Polaroid together.”

Later that day, Rogers appeared on “Late Night with David Letterman,” Polaroid photo in hand. Speaking of parodies, Rogers said, “Some of them aren’t very funny. But I think a lot of them are done with real kindness in their heart.”

Edwards adds, “The evidence suggests that was untrue, but it wasn’t just a story that Fred told himself to make the mockery sting a little less.”

Parodies being talked about as kind is a new twist on Jesus’ advice to “love your enemies; do good to them that hurt you” (Matthew 5:43-44).

But maybe that’s just me seeing the best in it.

Margaret Serious has a page on Facebook.